Thread: My Great-Grandpappy's Razor!

Thanks all for the friendly comments.

I want to keep it like it is. Aside from a 1/2" crack in the far end of the scales (not the pin end) its really in good shape. I'll probably just take a syringe & shoot a little epoxy just to make sure it doesn't grow. The hinge pin was surprisingly snug. I was expecting it to be a little loose from years of use, but it's pretty obviously been repeened on one side.

I'm assuming these are not the original celluloid scales. They're very obviously handmade by someone who was either in a hurry or didn't care about appearance because you can clearly see all the sanding/file marks, lots of flat facets & edges on it, not at all what you'd expect on a quality product. It also seems to have been made of a single piece, with a saw cut slot to straddle the blade. You can see the saw grooves like it was done yesterday. Was that a normal construction method back then?

As for the blade, I really like the aged look of it. I may knock a little off with a paper towel & toothpaste, but I don't want a mirror shine. Old blades should be allowed to look old in my opinion. There's only one tiny rust spot near the tip. As closely as I can examine with the naked eye there were no nicks, so it should be a fairly straight-forward hone aside from the slight smile.

overall I'm excited to have another piece of family history in my collection, excited to be able to eventually use on a daily basis something my great grandfather used the same way, and disappointed that I'm not good enough at honing to tackle it myself & instead will have to send it to someone. I may save that till I get an opportunity to meet one of the senior members & watch them do it. I'd enjoy that.

Edit: Looking at it from the end, I was surprised at the profile. The last quarter inch or so at the business side is all paper thin, it's like they ground it as thin as humanly possible about halfway down from the spine & just held that all the way to the bevel.