old patina

Hi guys, I've god this razor a while ago and I was never sure whether I want to keep the patina or not. Shiny can be nice, but sometimes the patina adds character to these things. You'll see on one of the pictures few speckles of orange rist that will obviously will be going.
The wedge is ivory as well - not the best fit or may be the age got it a bit off. The scales have been repinned at some point so may be I'll enlist somebody's help to put a fiberglass cloth backing for the crack.

any thoughts on what should be her future?

I'd clean it up as much as possible. Looks like lots of tiny pits/water spots or something rather than a nice patina. You can make it shiny and then do a vinegar bath or something to get the patina back if you want. The scales look kind of rough around the wedge like they've been repaired and glued with something they shouldn't have used lol. Elmer's anyone? Anyway, I'm sure you can make it pretty again!

Shiny is nice, but this blade looks OLD, and I think the patina complements it well. Do what you must to insure the future health and functionality of the blade, but I wouldn't take it up to a satin finish or anything. Hold on to as much rustic beauty as you can!

I think patina looks good and when you hone the razor up you will get two strips of silver gleaming in the grey.

I don't know what happens to the old bone or ivory handles. Many have that crack in them. I wonder if it done by over tightening the pins and as the bone dries out when the razor is stored, it becomes more brittle and cracks.

It's a shame because they really set off well against the blade and they are so thin, light and just a perfect complement to the blade. For me at least, no modern material has come close...... yet. There are some plastics that almost match the old ivory but they are always thicker and have to be or they warp.

Gugi - Thanks for posting this. I've got a couple of old razors that are begging the same question. You can always replace bone or horn as that material is available, ivory not so easy, but it's hard to just wipe way the blade's patina unless maybe the pitting warrants it. After doing just a few restos I've decided the less steel removed the better.
Maybe consider pits as dead pixels on a LCD monitor - 5 in a 1" diameter and you bring out the abrasives - I mean for the razor ;)

Oh, damn! I starting sanding the dead pixel before I read the last note.....:eek:

I love patina on old blades. Having said that I suggest only a removal of the rust. It's gonna look great :)

That blade is old, old, old! The give away is the short stubby tang.

If you can find a restorer willing to work with the Ivory then that might be an option. To me, that razor is a collectible and should not be touched. Just oiled up and wiped down, gently.

Yes, this is rather old blade - the only record I've found of William Revitt (cutler in Sheffield) is that he was in operation in 1822 I believe. That's around the same time my John Barbers are from.
Alex - there's no glue on the scales - it's a gap between the wedge and the front scale, which has the chip. And they are not getting replaced with bone or anything else - just getting repaired. Traveller has a good suggestion for fixing ivory - a backing of the thinnest fiberglass cloth.
I've found that ivory is rather stable even when it's cracked, although on this particular razor the stress is a bit too much (from the taper at the shank) and combined with the repinning done in the past I think taking off the scales is warranted. I'll check with Gary since he seems to have some experience with this type of ivory repairs and I most certainly won't like to learn on this particular razor.

I certainly like to shave with my razors, so just keeping it in non shaving condition is not going to work for me. Randy I hope honing it up (with tape) does not decrease its collector's value.

In any case I thought you guys would have liked to see a razor that old and with that much character :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by gugi

Alex - there's no glue on the scales - it's a gap between the wedge and the front scale, which has the chip.

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Ahhh, I see it now. Pretty big gap? I like the idea of Gary's method to repair them. I ended up using an aluminum backing when I did an ivory repair that was basically the same. I'll link if you'd like. I think Gary would be the guy to send it to for the fiberglass cloth repair since he has all the necessary stuff lying around for his boats (I think!). I still say clean it up lol, I would.

Gugi looking at that real close from the pics it looks as though the crack is contained to the wedge area, if you just use a epoxy or resin and no cloth backing it should make a neater tighter repair. Basically
un-pin it, clean it up, then glass the two scales and the wedge together using the wedge as the backing instead of a piece of fiber cloth which will only add to the thickness of the repair.... That should give you a nice, neat, strong, repair....

That is a good idea, Glen, I guess having the wedge glued to one of the scales isn't bad, it will be pretty much invisible repair, and it will make it rather sound structurally.

One of the best people to talk to about the value as a collectible is Gary-Traveller. Ask him if honing would decrease the value.:shrug:

Hmmmm....

Just my humble opinion....

Old collectible razors should not be used as found if you want to maintain their collectible value.

Those scales will go downhill. A repair might even reduce the value.


If you really want to use the razor with those ivory scales, OK, but realize that at any time they could break or crack somewhere else, and so the value goes down more. You might be stropping away one morning and suddenly POP! and one scale breaks off completely at the pivot pin. It has happened to me several times.

Another approach, if you want to use AND collect, would be to drill the pins out and remove the ivory scales and put them in storage. Then make some new scales for the razor and then use it that way.

The razor won't go downhill as easily as the scales, and if at some point you decide you want to sell it, you can return the original scales to the razor and sell it.

Repairing the scales unlikely to increase the value of the razor, from what I have seen and read.

Purty razor. I agree with the statement about the tang. It puts it a little after 1800. Old and beautiful.

Paul