Thread: Restoring My Grandfather's Razor

Originally Posted by kenneyty

Welcome Santora -
Stiff opening and closing is good. Don't oil it. When you're done that thing will be very sharp and you don't want it flopping open.
What you will use to clean it up depends on what final results you want. If you're looking for a perfect mirror finish, you've got a lot of work ahead of you. Best first bet is to use some MAAS polishing compound. See where that gets you. That'll get rid of the tarnish and any light blemishes and you'll have a better idea of what you're looking at.

For rust, you'll need to sand it out which could mean going all the way down to 200 grit depending on the rust. Start higher, because you can always go lower.

Check out the restoration forum here (the Workshop) for some complete restoration walk-throughs

The only reason I asked about oiling, is because I fear that corrosion has gotten in-between the pivot pin. And maybe that would help clear it up a little without having to take it apart. And then once I clear it up, let the oil dry up and get it stiff again. Does that make sense?

But as you say, I was right with my first thought about hitting it with some sand paper. Starting with fine grit. I got some 1800 grit which I could start out with.

We all love the family heirloom razors here! Everyone wishes they had one, but there not too common. It doesn't look like there's that much work to be done on your's. It's in good shape.
I'd take Glen's advice if i were you, but if you do work on it, nothing drastic & don't remove the scales.
If you get it honed, you can still have a great shave out of it till you're ready to restore it.

Originally Posted by ben.mid

We all love the family heirloom razors here! Everyone wishes they had one, but there not too common. It doesn't look like there's that much work to be done on your's. It's in good shape.
I'd take Glen's advice if i were you, but if you do work on it, nothing drastic & don't remove the scales.
If you get it honed, you can still have a great shave out of it till you're ready to restore it.

This is just what I've been wanting to hear about this razor. i just have to clean it up a little. Nothing drastic.

Cool.

But it does need a good cleaning. This thing hasn't been used in a good 50 years.

But I do have to learn how to hone it myself.

It looks like I've found the right place for help on this.

Outstanding!

There's nothing wrong with learning to hone it yourself, but I think you've got the right idea buying some other blades on ebay to learn on.

As you said, that razor has very little monetary value, and if it was just an old razor you happened to have in a drawer, I'd say it was a perfect candidate for learning on.

Since it's a personal family heirloom, I'd either buy some trash blades off ebay to learn with, and THEN hone that one, or if you want it shave ready sooner, send it to glen or max. They're very reasonably priced, and I'm sure I'm not speaking out of turn when I say that either one would be honored to hone a family heirloom for you.

Then you enjoy using it, while learning to hone on ebay trash. The next time it needs honing, you'll be ready.

Learn to hone on something that you don't care too much about. And you need a benchmark razor as well. OR you could just forgoe honing and let the pros handle it.

Honestly, I would just send it to Glen or Max. Their prices are reasonable and they'll hone it for you too. Cleaning a razor isn't exactly easy, even though I make it sound like it is. Not rocket science either, but like Glen said, you can't replace it if you **** up.

What I would do is send that one to a restorer for cleaning and honing. Then buy something to practice honing on. If you can't find one, I can dig something out of my razor pile. That way, when you get your grandfather's razor back, you'll have a benchmark against which to measure your own honing progress.

Alternatively, buy a shave ready straight from the classfiieds and patiently wait until you have the skill to restore the razor with no chance of a screwup. Obviously, the downside is a lot of wasted time if you decide you don't even like restoration. Plus, you run the risk of oxidation eating away more of the razor as it sits there. Not a problem if your in AZ like me, where the humidity is zero %, but a large problem near the coast.

I would go with option 1.

Beautiful razor man. I have an old DE gellette of my Great-Grandfather's that I am using now, until I get a shave ready straight razor. I am jumping into the restoring of some old razors, practicing on the ones that I will never use, and then using the techniques that work on the one that I hope to use someday...its a long process, but relaxing and enjoyable. The learning curve is all part of the fun.

OK why can I not load this razor????
Heck I try at work later....

The pictures look pretty good, the patina of age is nice. Take the advice of these guys and post it off to a pro for honeing and you could be getting great shaves with it in two weeks, how cool would that be!

I dunno if this helps gss, but i'll give it a go anyway