Nice find in a Gettysburg, PA antique store and a razor restoration project

The wife and I were in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania this past week and we were browsing some antique shops. I got two straight razors for $26.00. One is a 1908 Geneva from New York ($8) (4/8 blade) in good condition, no pitting and the other is a Phoenix Razor by Spalding of Syracuse, New York ($18) (5/8 blade) in very good condition. Both are half hollow.

I decided to embark on restoring a couple razors just to see if I can do it and add them to my shaving gear. I am starting with the Geneva, and so far I have removed the razor from the scales and I cleaned up the blade going from 150 grit paper to 12000 grit and the blade is very shiny, but there is a nick near the stabilizing piece. I made a new set of scales out of Cocobolo wood. I am now at the point of rehoning or rather restoring the blade.

Here is the 1908 Geneva before I took it a apart and cleaned it up:
Attachment 73870

Here is the Spalding of Syracuse, N.Y. Phoenix (Anybody ever hear of this razor?):
Attachment 73871

I'll keep you posted on the progress of the 1908 Geneva.
Patrick

The tips are missing from both blades, bizarre. Are they broken or part of the design?

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Originally Posted by Str8Raz0r

The tips are missing from both blades, bizarre. Are they broken or part of the design?

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Part of the design. I examined the tips under magnification and the metal was smooth in the "notch". If the tips were broken off, the metal would have been somewhat jagged. I plan on rounding them off.

It looks like they were square points but some one "muted" them by grinding them flat. It probably ruins any collectible value, but speaks volumes that these were used as TOOLS not as hobby pieces. Also, coming from the same shop maybe they were owned by the same person?

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Originally Posted by medicevans

It looks like they were square points but some one "muted" them by grinding them flat. It probably ruins any collectible value, but speaks volumes that these were used as TOOLS not as hobby pieces. Also, coming from the same shop maybe they were owned by the same person?

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That was my first thought as well. Both look to be in excellent shape; neither looks like they need more restoration beyond some simple polishing

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Originally Posted by medicevans

It looks like they were square points but some one "muted" them by grinding them flat. It probably ruins any collectible value, but speaks volumes that these were used as TOOLS not as hobby pieces. Also, coming from the same shop maybe they were owned by the same person?

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Good points about the possibility that the razors might have been owned by the same person and possibility converted to tools. Do you think it's still worth the time and effort restoring and being able to shave with them afterwards? At least I'll get to learn how to hone with them. I do not plan to sell them, I want to be able to shave with them. By the way, they were not in the same display case.

Barbers and some shavers sometimes slightly rounded the square points to make them a bit less likely to accidentally nick the skin while shaving. Those points have been more radically altered than what I've normally seen but could be honed up to be fine shavers.

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Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

Barbers and some shavers sometimes slightly rounded the square points to make them a bit less likely to accidentally nick the skin while shaving. Those points have been more radically altered than what I've normally seen but could be honed up to be fine shavers.

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So then it's worth the time and effort to restore them to become shave ready? I did make a set of scales for the Geneva out of some Cocobolo wood. Again, I want to remove that "notch" and make it a round toe. It'll be a great learning process for razor restoration. The store I got them from had a few more that I would like to buy for more restoration.

After I finish the polishing, I will butter knife the edge and round off that toe and follow SRP's wiki on blade restoration to hopefully make them shave ready.

I think maybe you misunderstood about my tool comment. Here at SRP and also at B&B, SMF, and some if the other various shaving sites, we go a little overboard with thinking of shaving as a hobby. Sometimes we accumulate 30, 40, 50+ straights or ten brushes or 70 types of soap, or or or.........you get the idea. Sometimes we tend to forget that 100 years ago shaving was just shaving. It might be like 100 years from now people playing on a fork and spoon forum. Maybe custom forks made from Damascus steel with fossilized carrier pigeon handles. Maybe they will have a "Meal of the Day" section! Lol. We think of forks as tools, but who knows 100 years from now.

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Originally Posted by medicevans

I think maybe you misunderstood about my tool comment. Here at SRP and also at B&B, SMF, and some if the other various shaving sites, we go a little overboard with thinking of shaving as a hobby. Sometimes we accumulate 30, 40, 50+ straights or ten brushes or 70 types of soap, or or or.........you get the idea. Sometimes we tend to forget that 100 years ago shaving was just shaving. It might be like 100 years from now people playing on a fork and spoon forum. Maybe custom forks made from Damascus steel with fossilized carrier pigeon handles. Maybe they will have a "Meal of the Day" section! Lol. We think of forks as tools, but who knows 100 years from now.

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Actually I took the word "tool" literally because I have known some woodcarvers who convert straight razors into tools for a particular task. So when you mentioned "tool", that was the first thing that came to mind. I am also a hobby woodcarver, woodworker, and woodturner. :-) So no harm no foul here. But with your explanation, I now understand your use of the word "tool". I jokingly refer to my straights as my "arsenal" or "line-up." Since I started straight razor shaving and reading in this forum, for me, shaving has changed from a mundane necessity to an enjoyable past time.

Agree with you there. I know many razors were converted to patch knives as well. I had forgotten about wood carving knives though. I have seen a couple of those through my Internet searching. I'd love to learn to carve, but honestly, I'm not much good at stuff like that, so I'll stick to restoring razors.

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Originally Posted by medicevans

Agree with you there. I know many razors were converted to patch knives as well. I had forgotten about wood carving knives though. I have seen a couple of those through my Internet searching. I'd love to learn to carve, but honestly, I'm not much good at stuff like that, so I'll stick to restoring razors.

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I have heard of many woodcarvers who convert straight razors into woodworking tools and use nothing else.
Now, if I can just restore this Geneva to shaving status. I still have a bit of a way to go. Both razors had no rust or pits on them unlike some of their showcase neighbors which were pretty scrungy. But I did learn from this forum about another variable to be aware of as in the case of the "notches" out of the toes of my two.

Here's an update on my 1908 Geneva 4/8 razor restoration:
I made a set of new scales out of Cocobolo. The scales are ready for attaching, however, I am waiting on the arrival of the hardware. The blade is cleaned and polished and I butter knifed the blade for establishing a new bevel/edge. This evening I sharpened the blade following SRP's wiki on restoring a straight razor blade. I used my 800/4000 grit stone and achieved a nice edge that will cut hair off my hand. I inspected the edge under high magnification for consistency and I am satisfied with results. Right now I am waiting on the arrival of the 8000 grit waterstone I ordered so I can do the final honing before stropping. So in the mean time, I applied a coat of finish on the scales, and coated the blade with Camellia oil, and I stored the blade wrapped in tissue in a cigar tube. Time to be patient and wait. Once I finish this project, I'll post new pictures.

One major note about this project, I have found that if one follows the wiki on restoration and reestablishing an edge to a straight razor to the letter and number, you cannot go wrong. I printed out the Wiki and had it right by my side for easy reference during the sharpening process.