Thread: Tortise

How do you condition tortise shell scales? Neatsfoot oil? I do not have any experience with tortise shell.

It depends on the condition of the scales. Most true Tortoise (if it is truly that) you find in razors is really old stuff and it suffers from bug bites or mouse bites and cracks and general deterioration. I wouldn't be using any oil on it. Polishing is all it takes but you have to be careful cause it's delicate stuff. I'd try some cape cod polishing clothes and go really slow and easy.

I'm sure others will come along with other suggestions.

Tortoise used to be hard to spell....That's dyed/mottled horn.
Oil, Yes! I personally would go with mineral oil. Incremental .
Neat old razor!

Smash some q-tips and get it between the scales as well.

Originally Posted by sharptonn

That's dyed/mottled horn.
...
Neat old razor!

Good catch. And yes, nice razor !

And yes, I concur, while tortoise can have defects, it's bug bites or breaks mostly, it's never dry, or flaking, at least from what I've seen so far. A little buffing suffices if it's lost its sheen.
And while a bit more fragile than horn regarding shocks, it's much more plastic and can handle different stresses.

I think Tom is right though, that looks like dye mottled horn. Some faux tortoise is hard to distinguish from the real thing but one way to tell is that genuine tortoise spots go through the shell while faux spots are just on the surface. If the dyer was very skilled and thorough they can make it appear to go through. I have had some (on a razor just like that one coincidentally) that I really thought was genuine shell. It wasn't until I had it apart that I could see that it was fauxed (sp?...is "fauxed" a word?...). Also genuine shell spot tend to darken over time and sort of bleed, or give that effect.

Not to slight your razor because it is really very nice but, (and please correct me if I'm wrong here) from what I have seen tortoise was mainly used on very high end pieces, what one might call "luxury razors." Sort of the same class as ivory.

I hope it does turn out to be shell as that is a cool and very rare find.

KISS -

That razor would be dumped as it sits into my Tupperware of Neats Foot Oil I would leave it in there at LEAST 3 days before I did anything else,,

No it won't hurt the steel, Yes it will decrease the chances of those Horn scales cracking it you decide to depin/repin

Is it Tortoise or Dyed Horn?

The general consensus is it's horn.