Need Advice: First Restoration

Hello all,

I recently acquired two straight razors. Both needed to be restored since they were dull and rusted. This is my first restoration. I was able to remove the rust, but now I am wondering if I should proceed any farther because I do not know if the blades are any good. The razor without the handle has some slight pitting on the spine and the spine of the other razor is a bit flat on account of my poor sharpening skills (neither one is razor sharp). Also, the edges of both blades are slightly irregular. Should I proceed? If they are worth saving, can I rescale them and ship them out for professionally honing with both blades in their present shape? Any insight is greatly appreciated.

Icarus


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Hi Icarus, and welcome to SRP!

The first one is a George Wolstenholme Pipe Razor and when fixed up, it should be a fine shaver. They aren't rare razors, but G.Wostenholme was a very well known Sheffield maker, and he made some fine, fine steel. Don't worry about the pitting on that one. It is far form the edge and so is really only a cosmetic flaw. It won't have an effect on the shaving edge.

I'll be honest and say that I don't recognize the second one, but I'm having trouble making out the text on the tang. Could you upload a close-up or type what it says? That will help.

EDIT: for the G.W. Pipe, I'd definitely say that it is worth making some scales and sending it for a pro honing.

Just re-read your post: when you say the edges are irregular, do you mean that the edges are serrated, or that the edges are warped or kind of wavy? If it's the former, that can be easily fixed, if it's the latter you may run into serious problems getting them fixed. Fingers crossed the edges are just a bit rough...

The razor with the handle was manufactured by the Simon Pure Cutlery Company.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Icarus

The razor with the handle was manufactured by the Simon Pure Cutlery Company.

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Thanks - I'm none the wiser unfortunately but hopefully someone else will come by with some info on that one for you. I did a really quick google search and mostly found posts on various shaving sites asking whether anyone had any info on Simon Pure. But form what little I could find it looks like they were made in Solingen which is generally a good sign. From your pics it really looks in great shape so I'd say it's worth a shot to send it out for honing. You might have a real gem there. Cool scales, BTW. :)

I would not say that they are warped; they are just not perfectly straight (when viewed from the side). In particular, the razor with the handle has a very slight angle that begins at about the last half inch of the blade. I had read that it is best to have a straight edge, but then again, maybe I took that info a little too literally when I wrote my description.

Ah, OK. When viewed from the side, the edge doesn't have to be straight - that's a matter of preference. My favourite shavers tend to have a little bit of a "smile" meaning the middle of the blade is wider than the toe and heel. Don't worry about that at all.

If the blade has a "frown", meaning the middle of the blade is narrower than the toe and heel, then you have problems. That becomes very, very difficult both to hone and use. From your pics, it doesn't appear that this is an issue with yours.

I'll dig up some pics to show this...

OK, This is a pre-restoration Wostenholme with a smiling edge:

http://i1257.photobucket.com/albums/...ps9093dcfe.jpg

Note how it curves upwards. That's totally fine and it's far less pronounced in your blades.

And here's my DublDuck with a straight edge:

http://i1257.photobucket.com/albums/...ps8cd14d24.jpg

It has a totally straight edge. That, too, is totally fine.

What you don't want is something like this:

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Thanks so much for all of the advice. I will complete the restoration and post pictures when I am finished.

You're very welcome - glad to be of assistance.

I'm looking forward to seeing the restoration! Good luck. :)

Sorry - forgot to mention that if you haven't already found it, this is a great place to start before undertaking any restorations:

http://straightrazorpalace.com/works...wers-here.html