Thread: 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: