Thread: [Work in Progress] My first restoration and scale building

Hi,

I'm BrickBag and this is an ongoing report about my first ever razor restoration. I have no experience whatsoever with restoring and honing blades. I also am not some one who is into do it yourself, but I wanted to try and get some experience with these kinds of things. This thread will document my efforts(updated irregularly) with pictures and maybe video's.

THE RAZOR
My girlfriend bought me this J.A. Hellman Eskiltuna "Sweden 26" razor, which came in a Veni Vidi Vici box(I think it's kinda cool, but a shame it's not the original):







It is 5/8", hollow ground, round tipped(correct me if I'm wrong). With white scales, which feel like plastic, so I guess it's celluloid. The blade is engraved with an eagle with a straight razor beneath it and the text "Skydds Märke", which means registered trademark in Swedish. I, however, can't find J.A. Hellman at the Swedish trademark register. So if any one can tell me what the decade it was made I'd be very happy.






(by this point I have exhausted the maximum number of attachments and will reply with more)

INSPECTION
I'm no expert at this, but the blade looks en feels OK, except for the black tarnish on the entire blade and the damage near the pivot.



The scales themselves aren't in the best condition ever with(especially on the inside) yellow tarnish and scratches. They are also crooked so the blade hits the scales on closing it. And the pivot itself is loose, meaning the blade can swivel freely in and out the scales and perpendicular to the scales.

So I decided that I would take it apart, clean and polish the blade and create new scales, as that would give me the full experience of restoration. After taking it apart I was happy I did, because the scales were very dirty indeed:



And the damage on the pivot was a bit worse than on the first inspection:



As I didn't had a polishing agent at the time I designed the new scales and decided on the material. I want to make the scales from a hard red wood, because I think it'll look cool and a bit "Viking", as this is a Swedish blade. In the design I wanted to have a modern look with (what I consider) classic elements with a twist and came up with this:

THE RESTORATION
As this is the first time I am restoring a razor it will be low budget(as I'm a poor student and don't know if I want to invest in restoring razors). So I'll probably have to annoy people in the neighbourhood to lend me their workspaces, equipment and hones .
To start with the razor restoration I bought some metal polishing compound at a local shop which sells car and bike related items. It is "Metal polish" of the autosol brand, and from what I can feel it's very fine(finer than toothpaste). It contains, apart from the abrasive compound, soap and some stuff to protect the metal against weather influences. So it'll protect the blade from the bathroom.

After a few hours of polishing the blade looks a gazillion times better than before, I hope it shows in the picture, as it was taken under different lighting conditions:



The damage on the pivot is still there and it'll need more than polishing to get that off. There is also some rust damages on the shoulder of the blade:





So I'm gonna have to borrow a dremel from a friend soon.

This is the beginning of my journey into razor restoration, stay tuned to get updates when I find the right equipment to continue. Comments and advice are welcome.

I'd like to have one of those, just for the name Skydd's Marke.

Be careful of that scale design towards the pivot end. Those horns could be quick to break off.
Try bloodwood for the scales. It is dense and depending on which variety can be quite red in color.
Another option is died, stabilized woods.

-G

Originally Posted by deighaingeal

Be careful of that scale design towards the pivot end. Those horns could be quick to break off.
Try bloodwood for the scales. It is dense and depending on which variety can be quite red in color.
Another option is died, stabilized woods.

-G

Hey,

I looked at bloodwood, but haven't found a retailer in NL, I am currently looking at rosewood(palissander rio) and stain it red or padouk(red stained). But bloodwood would be awesome. I found a small furniture factory near my house, I'll contact the proprietor if I can buy some wood from him, because most woodshops sell woods per huge plank(2mx30cmx2cm), which is way to much for me.

I applaud your efforts.

I, too, would advise caution at the pivot end of your scale design. those points are somewhat doubtful. I'm actually less worried about them breaking off as opposed to how they might catch and annoy your fingers when you are trying to hold the razor while you shave.

Originally Posted by ignatz

I applaud your efforts.

I, too, would advise caution at the pivot end of your scale design. those points are somewhat doubtful. I'm actually less worried about them breaking off as opposed to how they might catch and annoy your fingers when you are trying to hold the razor while you shave.

Plus 1 Except I would say while stroping, would be even worse...

gssixgun, I think you're right, instead of 'horns' could a small concave give me trouble with holding and stropping? I kinda like the concave thing , or does a convex shape have big advantages over a concave design?

Honestly I have messed with tons of pivot shapes over the years, and have finally come to the conclusion that those old farts that built them years ago, kinda knew what they were doing

I have limited myself on the pivot end to, the TI point, The square with rounded corners, A slight downward curve to a point, a round curve, and a longer tapered point...

I did all the fancy curves and stuff too, but they only looked cool, they never worked that great for function... I leave most of my very limited artistic ability to the wedge end and even then "Function" comes first

Another trick I learned form those old guys was for pivot end height, open the razor to straight, you will note on most all of the old factory stuff, the tang of the razor matches the height of the scales, one smooth flowing line regardless of the design...

I know many of you think I make this stuff up, but honestly I just tore apart a ton of old vintage razors when I started and measured everything for fit and function then put them back together to learn how things worked....