Thread: John Barber Wedge Restore

Just thought I'd share my latest restoration that i did for a buddy of mine, nelson, SRP member Bayamontate.
The razor was sent to me pitted with a fairly large, uneven bevel which was still esthetically there but was corrected to shave proper by nelson. I shaved with the razor several time prior to restoring the blade and it was incredible; now IMO the looks match the shave.
When i received the razor from Nelson it was buffed out to a high polish, pitting and all. It looked really unnatural to me. After removing the majority of the pitting (couldn't get it all this time around, shucks!) i worked the blade back through the grits up to 3000, polished than applied WD-40 and worked in a single direction with 2000 and the finally 1500 to give an even satin finish with an incredible 'wet' luster.

The blade came to me rescaled in horn that was not the correct shape for era that the blade was made with a mile from the tow of the blade the the wedge end of the scales. I opted to go for G10 with double washer brass pins. I kept with the 'Straight Scale' shape you would typically find on a blade made in the 1820's-30's. I added in a gothic style 'coffin' wedge end to reflect the style of the time when the razor was originally produced.

Let me know what you think!!!

It looks awesome Joe! When I bought it the scales were toast and the blade heavily pitted, the restoration I did was simply to make it functional. My restoration chops are rather limited, yours are outstanding.

I really like it! Nice job!

very nice !! looks awesome !!

Excellent workmanship and your tweak of the wedge end does not detract from the close to period scales! Nice!
~Richard

Modern yet... I don't quite know how to describe it.
It has the right feel with a modern element.

Turned out fantastic! Good job.

Love to see good workmanship .

Cool razor, but I have to correct you on one thing: All 3 John Barber razors I've owned (still own 2 ) came with their original scales, which were all curvy. The scales match the curvature of the spine. Your straight scales are slightly anachronistic

Originally Posted by Bruno

Cool razor, but I have to correct you on one thing: All 3 John Barber razors I've owned (still own 2 ) came with their original scales, which were all curvy. The scales match the curvature of the spine. Your straight scales are slightly anachronistic

Thanks every one for the feedback! It keeps me driven! ;-)

As Bruno stated I have a pic of the original scales and there was a -slight- curve to the top of the original scales where as the ones I made are straight. However the scales the razor originaly adorn we're mainly straight, much straighter than the curvy horn one the razor was sent to me wearing. When designing the scales I was trying to create a similar look to the originals while giving it a stylistic design that was somewhat unique.

Here's a pic if the razor in its original form
I'll have the pic uploaded in a bit my phones giving me a hard time!