First Restore or a Pro Job?

I received this razor from my uncle. I should have taken pictures before I started messing with it, but when I received it there was a significant amount of rust all over the razor. The scales were badly warped so I unpinned it and began sanding it down. The problem is I really don't know where to go from here. Can these scales be saved? Should they be? I’m not sure what they are made out of. I was told that if they were horn I would smell wet dog when I sanded them, but there was no bad smell at all. They seem flexible enough so I am guessing celluloid. The truth is my real interest in the razor is just to get it to the place I could shave with it, but I think it would be a real beauty fully restored. You can't really see it, but on the scales it says "The Real IXL Razor"
Any advice would be welcome. Also anyone who has a picture of what this should look like restored would be great, too.

Thanks!
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That's a really nice pre 1892 Wosty wedge. I'd try to save the scales - maybe a candidate to send out to a pro. Personally, I'd save most of the patina.

Congrats, it looks to be in pretty good shape and should become a very nice shaver.

The scales are made of horn, and doesn't look too bad except for the warp, but that can be fixed relatively easy. I've had good results by using steam to heat the horn, and a jig like this. If you're in for doing it yourself take a look in the workshop sticky's for tips on getting the best result for the blade.

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Originally Posted by skipnord

That's a really nice pre 1892 Wosty wedge. I'd try to save the scales - maybe a candidate to send out to a pro. Personally, I'd save most of the patina.

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Can you elaborate on what you mean by the patina? Are you refering to the blackspots on the blade?

Patina is the grey color of the blade as opposed to the nice shiney polished blades you see. If that was my blade I would send it to a professional restorer, its too nice a razor to risk. You'd get it back all done up right and honed ready to shave.

Looks like it won't need much work but I would send it out for the pinning if nothing else.

The choice is a personal one, but since it has already been sanded (sounds like it was necessary) I would go for a pro restoration to original.

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Originally Posted by Scookum

Patina is the grey color of the blade as opposed to the nice shiney polished blades you see. If that was my blade I would send it to a professional restorer, its too nice a razor to risk. You'd get it back all done up right and honed ready to shave.

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"Patina" is the gentlemanly way to say "tarnish" :D

And, there is an ongoing gentlemanly disagreement about wether to leave blades more or less as is and let them show their age, or shine them up like they were when they were new ( or even better). Since this is a pre 1892 razor, IMHO, it has some historical significance, and I would just clean up the rust around the pivot and straighten the scales, and love it looking its age. Thats me. It is your razor, and whatever you do to it is fine. If you are not comfortable doing it yourself, send it out for whatever you decide. This is really a nice razor, and I would not suggest using it to learn on.

It's gonna be a beauty when it's done. The choice of who restores it, or if it should be restored, is something you'll have to decide. My opinion is that since it's an heirloom, I would probably send it to a professional, and have him bring it as close to original as possible. That's just me. These big blades look good either way. I personally prefer what they call a crocus finish. But I'm not even sure someone can do that anymore. And it'll never look as dazzling in pics without the full on mirror shine. All of it is personal opinion though. When I began restoring, I bought really really junky stuff to learn on. Some of them went to SR heaven. I'd hate to see this one end up there. Anyways, have fun with it. It's going to be a wonderful piece of family history.

Totally agree, if it's an heirloom, and a very old one at that, I would let a pro take it on. If you want to learn and tinker with restoring razors, there are a million junkers to mess with. If you aren't interested in restoring more than just this one razor I wouldn't bother buying the sandpaper, metal polish, rods, washers, and the like to do it; you would still come out cheaper sending it off, and get much better results.