Two Questions on this one.

First off, the frosted metal is too thin to buff but how do I clean it. I can accept any damage I cannot fix to maintain the frosted metal but I do want to do what I can. Any suggestions (see first pic).

Second, I was originally told these scales were horn but I've never worked with or actually held horn so I'm not sure. There is a raised stamp on the inside of one scale with the letters "J.V"

The way these scales are cracking on the inside looks like something I've seen on plastics before. Do these look like horn, Does horn get cracks this way as well, any suggestions for fixing it?

You'll probably have to leave the blade to preserve the etch, but you could chance polish. Do it by hand & check frequently.
That does look like horn to me. It can be prone to de lamination & cracking. Personally, I'd fill the cracks with CA, then sand flat. After that you can let them soak in neatsfoot oil overnight.
The next stage would be to sand them up & then buff them, if you have access to a buffer. Even from that condition, they should be transformed.

I would just leave the frosted side alone; that stuff is fragile. For scales, I also play "better safe than sorry," which is largely a result of my ignorance due to lack of experimentation. I would just coat them with some neats using a qtip, sit them to soak it up (probably mounted or pressed to ensure they don't warp), and call it at day.

Yep, frosting is fragile. Polish may remove the frosting. Soap and water is about all you could use on it w/o lose. May be possible to scrape rust off with a disposable single edge razor but it may scratch the frosting as rust is an abrasive and the scraping razor may damge the finish.

Also looks like horn by the splintering. Pics are not the best. Crazy glue or the like, maybe CA may hold it in place. Neets is a good suggestion.

Damn Baron, where do you keep getting these oblique points!?

Etching or no etching, those points are my favourite and that looks great as is.

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Originally Posted by Scipio

Damn Baron, where do you keep getting these oblique points!?

Etching or no etching, those points are my favourite and that looks great as is.

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Lucky antique shop finds.

As for the frost I think I will stick with soap and water and see how that does.

Do you think a toothbrush to scrub it would damage the frosting?

very easy way of checking if its horn, is to heat a pin red hot and lightly stich the tip in the inside fothe scales close to one of the pin holes. If its horn it will smell similar to burnt hair.

can anyone tell me if this product will work for horn...

NEATSFOOT OIL 8 oz. 81100 BLUE RIBBON PRODUCTS INC.

it's the only neatsfoot oil at my local Ace but it says it contains oils and I wasn't sure if I needed to find pure neatsfoot.

When they say oil..s I think they mean it has mineral oil added. I have used straight mineral oil (baby oil) on buffalo horn scales and it worked fine.

Thank you everyone for your help on this one, I used CA glue, then sanded, then neats foot oil and successfully restored the horn scales.

I also cracked the scales while pinning the razor but I simply used CA glue in the crack, pulled the pin. After letting the glue to dry over night I re-sanded and re pinned. You can't find the crack in the scales and the scales look great...

http://straightrazorpalace.com/custo...inal-horn.html

Lovely job! In your finished pictures you can tell by the edges of the scales that they are horn, but you don't often see raised characters on the inside of them, usually just a lot of rough rasp marks. The raised characters show that the horn was softened and pressed into a mould. It is said to be one of the first thermoplastic materials.

Regards,
Neil

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Scipio

Damn Baron, where do you keep getting these oblique points!?

Etching or no etching, those points are my favourite and that looks great as is.

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Yup, those oblique points are pretty sweet looking...

Make sure to post photos of it after the clean up!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BingoBango

Yup, those oblique points are pretty sweet looking...

Make sure to post photos of it after the clean up!

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I just posted pictures for the mappin if you look 3 posts back. the other is sitting in queue behind a few others.