Thread: Is this a candidate for a restore

Total new guy here, been reading the wikis, ordered the dvd, and been lurking in all the forums. I told myself I was going to wait and read up before I ever bought a razor so I wouldn't waste any money on something I wouldn't use in the future.......but I was at a flea market with the wife and you can probably figure the rest. My main consolation is that I got it really cheap, especially according to ebay. So is this razor worth restoring? Also, don't worry, if it is I'll be sending it off to someone who knows what they're doing.

Yes. I think that razor could be given a new life. Send it off to someone who does restoration and you will be suprized with the razor you get back.

Just understand that the etch on the blade and the tang will most likely be lost, when the restorist takes off the rust and devil's spit that is on there...
That etch is not very deep at all... and the pits that are probably under there will be deeper...

I should quallify my opinion with the fact that I like rustic looking razors. If you want it to look like an old razor there is some hope. If you want it to be shiny new steel then there will be a lot of steel removed.

Yes, please have it restored, and show us pictures afterwards.
Grant

I kinda figured the etching would go, the worst rust I can see is on the spine under the hinge. I think the pitting/staining goes a little too deep to live with, its past "patinaed". I would really like to salvage the scales though, they're bone, I think, and are really cool and worn down from years of use.

There are Horn and saving them is up to them LOL

Sometimes the outside has nothing to do with what is going on with them...
You can look at them wrong and they will crumble, or a sledgehammer won't crack them,,, you never know until you start...

The close up of the pin in the 2nd picture makes me think there is some rot going on in there from the slight bubble/wavy pattern... but I really can't tell from here...

Nice catch. THe scales look like horn, not bone, and I see a crack that concerns me. Not saying it couldn't be saved, but if needed they could always be replaced with exactly replicas.
THe etching might be lost, but sometimes what happens is that they are almost lost, leaving a nice ghost of an etching behind...

Personally, if it were mine, I would not mind replacing the scales with new horn, Honey horn, really looks classy and is still classic. I would take off enough of the pitting to leave a nice edge, but I wouldn't want to lose the etching completely. But that is mainly because I would not be making it a regular shaver. I'm not a fan of the near wedges, I like extra hollow and real thin blades to shave with, but I do have several in my collection. I love the history of them. I may have to send one out to an Uber-honer who specializes in wedges to maybe convince me otherwise.

Please restore this razor. The pitting doesn't look too bad. As stated above your going to lose most of the markings. You are also going to have to make some scales for it.
Remove the scales and start the hand sanding. I think I would start off with a 220 grit just to clean it up abit so you can see how deep the pitting really is.
Please post lots of pics of the resto.

I would say yes it can be restored. But I would hone it up and see if you can get a nice clean edge with out any pitting in it first. Then move forward to restore it.