Thread: 21 Questions

Well I picked up my first restore this week a George Wostenholm & Sons Celebrated IXL, Washington Works Sheffield, I began making my own razors about a year ago and have really got the straight razor bug. So this week I picked this one off of ebay for what I thought seemed to be a good price. The biggest issue I've found since I received it is the uneven toe/heel wear. Seems someone got a bit heavy on the toe while honing at some point. No major rust, some pretty good patina, it looks as though this guy has spent alot of time closed. So now for the questions...

I've done some research but wanted to know what you guys thought...
How do I figure out how old this razor is?
I'm assuming it is a recently made one, the scales seem to be the original ones, and are in very good shape?
I feel like I should keep the original scales but at the same time I just don't see any appeal in these and am thinking about making new ones, so what process do you guys use in deciding on what type of scales to do?
I can already feel some slop in the pivot, I've tried to search for some good tubing to do the restore on the pivot hole but where do you guys get your tubing for this? Any tricks?
What is the best way to fix the wear along the toe? Bread knife it until I can get a decent balance along the heel?

I'm used to starting things from scratch so this bringing things back from being damaged is somewhat new to me, any help is appreciated.




Thanks!