Thread: DD Wonderedge is now MINTY, NICE!!!!, L@@K :)

Vlad....my goodness. Breathtaking stuff to say the least. I was thinking the other day that if I can unload some of my razors I might get a new Dovo or TI but I think now I'd prefer to have one of yours with the wonderfull wooden scales and beautifull boxes that you make......damn damn damn.....I'm gonna have to save up a little more I think.

For years I have been trying to convince collectors that restorations have their place next to the good stuff. Believe me, it has been a battle. Much progress has been made with them and with razors like this one, the hard-noses who don't think a razor should be tinkered with don't have a leg to stand on. How could you not put this beauty in with the best of collections?

And as long as people like you carry the torch forward with this degree of quality and integrity, the straight razor community cannot possibly lose. The restoration validation mark should be a requirement once this level of quality is reached. Otherwise, you could start fooling the most knowledgeabe collectors around.

Congratulations on a job well done.

I'll post a pic this weekend of my first job. You can all have a laugh.

Gary

I'm the first bidder Someone better outbid me because letting the thing go for my highest bid would be a crime against Vlad.

I have a feeling it's going to be a hit. Someone has already outbid me on your masterpiece Vlad.

Peter, try to use the thinnest CA glue you can find. They come in different consistencies. The thinner one will take more coats but dries smoother with less sanding.

I used a medium thickness glue and it dries frosted. Requiring a lot of sanding to smooth out. On the up side I got a coat thick enough to even out the brass in just two applications. But the sanding is a pain.

I sanded up to 1500 grit and buffed with tripoli and white diamond combound then polished. If you have 2000 grit paper or higher you can probably polish it without needing buffing with compounds.

Bill, I am also pleased to see that my work is helping change some minds about restored razors. I feel that restoration is under appreciated in the straight razor community. In every other antique market an experienced restorer's skills are prized and sought after. A properly restored antique is worth much more than its unrestored and poorer condition counterpart. I was surprised to find this not the case with straight razors.

I hope that this attitude will slowly change as time goes on. I am happy to do my small part, one person at a time.

Gary, the only people to laugh at someone's attempts are those that have not had the courage to try it themselves. Anyone who has done it wil recognize and appreciate the struggle to learn a new skill. Post your work with confidence. You will only walk away better for the experience.

Alexander, Thank you for the appreciation. I want to add that when I list an item on e-bay I am fully aware of the whimsical nature of auctions. I am always hoping to hit the stratosphere but I don't count on it. So whatever the final price I won't be disappointed. If you or another SRP member gets it, so much the better.

Thank you for that. But I think mastership or at least hard work should be rewarded. When a piece comes from a factory most of the time not a lot of work was put into it. But when someone makes an individual piece like you did just now it deserves a good price. Offcourse I was secretly hoping to get it for my max price.....(since I don't have more money to spend on it) but scales like that coming with a box like that deserve a bit more recognition so I'm not really dissapointed that I've been outbid already.
If you make a lot of money off of this sale more power to ya.

ps, I noticed it going out for almost $300. I can't help but think that's a fair price?

Going and Gone! For that razor in that condition with that ox I'd say you got your money's worth out of the repair. Well done Vlad, AGAIN. I see the guy has also already recieved it and left positive feedback. How could he be disappointed?

X

Wow! What an improvement over the original scales on these razors. I don't have any issue at all with this type of restoration or customization. At some point, I suspect it will be more disireable to have a Vlad rework on a Wonderedge than an original.