Razor Repair

Sorry if this is the wrong place to post this kind of question. Please let me know if there is a more proper spot. I have a set of Thornhills that look like their previous owner tried to work on but ended up splitting the scales. I would like to have them fixed up but I do not know what is possible or probable to try to repair. Mostly the pins need to be a little tighter (I've been looking up how to do that myself but suggestions would be welcome too) but also as the pictures show the ivory scales are a bit worse for wear. How much can be done and who is good with ivory? Thanks.
Attachment 89671Attachment 89672Attachment 89673Attachment 89674Attachment 89675

Hmmm...this will most definitely get more attention in the Workshop.

That's a beautiful set. It would be a shame to lose that ivory. I'm kinda stymied....part of me says keep it all original, and part of me says pull off all the scales and get someone to make a new matching 7 day set.

I just don't know. ..... ah, it's agony really. It was the last pic that caused me to waver.

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Originally Posted by Maxi

Hmmm...this will most definitely get more attention in the Workshop.

That's a beautiful set. It would be a shame to lose that ivory. I'm kinda stymied....part of me says keep it all original, and part of me says pull off all the scales and get someone to make a new matching 7 day set.

I just don't know. ..... ah, it's agony really. It was the last pic that caused me to waver.

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1 plus to that! Exactly. I would just leave them alone. Nice set!

You could line them,,, sorta like this

Attachment 89676


This set was done with a .080 thick piece of G-10 to keep the weight and thickness inline

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Originally Posted by gssixgun

You could line them,,, sorta like this

Attachment 89676


This set was done with a .080 thick piece of G-10 to keep the weight and thickness inline

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I do not know what g-10 is. Sort of a film covering? Excuse my ignorance.

Is there a way I could move the thread to the workshop or should I just start over?

One of the Mods will probably do it.

Just watched some videos on tightening your scales. Grabbed a spoon, hammer and fingernail and 3 of them are already snugged up nicely. Thanks much.

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Originally Posted by bmilesmiles

Just watched some videos on tightening your scales. Wrabbed a spoon, hammer and fingernail and 3 of them are already snugged up nicely. Thanks much.

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I think anyone here can tell you your best option would be to send it to GSsixgun as he has created some of the nicest razors and done some of the best repairs on this site. Just my two cents. Good luck

Thanks Grizzley. I will be putting in a bid request with a couple of the guys on her soon.

They look like they "used" to be nice. I would remove all the scales and re-scale them with something similar.

I think that they have already been ruined...

Enjoy,
Jeff.

Moved to the workshop as requested

G-10 is a super strong Fiberglass sheet that is virtually indestructible, and is super light weight so it doesn't off set the balance of the razor too bad...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Maxi

Hmmm...this will most definitely get more attention in the Workshop.

That's a beautiful set. It would be a shame to lose that ivory. I'm kinda stymied....part of me says keep it all original, and part of me says pull off all the scales and get someone to make a new matching 7 day set.

I just don't know. ..... ah, it's agony really. It was the last pic that caused me to waver.

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+1
Wow nice set.
The steel that I can see looks wonderful.
You cannot just buy ivory to replace them.

As long as the pivot is OK hone them and use them.

I would not blindly do this to your razors but...
I have a Henkles razor siting on the shelf that has a crack
on the wedge end of the scales much worse than
yours. I plan to grab some matching black silk thread from my
fly tying kit and wrap it up smooth and tight with
some clear nail polish.

The scales on all of yours are beautiful. I would be tempted
to do little beyond honing to to the set. I would not wrap
your razors I would just use a couple and leave the
difficult ones in the box for a while.

The problem scales could be reinforced and glued to a modern material
like G10. I would leave the extra pins and cracks to show
the age and use. Nothing looks quite like old ivory.

Piano makers are in the short list of folk that know very much about
ivory -- glue, repair, etc. There may be some here too.

For now -- a light wiping of oil.

Just thought I'd add a couple pix.

Are you saying oil the scales or the steel? I keep a very thin film of gun oil on them. Is that sufficient? The steel looks much better than it did when I got them but there are still water marks and one finger print that I can't get off. Any suggestions?

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Originally Posted by jeffegg2

They look like they "used" to be nice. I would remove all the scales and re-scale them with something similar.

I think that they have already been ruined...

Enjoy,
Jeff.

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They look pretty nice for antque ivory to me....

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Originally Posted by jeffegg2

They look like they "used" to be nice. I would remove all the scales and re-scale them with something similar.

I think that they have already been ruined...

Enjoy,
Jeff.

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Most definitely not!


I think the best bet would be lining them with a phenolic like G10 or a very thin metal.

Love that someone took time to put in the extra pins to stop the cracking! Very, very neat set!

I offer this only as my opinion.

IF they were mine.

I would take the pins and everything out. Then take a good adhesive like a good CA or epoxy and glue the cracked areas back together. Once the glue was cured I would finish the surface back to flush to get all the excess glue off.

At this point I would take a good fiber glassing epoxy like West System or System 3 and some of the fiberglass cloth that RC airplane builders use and lay a layer of fiberglass right onto the flat ivory inner surface of each scale.

The thing about their RC airplane cloth is that it is super thin and has a VERY fine weave. I have used this on projects and repairs of various things before and it is very hard to find. It adds a lot of strength but you have to really look for it to find it.

IMHO Part of what went wrong with the set originally is that it was pinned without compression washers under the pin heads. Ivory is bad to shrink and expand with the humidity fluctuation of the air. The way those were peened the pin heads were already putting outward pressure on the ivory. If washers had been used the washer would take the brunt of that peening pressure rather than the ivory.

Ray

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jeffegg2

They look like they "used" to be nice. I would remove all the scales and re-scale them with something similar.

I think that they have already been ruined...

Enjoy,
Jeff.

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as you can see from the other responses you and myself included, know nothing about ivory, I think it looks very nice. Something that old and hard to get your hands on. In my opinion I would send them to someone who knows what they're doing and has done it before. Ivory is not something you scrap and throw away carelessly, especially when it's still in very good condition and very repairable. According to those here who know more than both of us, IMH0

if they were mine, i let them al they be now. they have a work look that i like

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Originally Posted by niftyshaving

+1
<snip>
You cannot just buy ivory to replace them.
<snip>

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While I haven't bought any due to my total lack of skills at scale making, I found legal ivory for sale here:

Boone Trading Company - Elephant Ivory

As stated, I've not done business with them, but the goods are there. One day I'll buy some and treat myself to a set of lovely ivory scales... one day.



Marcos