Thread: Barber’s Notch Razors, with partial restorations, and some questions.

Greetings everyone,

I’m a newbie here, having only started shaving with a straight razor about a month ago. I purchased a couple of eBay razors and sharpened them up, then bought a new pre-sharpened Dovo. Those are the razors I have been shaving with, but now I’m moving on to more interesting designs.

I recently picked up three Barber’s notch razors on eBay, two Wade & Butchers and a J.R. Torrey. The first two razors I received in the mail were the Wade & Butcher “Celebrated Hollow Ground Razor” and the Torrey razor. Both razors had quite a bit of rust in the pivot area, so I unpinned the handle and cleaned off the rust. I removed all of the rust, polished the blades, and cleaned up the handles. Since I like the handles, horn for the Wade & Butcher, and celluloid for the Torrey, I reinstalled the blades in them using 1-72 stainless screws. I have included some before and after pictures of the razors. Unfortunately, I forgot to take photos before I started cleaning up, so I had to use the images from the eBay auctions.

The questions I have for you guys are, is there a consensus on how far you should go in cleaning/restoring a razor? For the first two I cleaned up, I removed all of the rust and any pitting near the edge. Otherwise, I didn’t bother trying to remove all the other pits. I intend to shave with these razors, so the pitting didn’t bother me. Now, however, I wondering if I just did a half-a$$ed job?

If someone says that a razor is “restored”, would that mean that it’s cleaned up to the point of looking brand new? What about the handles, would you typically keep the original handles if they are in good shape? And, speaking of handles, is it undesirable to unpin the handles if not absolutely necessary?

In the past, my main concentration was on knives. While I’m not a big collector, I have learned that “cleaning up” an old knife is considered sacrilege by many collectors. If you do much more than preventing further deterioration, you have probably ruined the value of the knife. With straight razors, I would appear that is not the case. Please correct me if I’m wrong.

These questions bring me to my second Wade & Butcher, which came in the mail today. It’s not a bad off as the other two I worked on, and I can probable get it all cleaned up without unpinning the blade. What degree of clean up/restoration would you guys suggest for this razor?

Thanks for any insights you can offer.

Here are a couple more pictures of the second Wade & Butcher, which I couldn't fit into the first post. In the second picture, you can see some rust along the spine and near the pin. I think I can get it cleaned up without unpinning. Of course, unpinning would make cleanup faster and easier...

And just for the heck of it, here are a couple more pictures of the first two razors.

You did a wonderful job!

Speaking only for myself, there are two major avenues to take with a razor: one is a restoration with eventual sale to a collector; the other is restoration for use. If you are restoring it for your own use, then you do what you need to do in order to make it the most functional for shaving (and your own aesthetic pleasure). I like using the original scales, because I like the idea of it being as 'original' as possible -- but if they accidentally break, I'm usually not too torn up about it, and will make a new set of scales, because I'm after a razor I can shave with. (Of course, it'd be different with that funky striped swayback I saw on ebay, but I wouldn't buy a $300 razor anyway).

The other road to take, of course, is that of a collector, who wants original everything. I don't know much about that path, although I can respect it, but it's not mine. I'm in this for the shaving.

I think you've done a really fine job, and the goal for most folks here (I think) is an aesthetically pleasing razor that also shaves well. I know the W&Bs will shave well -- and they look mighty fine to my eye (although I prefer the look of pins -- but that's another personal preference). I'd be happy to have those in my collection!

I suspect that some folks will disagree, and as the kids say, YMMV.

cass

I'm not knowledgeable in the restoration area but I know what I like. I prefer original scales and pins. If the scales were damaged I would have them replaced. I shave with many blades that are in the same condition of your latest W&B. I hit them with a bit of semi chrome and a paper towel and that is my restoration.

I wouldn't mind having them cleaned up as well as you have done the others but I would not go out of my way to have it done and rust in the pivot area never bothered me. I am an old pocketknife collector so maybe that is where I got the mindset from. You did a great job on the cleaning and polishing on those.

Do what you did on the others. As a collectors item, it is not worth near as much as it is fully restored.

I personally like an old razor to look a little like an old razor. I have a new (to me) Dubl Duck that has an awesome patina on it that I would really love to keep, but also has a little bit of rusting so I may have to lose the patina to keep the blade.

But, I also like to have my razors look a little different from one another. There is only so many black cellulose handles you can look at before they all begin to blend together.

I guess it boils down to your purpose for the razor, do you plan on selling it for a profit? Restoring it because you like the process? Or are you looking for a daily shaver?

My personal belief is that if you don't need to pop the pins on a vintage razor then it should be left that way...

Cleaning and restoring to as close as possible to the day they left the factory is an art, and IMHO a little harder then breaking them down....

Now if the scales are shot, or the plain slick black style, then I see no reason not to break them down and do a custom restore on them...

IMHO razor restoration is the art of taking an edge nobody wants and rendering it useful or desirable in some way. Some fellows like to recycle old razors into knives and other tools and I believe this qualifies as razor restoration also. The definition, however, is not important.

If you have worked on an old razor and got it to the point where you would consider it improved, then you did well. If you've worked on it and think you've obtained perfection, then you're dreaming. Perfection is a direction, not a destination.

Originally Posted by floppyshoes

IMHO razor restoration is the art of taking an edge nobody wants and rendering it useful or desirable in some way. Some fellows like to recycle old razors into knives and other tools and I believe this qualifies as razor restoration also. The definition, however, is not important.

If you have worked on an old razor and got it to the point where you would consider it improved, then you did well. If you've worked on it and think you've obtained perfection, then you're dreaming. Perfection is a direction, not a destination.

You forgot something. "Lemember Glasshopper, perfection is a direction, not a destination."

You did a great job! I would clean up the second W&B just like the others. They seem flawless.
By the way, I own a similar W&B (like the one not cleaned up).