Which way to go

I'm hoping for some input here.Should this beauty be left as is or dressed up? That is, fully polished and rescaled.

Well personally I'd just polish it up and leave it as is. Are the scales in good shape structurally?

James.

I saw a razor that looked a lot like this one at a recent Ft. Worth razor gathering. I think as I recall it had embossed horn or wood scales, and looked really old.

All I could think was, yes, new scales would look decent, but man, leave those things alone! Clean them up, definitely clean up the blade, but leave the worn scales if they are in good shape and work well. Those are cool, and unless they are busted or cheesy, I would leave them alone. It just exudes antique, and history and charm.

Just my 2c.

K

PM Joe Chandler for his opinion. He polished up some pressed horn scales for me recently, and they look great. Of course, they don't have the fill color that those have, but that might be repairable as well.

I agree, just have her polished up! It's hard to come by pressed horn with gold inlay, especially in that condition.

All in all, that razor is in amazing shape with a great set of scales.
Just make her shinney, hone her up, and let her be. (OH, and shave with her of course :D)

Save your custom scaling for blades that have poor scales or boring plastic........

C utz

Well, Thanks for your input. I've cleaned the scales with 4/0 steel wool, and applied a touch of neats foot oil. The edge came right up with very few strokes on the hone. We'll give her a shot in the morning.

I'm all for leave that puppy alone... but hey I'm from the dark side :p

Leave as it is if the scales are good .
All my old razors have the original scales on & I get a real buzz from using something thats old and original so I wouldn't rescale unless I had to.
It looks just great as it is.Paul

+1 for seeking Joe Chandlers thoughts

It's a stunning razor in very good condition... a real find.

Greg Frazer

+3 on leaving it alone. It'll be fine as is.

Mine is the razor from the Ft Worth meeting, a W&B Diamond Edge, and at first I thought that's what yours was, too, though I'd say yours is in a lot nicer condition. I'd love to see an "after pic" of what your scales look like now.
BTW I am anxiously waiting for my own Wolsterholm,Torrey and Cadman from a recent ebay purchase look like in person!