Thread: W. Greaves Pressed Horn - Restore Suggestions?

Ok. I’ve done a 1st cleaning.

I used diluted Simple Grean and q-tips on the scales. Then some flitz. They almost looked black, but they are brown:







The blade has some heavy pitting, esp in 2nd pic. Also, some diagonal sanding marks in pic 2 - is it possible that this is original grinding marks?

I haven’t gotten to do anymore work on my razor. But, I did find some information about it dating it to 1810.

This razor is pictured on the Henry T. Lummus article on old Sheffiled razors. The description for razor F: date 1810. Maker, William Greaves, Sheffield 1780-1816. Inscription, "W.GREAVES, WARRANTED" handle, black horn, pressed to show fox hunt.

I've repaired horn scales like that.






No liner..!!

Originally Posted by outback

I've repaired horn scales like that.
...snip...

No liner..!!

Mike did you use some kind of stabilizer bars of some kind inside? I always worry it's gonna snap off on fixes of cross breaks like that..

Nope...just structural epoxy n Big oak, dust.

I gave it quite a bit of bending, and didn't break. And gets even stronger over time. Blends real well with black horn, and will take hair dye, if its needed. Those scales were polished, so I had to put a top coat of CA over the repair.
Epoxy doesn't polish up.....

I still haven’t picked back up on this project. But I did find a pre-Sheafworks Greaves & Sons razor to go with it.

This one looks like it’s in good shape. The scales are dry and maybe delaminated. Based on the earlier thread posts, I am going to soak it in neatsfoot oil before doing anything else.

Before pictures:

I polished the razor blade and scales and Renwaxed them. I didn’t sand the scales, beause I like the grain in the horn. It seems to adds to the vintage look.

Honed up for tomorrow morning.

I like the grain when it looks like that too. A little with the grain with 0000 steel wool and oil is all they ever get.

I fixed a savage double thumb notch I had with a missing wedge end on the pressed side. No way was I losing pressed savage scales as they are like hen's teeth so I took a wrecked piece of scale from an 1830s razor that was almost visually identical, shaped the join to maximize contact, fused it with devcon 2 ton epoxy reshaped it, lubed the horn, drilled it out and it has been fine ever since. It came out very well for having no machines to help.

KCB, that looks really great.

I got a good shave in this morning. This was the oldest blade I've ever shaved with. At least 195 years old - based on the following:

Manufacturer: William Greaves
Other Names: William Greaves & Sons, W. Greaves & Sons, B.J. Eyre & Company (1850)
Dates in Production: 1780-1858
1780-1816 - Willliam Greaves
1816-1823 - William Greaves & Sons
1823-1826 - Sheaf Works