Grandfather's straight razor options.

[LosingSleep]

I'm wondering what my options are for my grandfather's SR. I've had it for around 25 years and it's just sat in a drawer. Ideally I'd love to be able to use it, but it's quite rough as you can see.

Najeeb Malluk & Co Monopol. Sounds Paki but box reads: S. G. Amendora Solingen Germany.



First piece in my seemingly unavoidable collection or salvageable?

 

[jrp316]

The chips can be honed out, but you'll be left with around a ~4/8 blade which isn't too bad. It doesn't look like repairing the chips would take away the etching, but it'll be close.

 

[inspiringK]

Other than the two big chips in the blade, it looks pretty good. I guess if you remove enough metal, you could get beyond those chips and get the razor to shave ready.

Honestly though, if you want to venture into straight shaving, perhaps start out with a different razor. As it stands right now, your heirloom razor will clean up nicely with some gentle work and can look good on display. If you start removing metal, it's hard to say how well the rest of the blade will hold up.

 

[Oscroft]

There's certainly enough blade left to hone out those chips, but I wouldn't risk something of such heirloom value until I had a good bit of honing experience and felt sufficiently confident. I'm new to honing myself, and I'm currently working on a razor that had a chip - but it's one I got for just £4 specifically for learning purposes, and it's hard work.

 

[Wid]

I'd frame it and let it be a show piece.

 

[LosingSleep]

The chips can be honed out, but you'll be left with around a ~4/8 blade which isn't too bad. It doesn't look like repairing the chips would take away the etching, but it'll be close.

The etching has already taken a beating so I'm leaning toward this.

Other than the two big chips in the blade, it looks pretty good. I guess if you remove enough metal, you could get beyond those chips and get the razor to shave ready.

Honestly though, if you want to venture into straight shaving, perhaps start out with a different razor. As it stands right now, your heirloom razor will clean up nicely with some gentle work and can look good on display. If you start removing metal, it's hard to say how well the rest of the blade will hold up.

I'm thinking having it made shave ready and use it a couple times, but ultimately it goes on display.

There's certainly enough blade left to hone out those chips, but I wouldn't risk something of such heirloom value until I had a good bit of honing experience and felt sufficiently confident. I'm new to honing myself, and I'm currently working on a razor that had a chip - but it's one I got for just £4 specifically for learning purposes, and it's hard work.

As far as heirloom, I don't have kids and there wont be any. I would not take on the work myself, but have it restored.

I'd frame it and let it be a show piece.

It's tempting. I haven't looked into SR collection displays yet.

 

[PapaFish]

I don't think it would take much to get your razor up and running. A low grit stone to remove the chips followed by some metal polish to give the steel a nice shine, and some neetsfoot oil and bees wax to give the scales their shine back. It reminds me of my great grandfather's razor, with "The Meteor" and a ship on it. If you want the work done, I would be happy to help you out.

 

[tomjr]

papafish is right. a clean-up and hone out the chips. enjoy the shave.

 

[LosingSleep]

I have taken PapaFish up on his extremely generous offer:

I don't think it would take much to get your razor up and running. A low grit stone to remove the chips followed by some metal polish to give the steel a nice shine, and some neetsfoot oil and bees wax to give the scales their shine back. It reminds me of my great grandfather's razor, with "The Meteor" and a ship on it. If you want the work done, I would be happy to help you out.

He has been able to spend some time on the razor and feels it will ultimately be salvageable! This is exciting news for me and I'm looking forward to it's return to service.

 

[77TransAm]

I have taken PapaFish up on his extremely generous offer:



He has been able to spend some time on the razor and feels it will ultimately be salvageable! This is exciting news for me and I'm looking forward to it's return to service.

Congrats! Please post pics of the restored razor. I'm dying to see what it'll look like!

 

[PapaFish]

The razor is on it's way back home! It took a good amount of time to hone out the chips. It was actually nice that there were two of them, since it gave me an intermediary goal to work toward. You can't see it in the pictures above, but there was actually a crack just above the smaller chip. It got completely honed out by the time I got the big chip out. The blade is bowed out toward the middle, so if I honed flat the middle of the back BARELY had a bevel, and the toe and heel of the front had no bevel at all. I had to finish the razor by doing rolling strokes on the front, and tried to hone the back as flat as was practical. The bevel is notably wider than it was when I got it, but there was a significant amount of metal removed.

