In need of repair advice for new beauty

Hi All,

I got a much awaited package in the mail today. I got a beautiful old razor for a song on the bay; clearly the fella didn't know much about straight razors, or the price would have been significantly higher.

Now, this by no means implies that I'm an expert, by any means; in fact, I need some advice about the best way to fix the old beauty up. One scale is cracked at the wedge, where the peen has obviously rusted. I can take it apart and repeen, but I'm not sure what would be best to use to fix the crack. I'm also not entirely sure if it's wood or horn, though I'm hoping someone can make an educated guess on that.

What I know about the razor comes from what I could find in the wiki database. Apparently, as the blade itself says, the razor is a W. H. Greaves & Sons, and I think it's from some time in between 1826-1858. It's a full wedge, or the closest thing to it, and a 6/8. As you can see, there's some minor pitting on the edge, which will have to be honed out, but nothing catastrophic. Some active rust, but also not mission critical.

One more question before the razor porn flows: any advice on honing a wedge, such as this? It may be in the wiki--I haven't checked yet; this is my first wedge, though, so any tips and tricks are certainly welcome.

On to the eye candy:

http://straightrazorpalace.com/membe...7-img-1286.jpg

http://straightrazorpalace.com/membe...4-img-1279.jpg

http://straightrazorpalace.com/membe...3-img-1277.jpg

http://straightrazorpalace.com/membe...5-img-1281.jpg

http://straightrazorpalace.com/membe...6-img-1284.jpg

Sorry about the poor quality of the last one; photography isn't a real hobby of mine...

Thanks, all!

if you have no experience honing razors, end it out to a honemeister.
Floppyshoes hones in Canada.

The crack in the scale is at a bad place. You can try using epoxy to glue it or use a liner underneath to stabilize it. I have doubts about glue though.

As far as the razor goes from my angle it doesn't appear to be a true wedge. However if you have no experience don't practice on that. Send it out.

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Originally Posted by mainaman

if you have no experience honing razors, end it out to a honemeister.
Floppyshoes hones in Canada.

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Sorry, to clarify, I do hone all of my own razors--I've just never honed a wedge.

Thanks, thebigspendur; I kinda had my doubts on gluing it as well; I get the feeling it would crack again when I repeen it. I could always just make a new set of scales for it, but I feel bad moving away from the original scales on a razor this age (provided that I'm right on the age...)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Vulcan500rider

Sorry, to clarify, I do hone all of my own razors--I've just never honed a wedge.

Thanks, thebigspendur; I kinda had my doubts on gluing it as well; I get the feeling it would crack again when I repeen it. I could always just make a new set of scales for it, but I feel bad moving away from the original scales on a razor this age (provided that I'm right on the age...)

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A possible fix for the scales is to line them with thin sheet of brass or aluminum. You can also make new thinner wedge and line the scales only to match the wedge, this way you have lined wedge but the liner is keeping the scales together.
For honing try 2 layers of tape and see how it goes, be prepared to spend some time setting the bevel.

Strokes for honing a razor - Straight Razor Place Wiki

When I'm honing a wedge I first check to see if it sits flat on my hone. If it does, I use the 45-degree X-stroke or the Swooping-X. Primarily, the Swooping if it has a nice smile. If the razor does NOT lay flat on the hone, then you're stuck with the previous strokes as well as the Rolling-X strokes to make sure I get everything even on the toe and heel.

Having said that, you're going to need (and I'm sure you're aware) that you're going to have to unpin that razor, clean off the active rust and likely craft new scales.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by red96ta

Strokes for honing a razor - Straight Razor Place Wiki

When I'm honing a wedge I first check to see if it sits flat on my hone. If it does, I use the 45-degree X-stroke or the Swooping-X. Primarily, the Swooping if it has a nice smile. If the razor does NOT lay flat on the hone, then you're stuck with the previous strokes as well as the Rolling-X strokes to make sure I get everything even on the toe and heel.

Having said that, you're going to need (and I'm sure you're aware) that you're going to have to unpin that razor, clean off the active rust and likely craft new scales.

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Thanks for the tips! I'm pretty much committed to depinning, cleaning, and repinning; I guess I'll just try fixing the current scales and see how it goes. If it's a no go, I guess I'll start work on some new ones instead.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mainaman

A possible fix for the scales is to line them with thin sheet of brass or aluminum. You can also make new thinner wedge and line the scales only to match the wedge, this way you have lined wedge but the liner is keeping the scales together.
For honing try 2 layers of tape and see how it goes, be prepared to spend some time setting the bevel.

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I like this idea, but you may still notice that crack. That'd bug the hell outta me.

If/when you do take it out of the scales, you can at least clean it up really nice. Should turn out great.

+1 on the tape. Without that you'll be working for hours on the bevel, even if it's not a true wedge.

Nice razor! It doesn't look like a wedge - there appears to be a little hone wear along the spine, so there is a degree of hollow grinding to it. If it was a true wedge the makers name would have worn.

It's hard to tell from the profile photo, but the rear face looks straight like a wedge. If that is so, then its a microtome razor. Could just be the picture making it look like that on my monitor, though.

Scales look like horn to me - correct material for the period - I think I would replace them with something appropriate.

Regards,
Neil

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Neil Miller

Nice razor! It doesn't look like a wedge - there appears to be a little hone wear along the spine, so there is a degree of hollow grinding to it. If it was a true wedge the makers name would have worn.

It's hard to tell from the profile photo, but the rear face looks straight like a wedge. If that is so, then its a microtome razor. Could just be the picture making it look like that on my monitor, though.

Scales look like horn to me - correct material for the period - I think I would replace them with something appropriate.

Regards,
Neil

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That's actually exactly what it looks like to me, but I didn't realize such a thing was possible, outside of a Japanese-style razor. The face is just barely hollow (I wouldn't even call it a quarter, to my eye), and the back has no hollow at all...

Hmm...I'll see if I can come up with a better pic...but my camera/its user seems to have issues with focusing on profile photos. I've yet to have a successful one.

Thanks to everyone for the info and opinions, BTW.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Vulcan500rider

Hmm...I'll see if I can come up with a better pic...but my camera/its user seems to have issues with focusing on profile photos. I've yet to have a successful one.

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If you haven't yet, try and find the macro mode or setting or what have you on your camera. It's frequently depicted with a flower icon. That should convince the camera to focus closer for you (assuming it has such a mode to begin with. YMMV).

Second, place the blade in front of something that is DIRECTLY behind it, like a book or something so that the auto-focus isn't having problems in finding the right depth.