hand me drowns

[RailroadMan]

Never used a straight before. This is my first visit to this part of the site, but my grandmother gave me these today. Wondering if they are any good, and if one is salvagable. On the left is a Jones Mfg. Co. Chicago, IL. The other, which I like the scales on is a Shumate St. Louis, MO. Been thinking about trying a straight, what do you think of these?

 

[Alum of Potash]

First, let me say that that second one, the Shumate, has one of the scariest edges I've seen--better used as a decorative stencil. Like the pinstriped scales a lot though, but would need to see further pictures. Ironically, I bought a Jones Mfg razor and a Shumate off the 'Bay recently. Both were a bit shinier than the one on the left you're showing. The Jones took a nice edge pretty quickly and I have been getting some pretty decent shaves from it, although it clearly was a no-frills, everyman's razor back in the day. Yours looks like it would need some polishing, and there is always the issue of pitting at the edge (which sadly, the Shumate I acquired has in abundance, although it looked nicer than the Jones I bought as originally depicted). Of the two, your Jones looks like it might have the hope of being salvageable; and beyond this, you shouldn't dismiss it, because at the very least it could serve as a valuable practice razor for future restoration and honing trials.

Given the situation, my advice in the short term is for you to acquire a "sight-unseen deal" from Whipped Dog, which will give you a vintage, shave-ready straight razor to start out with. And pick a up a Poor Man's stropping outfit there while you are at it. Work with these and learn from them, and then attempt to resurrect the Jones, if you are so inclined.

 

[RailroadMan]

Kind of what I figured. I was hoping the Jones might be able to fix up so I could start for less. (you wouldn't believe what I have in DEs and other stuff) Maybe soon, though. I also figured the Shumate was a bust, maybe I can put a new blade in the scales? Thanks!

 

[Slash McCoy]

Errr... I think the Shumate is a bit far gone. R.I.P.

The Jones wouldn't take much work at all.

 

[RailroadMan]

Apparently I titled the thread "hand me drowns". Just a typo, no pun or sarcasm meant this time.

 

[Legion]

Keep the Shumate scales in case you one day get a blade with broken scales. They might fit. Toss the blade.

Get yourself some wet dry sandpaper, some metal polish, and read the tutorials for fixing up the other.

 

[Wid]

The Jones looks to be in good shape.

 

[duokun]

If you are looking at getting into straights, I have to recommend Larry's sight unseed deal. A whipped dog straight will be guaranteed shave ready, and with the poor mans strop and the pasted balsa you will be set to maintain the razor for a while. Eventually it will need rehonng, but you will be good for regular edge maintinence. A little over $50 gets you set up.

If you do decide to restore that Jones please share the process with us.

 

[RailroadMan]

I want to restore the Jones, everyone seems to think it will be worth it. The main reason is from where it came. Now, I know that I can do it myself, but if I'm not going to do a lot of restores, wouldn't I have more $$ in sandpaper than having it restored? I saw WhippedDog does refurbished and hone for $30. I'm still trying to figure out what I want to do. I really appreciate everyone's help, and am still open to more suggestions.

 

[jred]

You should be able to pick up an assortment pack of wet/dry paper at Advance or Autozone for $10 or so. Since you'll be using smallish pieces, that pack should be enough to finish the razor. And a few DVD rentals

Check out this sticky in the restoration forum:
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showth...Restoration-Sticky-Redux!-*****Look-Here*****

More especially, the hand sanding one:
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/169574-Hand-sanding-progression

My assortment pack came with 220 grit up to 1000, which is just about what you want. You might go a bit higher if you want it really shiny.

 

[fast14riot]

Personally, I would take the pin stripe scales and put the good blade into them. That way you get to keep the sentiment of both razors in one good razor. Keep the plain jane scales for something else along the way.

First thing I notice is what looks like a bit of excessive/uneven hone wear on the toe of the Jones. Does it still have a straight edge, or is it a smiling edge? To preserve the Shumate in its current state, card off the red rust with #000 or #0000 steel wool and give it a good coat of gun oil. It will still be dark and pitted, but will not deteriorate any further with just a refresh of oil once or twice a year, depending on handling. I would take and put it in a shadow box and hang it on the bathroom wall, its kinda cool looking.


-Xander

 

[RailroadMan]

Personally, I would take the pin stripe scales and put the good blade into them. That way you get to keep the sentiment of both razors in one good razor. Keep the plain jane scales for something else along the way.

