Thread: Got suckered into a restoration project...

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

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

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


Well I received my blade today via USPS in a timely manner and when i opened the thing up this is what I bought.



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:

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.

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

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.

Originally Posted by Gawker

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

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

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.