Thread: Is this a good candidate for 1st restore?

Hey guys, I'm still an SR noob, but coming along nicely. I currently have 1 New Boker (Arbolito), another new Boker (Elite) sitting at the post office waiting to be delivered, an 1850-1890 Geo Wostenholm & Son from the classifieds here sold by wolfpack34, and a 1900-1930 Worcester also from wolfpack, but have been looking for a razor to try my hand at restoring. I wanted something that was in fairly good restorable shape to start with, but at a decent price in case I don't do a very good job.

Here is what I came up with:











Wow, I just noticed while uploading these pix that there are no pix of the back side of the blade. I can't believe I didn't notice that before. Hope that isn't a costly rookie mistake.

Anyway, I paid $30 shipped. Do you think I got a fair price? Assuming the back side of the blade is similar to the front, does this look like a good candidate for a restore? I plan to do all the sanding/polishing by hand.

Any thoughts or advice would be much appreciated.

By the way, any guesses as to the era this came from? I'm guessing that from the style of the engraving on the tang, that it's early/mid 1900s, but purely a guess.

Thanks,
Murf

I think this is a perfect candidate for restore. I think it really just needs some honing, the rest is nice patina.

Originally Posted by mainaman

I think this is a perfect candidate for restore. I think it really just needs some honing, the rest is nice patina.

Really? You wouldn't clean it up at all? I guess it would be cool to have something that looks it's age as long as it's structurally sound and shaves well. And if the Wosty I have is any indication, it should have that ability. I definitely don't like the over buffed razors I see on ebay.

Originally Posted by murf

Really? You wouldn't clean it up at all? I guess it would be cool to have something that looks it's age as long as it's structurally sound and shaves well. And if the Wosty I have is any indication, it should have that ability. I definitely don't like the over buffed razors I see on ebay.

It has such nice patina I think it is worth saving.
Now if you want to make it shiny, then it will clean up pretty easy I think.

Originally Posted by mainaman

It has such nice patina I think it is worth saving.
Now if you want to make it shiny, then it will clean up pretty easy I think.

Well, now you have me thinking I may just clean it like I would a vintage DE razor, get it honed and possibly have the pins tightened or replaced if it even needs that, and call it good...hmmmm...

OK, so next question. If I do decide just to clean it up a bit and leave the patina, does anybody know if Scrubbing Bubbles would be safe? That is my method of choice on vintage DE and SE razors, but would it hurt the scales on a straight assuming these are plastic?

I'm solidly in the save the patina camp. An even gray coating with little or no black spotting is pretty rare and you've got one. I was lucky enough to get one once too and also lucky to be brought round to see the value of it.

Originally Posted by Hart

I'm solidly in the save the patina camp. An even gray coating with little or no black spotting is pretty rare and you've got one. I was lucky enough to get one once too and also lucky to be brought round to see the value of it.

Wow! That's Beautiful! I'm affraid mine might have a couple of little spots on the toe of the second picture that may be rust forming. They look a bit red to me. How would I go about removing that without ruining the patina?

If I did decide to clean and polish I would be careful. I cleaned ok but when I went to polish I got a little to rough and the blade cracked. but then again it was a extra hollow ground . little to almost no pressure with simi-crome (probably not spelled right) and a cotton cloth would brighten it up a lot. if left with the panita in tack it would look good also. nice razor.

Murf,

You have a lovely razor

+++1 on leaving the patina !!

I have two (2) Wade & Butcher 'For Barbers Use', 8/8 : I had one 'restored', and instantly regretted it

The blade and scales had been superbly polished and finished, but all trace of 'character' had gone - it looked like a brand new razor - not a bad thing in itself, but when compared with its twin and its lovely patina, I felt it had lost something

Have fun

Best regards

Russ