Replating Razors...

[Sluggo]

A while back I called Dan in MA about replating a razor. He said that he is doing dozens of razors since it was posted here that his shop can replate them.

That makes me a little worried. I am sure that there those out there who would buy a junker, replate it for about $35, and sell it for a tidy profit. Not saying that razors on the BST fall into this category, but does anyone else have a worry?

My general thought is if it is too good to be true, then it is.

 

[Vanpohl]

never know it could be good

 

[xbostonirishx]

Does anybody know how much it costs to get set up in replating razors? i am out of work, and could use a little hobby......

 

[Sluggo]

I dont think it cotst much to get going, but it takes quite a bit of know how to do it right.

 

[cfriend]

I'm not worried about it. Buying from a reputable member is buying in confidence.

 

[Topgumby]

Look at it this way:

I had a 40's SS that was just bone ugly. I recently PIFd it to a overseas member who is going to replate it. Maybe it will show up as NOS on an auction, but I'm hoping (and I have reason to believe) that it will simply provide a lifetime of enjoyment to a shaving enthusiast in a part of the world where that type of razor is rare in any condition.

I have several razors, either brought in as "extras" in auctions or picked up as projects, that are just a little too homely for me to really enjoy, and for the same reason, I don't PIF them out or sell them. Right now they sit in shoebox, and what will probably stay there until I croak, and then they'll be binned or sold on Ebay by one of my kids (they'll already have a few nice razors!)

If I had those replated, they'd either go in my rotation or get sold or PIFd as replated razors, where they would bring somebody else a lifetime of enjoyment. I would never represent them as anything other than replated, but I would have little control over what happens once I die or they belong to somebody else.

So, what is more important in the big scheme of things....trying to ensure that the limited supply of pure NOS razors remains unsullied by frauds, or stretching the supply of nice looking vintage stuff by replating?

I think that true cheats and frauds will forge ahead no matter what we do or advise. I also think there is a double standard at work.

We are quick to celebrate when somebody unearths a rare treasure for a song at an antique shop or estate sale, and I've never heard demands that the pristine cased Sheraton found for five bucks should be sold for the same. Yet if somebody scores an ugly duck and spends the bucks to replate it, we wring our hands that it somehow isn't fair to collectors.

I think the days of low hanging fruit in the vintage razor market are numbered. Collectors have been lucky, in that the items were too low in value to have been refinished during the time of initial use, and that has stayed true up to now.

Finite supply, attrition and an apparently increased demand all make the option of refinishing more attractive, and serious collectors are going to have to go to more trouble to establish authenticity of NOS items. It's been that way with guns for ages.

I've yet to replate a razor, but the ones I would do it to are all techs or NEWs with no boxes. If I take an ugly Fat Handle Tech, turn it in to a replated daily shaver that gets sold at a premium in an auction years from now listed as "Vintage Gillette, Amazing Condition" to a guy who thinks he's found a NOS razor, I hereby apologize in advance, but I'm not losing sleep over the idea.

 

[blantyre]

It doesn't concern me at all. I have both "original" and replated razors and they both work fine. I think that someone should declare if a razor is replated and they are selling it - especially if it is a premium one such as a Gillette president or an early silver plate one. It doesn't seem likely that anyone would bother to replate a common razor like a superspeed because good ones are cheap and plentiful anyway.

 

[cooncatbob]

Does anybody know how much it costs to get set up in replating razors? i am out of work, and could use a little hobby......

Just google plating kits, there's a company called Caswell that sells them.
I've never tried them, I have too much other stuff going on.

 

[Darjeeling Express]

Look at it this way:

I had a 40's SS that was just bone ugly. I recently PIFd it to a overseas member who is going to replate it. Maybe it will show up as NOS on an auction, but I'm hoping (and I have reason to believe) that it will simply provide a lifetime of enjoyment to a shaving enthusiast in a part of the world where that type of razor is rare in any condition.....

I've yet to replate a razor, but the ones I would do it to are all techs or NEWs with no boxes. If I take an ugly Fat Handle Tech, turn it in to a replated daily shaver that gets sold at a premium in an auction years from now listed as "Vintage Gillette, Amazing Condition" to a guy who thinks he's found a NOS razor, I hereby apologize in advance, but I'm not losing sleep over the idea.

I've edited Topgumby's entry just to save space, but I highly recommend that if you are interested in this issue that you read it above in its entirety. As usual TG says it the best.

 

[ozzy_scl]

I've always had a question about replating: is there any way to tell when a razor has been replated???
I've seen so many powerseller on Ebay, that have "nos" looking razors pretty much every week (and even several during the same week), we all know who hard is to find a mint or NOS razor in the wild. But this guys seem to have a portal or a time machine of some sort... I mean is like they bought a bunch of them, save them for decades and now they sell them (but we all know that's not the case).

Anyway, I'm not so worried, as most of my razors (apart from a few) are shaving grade, and I haven't paid too much money to really question if it has been replated or not.