When honing on the blade, I decided it was best to use a layer of tape until I had all but removed the chip, thus helping reduce the amount of hone-wear. This is the point that I chose to polish the blade up.

OH BEFORE I FORGET TO SAY THIS *****If you use metal polish on a blade, keep the stuff AWAY FROM THE EDGE if at all possible! I used Blue Magic on the blade at a very intentional point, when I was far enough along that I was almost done with the bevel, but it still needed a good amount of work to remove the remainder of the big chip. The metal polish destroyed the edge (despite my best attempts to keep it away from the edge). The polish has some chemical(s) in it that etch a surface and helps it to shine. It literally eats the edge. I could see what looked like chipping all along the edge with magnification, and it took a long time to hone out because it affected metal further back, which chipped out while honing. I knew this would happen before I started, which is why I didn't wait until the very end to do the polishing of the blade. Just a caution to all of you. I use it to remove grime left by the fingers while holding the razor (when it becomes necessary), or to remove a water spot, but I never get it close to the edge unless absolutely necessary. *****

Where was I? Oh. It was around here that I decided to do away with the tape and re-establish the bevel. This also gave me the opportunity to make sure that the spine got some wear on it, and wasn't high in spots it shouldn't be. Once the edge was re-established and the chip was gone, I shaped the blade (giving it a smile so that it has an even bevel on the front of the blade), and honed it up and got it shaving again. It's a very nice shaving razor, and I think Dave will be happy to put it back to work.

I neglected to take pictures (though I had promised to do so more than once), so we'll just have to wait until Saturday (when Dave is supposed to get the package).

 

[Alum of Potash]

That was very generous of you, papafish. I'm curious as to what stone you used to hone out the chips.

Edit: never mind. I read on another thread, where you mention using a worn 220x DMT. Again, very generous of you.

 

[PapaFish]

Thank you. In the past I had honed out chips on things like a Norton Medium oil stone, or a Lily White Washita oil stone, and boy, they took a long time. I had these delusions of grandeur that by using the DMT 220 that it was going to be fast. It still felt like it took forever! I am happy I did the work. The razor turned out great, and will serve Dave well.

 

[Alum of Potash]

Yes, I was curious as I know you like the oil-stones, like me. I just find it hard to mix and match oil-stones and water-stones for some reason. I've had pretty good luck with the Norton medium and fine India stones for chips, although these were larger than any I've tried to remove. Takes a long time though, as you say. Glad to hear it all worked out.

 

[tomjr]

i love oilstones myself. i use a fine india 8' stone for chips (edge repairs).

 

[KindestCutofAll]

Just beautiful, thanks for sharing.

I'd have it professionally restored and the chips honed out. That would not leave a lot of blade to shave with.

You could then display it prominently so it can be appreciated for years to come.

 

[LosingSleep]

I just can't thank Wyatt enough for everything he has done and the extensive amount of time he put into refinishing this razor. I never would have imagined it would have been salvageable and here I have had two great shaves from my grandfather's 100+ year old razor. It's amazing. It was an heirloom just sitting in a drawer, now, it's back in service and will stir thoughts of my grandfather every time I pick it up.

All this time Wyatt has been walking me through his progress with great detail. He has inspired me to get geared up for a future attempt at razor restoration and also helping me acquire everything I will need from start to finish.

Here are the before and after photos:

 

[PapaFish]

It looks great! After the chips were removed the razor came in just over 5/8", and is actually the same at the toe and heel (although that's hard to capture with a photo), and it has a slight smile. It was a joy to work on, and I am glad I could help Dave out, but most of all, I'm glad it's back in the hands of the man who appreciates it most! Enjoy the shaves!

 

[f86sabjf]

Love it!!!!!

 

[Toltepeceno]

Really outstanding, congrats on the heirloom and it was very nice of you papafish.