Got suckered into a restoration project...

Ok guys here goes. Basically I got hosed on an eBay special by a seller who stated

Quote:

---

All items are sold as is so please read the description and ask any questions before you bid. I try to describe every little detail an any imperfection that i can see on all items.

---

And then described my purchase

Quote:

---

Here is an old J A Henckels Twin Works straight razor. Razor reads J A Henckels Twin Works Solingen. Germany, other side reads Twins. Handle is plastic but looks like wood with decretive metal piece on bottom. Handle is 5 1/8" long. Blade is 5 1/4" long. Actual razor part is 2 5/8" long. The blade is very sharp.

Razor needs to be cleaned up and polished.

---

And included the following photo
http://i2.ebayimg.com/07/i/000/85/a3/2639_1.JPG

Well I received my blade today via USPS in a timely manner and when i opened the thing up this is what I bought.
http://gawkerweb.com/hosed001.JPG
http://gawkerweb.com/hosed002.JPG
http://gawkerweb.com/hosed003.JPG
I'm actually rather pleased with the condition of the blade itself, it's got a little bit of polishing to be done but the edge is straight and the heel and toe even look like they'll both hone up well, even with MY honing skills without any trouble. The scales on the other hand are warped terribly, they seem to be peeling (wtf celluloid PEELS?) and the little Twins bolsters on the bottom look like they have been peeled away from the scales (not removed) and then pressed back into place so they don't sit flush and are pretty bent up.

Obviously, the scales are junk and I'm going to have to replace them. I mean no sense wasting a PERFECTLY good JA Henckels blade now is there? So I guess what I'd like to know is this. Are there patterns for making scales that I can simply download, print out, tape to my stock, and cut away the rest? I'm sure there's plenty of other questions that will come up along the way but for now that will get me started so I can start hunting for new material to make the scales from.

BTW the selling price was WAY too high for scales in this condition but I'm consoling myself with the fact that the blade is in great shape. Licking my wounds is a sour business :(

You have a couple of options if you want to make your own scales...
1) Just take these apart and use them as a template
2) Design your own. It doesn't matter if you don't get your lines perfectly when drawing as the sawing action will create more imperfections and you'll sand them down.
3) Copy the general shape of a set of scales that you saw in this forum or elsewhere.

Should have read:

Quote:

---

All items are sold as is so please read the description and ask any questions before you bid. I try to describe very little detail and only massive imperfections that i can see on all items.

Here is an old J A Henckels Twin Works straight razor. Razor reads J A Henckels Twin Works Solingen Germany, other side reads Twins. That's how I know. Handle is plastic but looks like wood without my glasses on, has decrepit metal piece on bottom. Handle is 5 1/8" long. Blade is 5 1/4" long. Actual razor part thingie is 2 5/8" long. The blade is very sharp. So don't say I didn't warn you.

Razor really needs to be cleaned up and polished and it would actually be a very good thing if you were prepared to restore and rescale it.

---

:D

I like you X, but sometimes I wonder why... :D
Makes me sad to read the REAL item description you wrote. I honestly would never have bid as high as I did for this thing if I had known the ACTUAL condition it was in. I guess I can fess up and admit I paid almost $40 smackers for this thing shipped. I REALLY got hosed...no way this thing is worth that. The blade is great but really the scales are HORRIBLE!

I'm trying to decide what I want to use for the scales. I'm kinda leaning towards either micarta or carbon fiber, but I haven't made up my mind yet. I think I might try designing my own scale profile for this one I just need to figure out what I'm going to use.

I did send a message this evening to the seller expressing my displeasure with their descriptive skills and the purchase price, but all I'm really expecting is a "Buyer beware/bite my ass" in return. I have chosen not to leave feedback as of yet on this one in hopes that they will own up to their treachery and send me some of my money back. As it stands they are tottering between Neutral and Negative which of course will be decided by their actions from this point.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Gawker

I'm trying to decide what I want to use for the scales. I'm kinda leaning towards either micarta or carbon fiber, but I haven't made up my mind yet.

---

Don't know what micarta is, but if you start sanding carbon fiber, please wear respirators and not just a dust mask.
Also, don't do it inside because having the dust lying around is not a good idea either because you'll inhale it later on when cleaning.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Gawker

I like you X, but sometimes I wonder why... :D

---

That's odd ... My wife says the same thing. :D

If it's any consolation, I've spent too much on a few eBay bone outs myself and there's only one thing to do ... restore. Let us know how it goes.

X

Let us know how it goes?
LET you know how it goes?
LET YOU GUYS KNOW HOW IT GOES?!

You have GOT to be kidding...I'll be asking stupid question the whole way through the process. Like this morning I woke up wondering how you guys go about rounding the scales over instead of leaving them flat on the outside? If there some trick to getting them semi uniformly sanded that I just haven't thought of?

BTW the seller responded and pending decision will probably be making a partial refund. They "know nothing about straight razors" but they have a box full of them from a local farm or something like that. I suggested they take more and clearer photos of them because they still have resale value if the blades were in good shape as restorations. I'll keep everyone posted on how this turns out.

My experience has been that sometimes you end up with a nice razor that had a poor photo, but most of the time there's a reason why they used a blurry one or showed a coffin more prominently than the razor itself.

Don't feel too bad, we've all ended up with some disappointments like this one.

I've found sellers to be reasonable on price adjustments when their descriptions turn out to be inaccurate. It's the ones that don't have much of a description and you gamble on the photo that carry most of the risk.

