Thread: The JR has me stumped.

So i got this razor. Its in the original box, and is in pretty good condition with what i believe are real tortoise shell scales and i really don't know what to do with it. It has some chips missing from the handles, but it closes straight and the hardware seems to be holding up fine with no major detrimental rust anywhere.

The blade needs a sanding IMO, and a polish, but i just wanted to throw this out to you guys as to what you think would be the best process for restoring this razor. Should i just sharpen it up and use it? Can the scales be touched up? Should i take the whole razor down and clean it?

I guess i'm a little apprehensive about jumping in on this one because it just looks like it could be a beauty and i don't want to botch the job.

Any advice will be most welcomed.

Looks like dyed horn to me. As you sand them you will lose the color as it's only on the surface of the horn. If you are an adventurist someone posted how to re-dye scales using hair dye. Just do a search. It has been one of those things I've been going to try but just haven't gotten to yet. As to the blade you are the best judge of your skills. A wedge has a lot of metal to work with and with a full restore there should be no pitting left except maybe in the area of the makers stamp. It's all about how far you want to take it and do you have the skill to do it without wiping out all the profile details of the blade.
If you have never attempted a restore before I think it's a good one to start with. Near wedge, single shoulder, lots of straight lines. Go to the Workshop how to section. Read all you can before you start. It's a journey as they say.
Good Luck,
Karl

If you do restore, do take your time and save those collars, they are nice ones that will clean up nicely. Polish them on the razor before unpinning, 0000 steel wool and WD40 and metal polish.

Un-pin with a pin vice, by hand, or a Dremel and fine dental ball bit at slow speed. Drill press will ruin them, unless you are very good and careful.

Yes, they look like dyed horn, and can be re dyed with leather or hair dye. Zack, Voidmonster made a post on it a few years ago. Super glue and some horn dust, will fill any voids and match nicely.

Sand the inside of the scales and or when sanding the outside, over a tray with a clean sheet of paper to collect the dust and add to the super glue. Use tape on the back and sides to make a dam to hold and form the glue.

The blade looks very good with possibly some light rust at the pivot.

It should clean up nicely, take your time. Nice find and with the box, Cool.

Here you go: http://straightrazorpalace.com/works...rn-scales.html

Awesome replies. Thanks gentlemen. I figured i would reach a point where i had a set of scales that were a little beat up that i actually wanted to save. Up until now they have all been throw aways.. at least for me. I will definitely hand sand the blade. I wasn't sure if i wanted to knock the pins out or not. I've gotten very good at saving the washers using a burr for a pilot hole and a pin vice. I guess i need to work up the courage to take this one apart. Ill be doing it slowly... after lots of reading. I would love to fix up the scales so thanks for pointing me in the right direction and letting me know what material im working with.

This forum never lets me down. Thank you sirs.

Honestly you can start with a soak in neetsfoot oil to moisturize the scales. Beyond that you can clean and polish the blade if you like or just leave it. If you want to go all the way, I agree to go slow and save everything possible. Clean hone and shave is the most simple. There is no need to do it right away either. Shave with it for a while and see what it tells you?

The razor looks good and the scales sound. If it were mine i would clean the blade and scales then soak in neetsfoot oil as Rezdog advised the hone and use. I like the antique look after all it is an antique.

Originally Posted by RezDog

Honestly you can start with a soak in neetsfoot oil to moisturize the scales. Beyond that you can clean and owlish the blade if you like or just leave it. If you want to go all the way, I agree to go slow and save everything possible. Clean hone and shave is the most simple. There is no need to do it right away either. Shave with it for a while and see what it tells you?

Rez every time you talk me into doing less it works out for the best. I will try the neatsfoot soak and I will start with my standard cleanup with a toothbrush and soap. I think i might just sand and polish the face of the blade it self just to remove those scuff marks. The tang and tail are getting Crox on felt and some Maas. Ill clean up the hardware in place as well and clean up around the pins with some WD40 and floss. Ill get it shaving (full wedge.. maybe 5 layers of tape?) and then maybe down the road i can fix up the scales if this blade pleases me. Ive gone over some of the information above regarding how to fix these up and it looks like it would be a fun project to tackle eventually. Well see..

That's the plan for now.

From the photos there's not much of hone wear. 5 layers of tape is quite a lot if the wears not there. Of course you can all ways take tape off after you start. It all depends on how narrow an edge you want. I like the full wedges and that one looks good.

http://straightrazorpalace.com/honin...challenge.html
The link is to a thread about honing a very worn old wedge. That razor was honed with five layers in that thread you will see Glen make a reference to the width of the hone wear and how it relates to how many layers of tape required. There are also links to table for figuring out blade width and thickness and how many layers of tape required to achieve the desired bevel angle. I would likely use two or one layers on that blade. It is hard for me to decide without the blade in hand. You can easily be surprised by how small of a bevel some of those old unworn wedges have with only a single layer of tape.