Thread: Looking for some advice

Hey everybody,

I’m a long time forum lurker and first time poster. I need a little advice I can’t seem to dig up and figured this would be the place to ask.

I switched over to a shavette from an electric about 8 months ago and have gotten pretty proficient. I stated with the shavette because it took the honing and stropping out of the equation so I could focus only on technique.

Now I’m moving up thanks to a gift from my grandpa. He was a Barber for more than 50 years and had this old dubl duck satin wedge he wanted to give me. This razor has not been used for quite some time as he switched over to a shavette because so few people wanted a shave in his shop anymore and it was just more efficient to have the replaceable blades.

In comparison to some of the projects I’ve seen, this seems to be in solid shape. Here are my issues. The blade has some kind of staining going on evidenced in little spots. There is no pitting but it is scratched up from a life of use in the shop before it was put away.

It is sharp enough to cut arm hair but pulls and seems in desperate need of honing. There are two very small nicks in the blade maybe a quarter inch in from the point. No chips but it does need some work.

Is this something I could tackle myself or should I send it in to a professional? I am handy have done some metalworking but never any sharpening. I don’t have any stones or sharping stuff at the moment but plan to get some as I will need them in the future.

Any thoughts on how I can get it back to life and back in action would be appreciated.

Looking forward to any recommendations. Thanks!

First of all welcome!
Great heirloom, and dubl ducks are nice shavers.
You could remove most stains with some Maas and 001 steel wool. Honing wise I'd personaly send it out. From what I can see you've got quite a bit of hone wear and a frown. Your going to have to remove quite a bit of steel to a decent edge, someone with more restoration experience than me can give you more help.

Good luck

Mark

Yep, that frown is going to take a bit of work to hone out. What part of the state are you in?

welcome, you've come to the right place. definitely have an expert hone that for you (it's not as easy as they make it look). there are honemeisters listed in the classifieds and maybe someone will chime in from your area and offer to help! Do you have a strop? that would be something else you'll need to help maintain your edge.

Once the classifieds are back up and running due to maintenance, look there and contact some of the honers there. THey will be able to clean up the blade and hone it properly. This is not a project for someone learning, especially on a heirloom.

I'm in central Il. Virden about 20 min south of Springfield. I was leaning toward the professional route and you all cemented that idea. That way i can start fresh with something i know if done right. I do have an Illinois strop I ordered on the way.