First thing I notice is what looks like a bit of excessive/uneven hone wear on the toe of the Jones. Does it still have a straight edge, or is it a smiling edge? To preserve the Shumate in its current state, card off the red rust with #000 or #0000 steel wool and give it a good coat of gun oil. It will still be dark and pitted, but will not deteriorate any further with just a refresh of oil once or twice a year, depending on handling. I would take and put it in a shadow box and hang it on the bathroom wall, its kinda cool looking.


-Xander

I like this idea. I don't even know what a smiling edge is. I will have to investigate further.

 

[duokun]

a smiling edge is when the edge is not straight but rounded outward. not too bad a thing. a frowning edge however is not a good thing, when the edge is rounded inward. if you were to hold it horizontally, shaving edge down it would look like a smile or a frown, respectively.

 

[Slash McCoy]

Be aware of one thing... the whipped dog razors are "refurbished" only to the point that they are good, practical shavers. They are cleaned up and honed to a wicked sharp edge but not polished up or rescaled. But a whipped dog would be an excellent purchase for you. You will have a benchmark of sharpness. You can learn to shave with it while you are polishing, honing, and rescaling your heirloom razor. It is VERY hit or miss to try to restore or even just hone a razor and expect to learn to shave with it, not knowing if it were actually sharp enough or not to do the job. Even a pocketknife should shave arm hair, and you would regard it as very sharp, but it won't do for face shaving. The wide gulf between an edge that seems sharp and an edge that shaves comfortably is a wide one, but difficult to comprehend for a newbie. With another blade on hand that you know is shave-ready, you will be beyond that uncertainty. And anyway, if you intend to become a straight shaver, you should have more than one razor. So my advice is to first purchase a known shave-ready razor, and it will be hard to find one cheaper than Larry's whipped dogs.

Once you have your backup/benchmark razor, you should probably remove the Jones blade from its scales, whether you figure on reusing those scales or not. If there is no deep pitting, you can begin your progression with 220 grit paper, or maybe 300 grit. The first grit you use must completely eliminate all pitting and corrosion. Completely. Don't expect the finer follow-on grades to do this. Each step must be done completely for subsequent steps to have a chance at success.

The next finer paper in your progression should have only one task: to totally eliminate all scratches from the 220 grit. Completely. You are replacing those scratches with new, finer ones. The next stage should NOT SEE ANY of the coarser scratches... only the ones left by the immediately preceding stage. This is very important for a good finish. Progress in this manner up to 1000 or 2000 grit paper.

Get some 3u diamond paste and also some 1u and .5u or .25u paste from www.tedpella.com. If you are very handy with small power tools, you could use a felt wheel attachment on a dremel for this polishing. Otherwise, a piece of old t-shirt loaded with a bit of diamond paste will work. Dremels and other power tools have an uncanny tendency to grab your work and sling it in unexpected directions, often shattering the blade. They also can catch the edge and mess it up, and the wheel can slip off the blade and let the spinning collet ding up the blade. If you are not very sure of yourself, polish by hand. When you are absolutely positive that you have polished with the 3u until no more improvement can be had, polish it some more with the 3u, for the same amount of time. This is very time consuming but it is worth it. After the 3u, wipe the blade clean with a clean piece of t-shirt and toss the old piece. Apply 1u to a fresh piece and repeat. You must not contaminate the 1u surface with 3u paste, because the 1u cannot eliminate the 3u scratches if there are particles of 3u remaining, continuing to create more 3u scratches. Same when you progress to the finest grade of paste. Oh, wash your hands well between stages, too. Diamond crystals will embed themselves into the skin and it takes a thorough washing to eliminate them.

By the time you are finished with this process, you should have an impressive mirror finish.

Even a dull razor is very efficient at slicing into your hand, and I have cut myself much much more seriously sanding blades than shaving with them. A good tool to have is a piece of rubber hose just big enough to slip over your finger. Wrap the sandpaper around it, and it will make a good sanding block that will conform to the hollow grind of the razor. You can work near the edge best by folding sandpaper with the grit side inward, and pinching the blade between the two halves.

If you use a dremel for polishing, wear eye protection, even if you don't think it is necessary. PLEASE do that.

Once your blade is polished, you are ready to do edge repair, and then rough honing to set the bevel, then scaling, and then final honing. But that is a whole nother chapter. Don't worry... we will still be here. Do all that stuff first and then we can worry about the edge and the scales.