Thread: Help with a Dubl Duck WE

Hey there everyone. I'm new to the forums, and definitely new to restoring the old straights. I picked up a slightly beat up old Dubl Duck Wonderedge from an antique shop for quite a good price($13), and I'm wondering whether it's worth trying to restore, and maybe where to start.

Any input would be excellent!!




It has a few dings in the blade, plus one of the scales is broken and it has quite a bit of a wobble.

Any thoughts?

Man, that blade is really rough. If it were not a Wonderedge then I would tell you to throw it in the garbage, but I just don't know with that one. It can likely be made to shave again with enough work, but there is a lot of wear and corrosion that is not going away.

Rust and corrosion can always be taken out if you are willing to put in the work and uneven wear can be overcome however bad rust at the edge is the achilles heel to me. Forgetting about the chips on the edge there is alot of rust there and some looks bad. You will have to hone all the way back to good metal assuming there is some and you may wind up with a 4/8s or less. You might just want to use that as a practice razor for surface repair. I hope you didn't pay much for it.

I only paid $13 for it. I'd really like for it to be usable, or at least presentable. Even if it's something I can't do then maybe trade it/sell it to someone who would be able to give it the time it needs to be so. Other than the edge, it's in really quite beautiful condition. It still even has most of the little swirly pattern under the Dubl Duck logo on the tang.

IMHO, that razor is toast. Massive rusting along the edge is a definite no go plus it has already been honed to death. It is nothing more than a restoration practice razor. Welcome to the learning curve. Never buy a razor with rust along the edge unless it is an 7/8 or 8/8. Always look for the amount of hone wear along the spine /16" is about the maximum and the wear should be even, not wider in some areas than others. Always check for a hidden cracked blade, it will look like a small vertical line starting at the edge.

Hope this helps,

Great info here and NOT just particular to the WE
THanks

+1 on it being toast IMO. Deep pitting in that one area right on the edge. Pitting to me is no big deal in the hollows or upward because it can either be sanded out or reduced. However, think of that rust cluster on the edge as being heavily pitted underneath. Even if you get the rust off the edge, the pits remain. In my experience when I've tried to hone such a razor, at the actual edge where the two planes meet those pits just become reoccurring jagged serrations that make for a less than comfortable to downright uncomfortable shaves.

Plus with the tip of the one scale completely gone from the pivot pin to the tip, you'd have to look for a replacement scale to match of course.

Chris L

Thanks a lot for the info guys. It didn't cost too much, so I'm not too worried. Not to mention that it's a WE, so at least it can be part of the collection(kinda). You guys are amazingly helpful.

Originally Posted by randydance062449

Always look for the amount of hone wear along the spine /16" is about the maximum and the wear should be even, not wider in some areas than others.

This does not apply at all to wedges in my opinion. I'm not sure Randy was taking wedges into account anyway, just felt like I should throw this out there.

Originally Posted by Philadelph

This does not apply at all to wedges in my opinion. I'm not sure Randy was taking wedges into account anyway, just felt like I should throw this out there.

Correct. Thanks for bringing up that point. As a further clarification it does apply to the small single concave grind razors like a 3/8 & 4/8. If the rusted edge is honed back a person just may have only a 5/16 or 7/16! That would be a beach to hone! I have done the 7/16 and it is very easy to "stub" the edge,....no fun.