Recommendations for restoration on an heirloom razor.

I have recently been gifted this Mappin & Brothers by my father in law. It was my wife's great-grandfathers razor. As best as I can tell it is mid to late 1800's but I am not sure.

My goal is to keep the razor as original as possible. It does have a nice patina and I plan on just hitting it lightly with steel wool and Mothers polish. For the scales I am trying to figure out the best way to straighten them. I have read about using steam, boiling water, and a heat gun/hair drier with clamps and a jig to straighten them. I am just curious as to which heat source is safest and whether or not they should be soaked in Neatsfoot before they are straightened as well as after. My train of thought says both since it would be less brittle and less prone to breaking if they are well moisturized before straightening and then another soak after so it polishes up nice.

Anyways here are the pictures:
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Aside from the warp in the scales not bad. I would unpin the razor and straighten the scales (see video on this site). Lightly clean and polish the blade. Would not go too crazy with expense. Blade has considerable hone wear. Still should hone up OK for a nice shave. Good luck.

dont think it would hurt to soak them in neatsfoot before straightening. i found it works to put them in a zip lock bag, that way it doesn't take so much oil to cover them. i've had pretty good luck with a hair dryer on horn. just hold the heat on it while applying pressure with your fingers(over bend a little) and let it cool while holding in position. let it set over night before pinning as it might pop back a little and need to be straightened again.

Richard (Geezer) had a thread about rehydrating horn scales and having them straighten out without much effort. I can't find the thread right now. If I do come up with a link I'll post it in here. The oil in the ziploc is a very good day in my experience too. It looks like a service able razor. Are you saving it or shaving with it?

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Originally Posted by RezDog

Richard (Geezer) had a thread about rehydrating horn scales and having them straighten out without much effort. I can't find the thread right now. If I do come up with a link I'll post it in here. The oil in the ziploc is a very good day in my experience too. It looks like a service able razor. Are you saving it or shaving with it?

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I knew I have read about re-hydrating scales but could not find the thread. I am planning on unpinning the razor, giving the blade a light cleaning while preserving the patina, and doing what I can for the scales. While a full workup on the scales would be nice I really want to keep it as original as possible. If I do not have to unpin even better but completely within my skill set.

As it sits it will still treetop arm hair so before I do anything I am going to give it a good stropping and see where it is at. I am planning on using this razor occasionally but not in my regular routine. I have been looking for a family razor for a long time and am beside myself that I was gifted one.

give the scales a neetsfoot soak for a week, then using hot water heat the scales & manipulate them back straight.
light cleanup of the blade & hone it up
you can alos do this with the blade intact & just put it in a bag when you put it in the hot water, then I use an old cut up credit card to & pack it each side of the blade to straighten scales out, then while packed put it back the bag in hot water then remove & allow to cool while still packed, this can take a couple of shots but you don't need to unpin the blade & works fine for most blades

http://straightrazorpalace.com/forge...bout-horn.html

I would be very careful if using a hair dryer or heat gun on straightening the scales as I ruined a pair once after they got too hot, It was no big loss, I made them but still I was disappointed. Ever since I use boiling water & that works perfectly. I'll never use a hair dryer or heat gun again. They're too easy to damage that way. Just a little too much & the horn will be like melting plastic.