Thread: A few questions for the learned...

Hi all,

I was hoping someone could help me...

I have an old Birko No 50, I picked it up for $15 and it's in pretty good shape but I would like to make it shiny and glorious again.

Firstly, the scales are celluloid but there does not appear any cell rot damage to the blade, there is however some engraving in the scales I would like to remove, I assume the original owner did so as to make sure no-one pinched his razor. Can I sand out the name without causing the scales to begin to rot?

Also I'm not sure if they blade was originally blued and has now faded, can anyone verify this from the photos?

If yes, is there a way to restore the bluing?

There looks to be "Birko Best" with the crown motif between the words on the front of the blade, can I bring the blade up shiny if it was originally a silver colour without losing this? My usual method is using sandpaper in increasingly finer increments but that would surely remove any hope of keeping the design.

The wear on the spine is particular even but the toe is shorter than the heel and the edge looks like a wave, like a combination of a very very faint frown and a smile. The heel and the toe roll upwards but the middle of the blade shows a larger bevel than the ends, it is pretty flat realistically but you know...

your help and input is always appreciated!