Thread: Scale discoloration

I am restoring my first straight razor. So far the experience has gone really well. I sanded off all the rust and polished the blade to a near-mirror finish. I honed my first straight razor with relative ease. I don't know if I've held such a sharp blade of any kind! Now my problem is the scales. The razor is a Jackson from Fremont, OH. The scales appear to be plastic. One scale is black and the other is a dark-green. I'm assuming the dark-green are discolored due to age, but I thought I'd ask the experts here what you think. They appear to be made of plastic.

thanks!

May be made of hard rubber,try a little toothpaste on a rag.

Pics are worth way more then words

If the scales are vintage they are most likely NOT plastic as we know it today...

As Pixel already noted Hard Rubber/Vulcanite/Ebonite is a distinct possibility
Bakelite, or a low possibility of Celluloid

The Vulcanite and the Bakelite can Oxidize and often have a Brownish/Greenish dull coating on there,, The toothpaste trick is quick and easy obviously a paste style not a gel. A good polish like MAAS, Flitz, Blue Magic will also let you know what you have going on...

Honestly if they are distinctly two different colors you are most likely going to have to drop to sanding and then re-polishing, or the smell will be there every time you shave


Again flying blind here and just guessing without pics....