You should see if you can salvage those bolsters at both pins. Outline the original scales, for a template, get to know your dremel, coping saw and sand paper :)

Keep us posted!
(we like pictures)

Good luck!

C utz

Yeah I'd like to save the bolsters but to be totally honest I wouldn't have a clue as to how to go about ironing the bastards out again and getting all the little bends and stuff out of them so they'd look presentable on the final product. Wouldn't it be slick to see carbon fiber scales on a kick ass Henckels 5/8 with real Henckels bolsters? I'm also thinking that some multi layered micarta would look good once rounded over but the issues you guys mention as far as respirators and such I'm starting to wonder...I don't really want to spend the money on a respirator :(

Oh yeah...the seller refunded half my purchase price since I told her the blade was good but the scales suck. Hell as far as I'm concerned the blade's the important part and worth more than half the price in and of itself so I have to say I'm happy with the way things turned out. Top notch customer service and conduct from tinagmc1 on eBay guys.

Do you really have to do it yourself? Not to dissuade you but I am not sure I detect much enthusiasm, and without it - the task would probably be harder...

Just a friendly reminder that there are a number of people who can do it for you.

Cheers
Ivo

It's not that I lack entusiasm...more that I lack time. I'm working 6 days a week and with the shift I'm on it makes it really hard to get anything done since I get off after the days over and sleep most of the day away. Plus I've got hardly any idea at all how to go about any of this, and to be honest I haven't got the kind of money it would cost to have someone make the scales for me.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Gawker

Yeah I'd like to save the bolsters but to be totally honest I wouldn't have a clue as to how to go about ironing the bastards out again and getting all the little bends and stuff out of them so they'd look presentable on the final product.

---

Vlad pulled this trick off extrememly well. you might want to PM or email him about it. Stunningly good result.

X

Thanks for the tip, PM sent. I'm bidding on a razor currently (ending tonight) and another that ends in a few days and once I've either won or lost those (so I know what kind of cash I have to work with) I'll be ordering my materials and gathering together supplies to start working on this. Hell if nothing else I'll spend 30 minutes a day on it until I get them finished.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Gawker

Thanks for the tip, PM sent. I'm bidding on a razor currently (ending tonight) and another that ends in a few days and once I've either won or lost those (so I know what kind of cash I have to work with) I'll be ordering my materials and gathering together supplies to start working on this. Hell if nothing else I'll spend 30 minutes a day on it until I get them finished.

---

Does your wife know that you are on a spending spree?
;)

Actually yes, though it's high time I stop, I still have to pay you :) Plus the wife and I made an offer on a house today as we're trying to buy our first home now that our debts are paid and our daughter has been born. I won another razor tonight (higher than I would have liked but within my limits) and I've got one more with money riding on it that ends in a couple of days. Then I pay you, and buy some stuff to start restoring this bad boy and I'll be set for a while. I'll have 3 shaving razors to rotate once I get those two back from you and the others will give me something to do instead of spending money on more razors :) The general sub forum has a thread with pics of the new acquisitions.

Everyone wish us luck on this house, we really like it :D

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Gawker

Actually yes, though it's high time I stop, I still have to pay you :) Plus the wife and I made an offer on a house today as we're trying to buy our first home now that our debts are paid and our daughter has been born. I won another razor tonight (higher than I would have liked but within my limits) and I've got one more with money riding on it that ends in a couple of days. Then I pay you, and buy some stuff to start restoring this bad boy and I'll be set for a while. I'll have 3 shaving razors to rotate once I get those two back from you and the others will give me something to do instead of spending money on more razors :) The general sub forum has a thread with pics of the new acquisitions.

Everyone wish us luck on this house, we really like it :D

---

Toy toy and break a leg (figuratively :D )

So I still haven't heard from Vlad, seems he's not very active around here anymore. I may just have to try a few things on my own, I'm thinking warming them up a little bit and tapping them out gently with a rubber mallet on a flat surface would kinda help iron out any wrinkles and then maybe I could hand form them to the scales once they were flat. Bend them a little farther than the scales are round and they will sit tight against them once they are pinned in place.

Another 3 days 10 minutes and I'll be able to order my stuff for this project. I'm still trying to decide what to do about a spacer but I've kinda got an idea floating around in my head that I think will be pretty slick. The downside of this is I'll be building this razor to MY tastes and I have a feeling I'm going to get a lot of you guys asking what the hell is wrong with me once it's finished...

I've removed brass inlay's before by heating the scales with a hairdryer and then bending the scales 'away' from the inlay. When it sticks out you should be able to grab them off with a pair of tweezers.

The tricky part is, you'll run out of hands...one hand heating, one hand bending, who's grabin' the inlay?! :shrug:

Good luck!

C utz

I think the removal will be easy, considering there are plenty of places where the "inlays" aren't even contacting the scale from having been bent away from them. I will remember the heat idea though in case it turns out to be a sticky widget. The thing that gets me is how to go about ironing them back out flat to work out the wrinkles from having been bent.

I was thinking a good rubber mallet and either a plywood backdrop or maybe something a little more giving might yield some satisfactory results. All I need to do NOW is get off my ass and order the materials. I think I'm going to go ahead with the carbon fiber idea sans respirator. I just can't see purchasing one right now, so I'll just keep everything plenty wet to keep the dust down. I'm sure hand sanding it will be a mother, but since I need to consider the health hazards I figure it'll be the best option.