I think I made-out today

[Raymondmillbrae]

Ok, you dirty-minded folk...not “THAT” type of making-out.

I was recently reading a thread where some of y’all have found nice goodies in thrift stores.

Made me curious...and kinda jealous.

So I did a little Google-Fu, and did a quick search on a few local sites.

Found a person about 15 minutes away, that had some stuff that might interest me.

Actually, they had a few SE and DE razors, and an old unmarked straight razor.

I was only interested in the “old straight” they had.

The straight razor ended-up being kinda cruddy, and no markings visible. Almost blackish in color.

The other razors (the DE and SE razors) looked like brass, and were dirty

I told them I was not interested in the SE and DE razors. And the straight was a long shot, as it was not marked.

I’ll take the lot off your hands for $20.00.

They agreed.

I get home, go to the Man-Cave, and start cleaning and investigating.

The SE and DE razors were brass, and in pretty mint condition after a bit of polishing and elbow grease.

With some deep cleaning and a Dremel with polishing compounds, I can have them restored to almost immaculate condition.

Gillette Regus DE 3-piece (brass)
Gillette Regus DE TTO (brass)
Gem Micromatic SE (brass)

I’ll sell those off and get some brew-making materials. (Hops, yeast, and stuff).

As for the straight razor...

I carefully removed the pivot pin with a Dremel cut-off wheel and a finishing nail. (Being careful to not damage the scales). Then I started to clean the rusty parts with a wire brush attachment on my Dremel tool.

Suddenly a name appeared on the tang.

It was a “JC Torrey” straight razor.

With a little search, I found that they started making straight razors back in 1858, till 1963.

Here is a clip from an article I found:

“The J.R. Torrey Razor company manufactured straight razors from about 1850 to the end of World War I. It initially imported high-carbon steel razors from Sweden, but by the 1870s, Worcester, Mass., where the company was based, had become a steel manufacturing center, and J.R. Torrey Razor was one of its most prominent firms“.

Kewl, huh?

So anyhoo...I’ll be selling-off everything but the “J.C. Torrey” straight razor once they’re cleaned.

And this will be my first-ever “razor restore” project.

Guess those “thrift store find” stories are real after all. ❤❤

 

[Straight up]

Oh, that's a nice find and for $20 how could you go wrong? Now you'll have to keep your eye out for more bargains.

 

[Ravenonrock]

Nice haul!

 

[Raymondmillbrae]

I cannot believe this!

I removed the blade from the scales immaculately.

I then cleaned and polished the blade exceptionally.

The blade had two teeny-tiny nicks in it (that could be felt with my thumb, and barely seen with the 30x loops), and I got them totally removed and ready for honing.

So I said to myself, “Lets buff-out the scales and finish them to a high gloss before honing the blade”.

But the pin was still partially attached to it.

So I placed it on a piece of wood that had a 1/4” inch hole in it, and “lightly” tried tapping it out. (The same direction it got tapped-out to remove the blade).

***craaaaack***

Arghhhhhhhhh!

Dog-Gone-It!

I don’t want wood scales on it, and I don’t know how to play with acrylic.

Now it’s gonna cost me extra shekels (the extra proceeds that selling the SE and DE razors will bring me) to send it out to someone to do it for me.

Drats!!

Know anyone who can do a good job at a reasonable price, or will trade for cleaned SE and DE razors?

 

[camoloc]

Ok, you dirty-minded folk...not “THAT” type of making-out.

I was recently reading a thread where some of y’all have found nice goodies in thrift stores.

Made me curious...and kinda jealous.

So I did a little Google-Fu, and did a quick search on a few local sites.

Found a person about 15 minutes away, that had some stuff that might interest me.

Actually, they had a few SE and DE razors, and an old unmarked straight razor.

I was only interested in the “old straight” they had.

The straight razor ended-up being kinda cruddy, and no markings visible. Almost blackish in color.

The other razors (the DE and SE razors) looked like brass, and were dirty

I told them I was not interested in the SE and DE razors. And the straight was a long shot, as it was not marked.

I’ll take the lot off your hands for $20.00.

They agreed.

I get home, go to the Man-Cave, and start cleaning and investigating.

The SE and DE razors were brass, and in pretty mint condition after a bit of polishing and elbow grease.

With some deep cleaning and a Dremel with polishing compounds, I can have them restored to almost immaculate condition.

Gillette Regus DE 3-piece (brass)
Gillette Regus DE TTO (brass)
Gem Micromatic SE (brass)

I’ll sell those off and get some brew-making materials. (Hops, yeast, and stuff).

As for the straight razor...

I carefully removed the pivot pin with a Dremel cut-off wheel and a finishing nail. (Being careful to not damage the scales). Then I started to clean the rusty parts with a wire brush attachment on my Dremel tool.

Suddenly a name appeared on the tang.

It was a “JC Torrey” straight razor.

With a little search, I found that they started making straight razors back in 1858, till 1963.

Here is a clip from an article I found:

“The J.R. Torrey Razor company manufactured straight razors from about 1850 to the end of World War I. It initially imported high-carbon steel razors from Sweden, but by the 1870s, Worcester, Mass., where the company was based, had become a steel manufacturing center, and J.R. Torrey Razor was one of its most prominent firms“.

Kewl, huh?

So anyhoo...I’ll be selling-off everything but the “J.C. Torrey” straight razor once they’re cleaned.

And this will be my first-ever “razor restore” project.

Guess those “thrift store find” stories are real after all. ❤❤

View attachment 1147325

View attachment 1147326

View attachment 1147327

View attachment 1147328

J R TORREY are indeed an excellent razor and hold an edge really well.

good find and purchase for one "caught in the wild" !!!!!

you are now obligated to visit and participate in the Torrey Tuesday thread!!!!

congrats

camo

 

[Raymondmillbrae]

J R TORREY are indeed an excellent razor and hold an edge really well.

good find and purchase for one "caught in the wild" !!!!!

you are now obligated to visit and participate in the Torrey Tuesday thread!!!!

congrats

camo

J R TORREY are indeed an excellent razor and hold an edge really well.

you are now obligated to visit and participate in the Torrey Tuesday thread!!!!

When I get it finished and shaving, you got a deal.

Know anyone who can put scales on it for a decent price, or will swap for DE and SE razors?

 

[camoloc]

I cannot believe this!

I removed the blade from the scales immaculately.

I then cleaned and polished the blade exceptionally.

The blade had two teeny-tiny nicks in it (that could be felt with my thumb, and barely seen with the 30x loops), and I got them totally removed and ready for honing.

So I said to myself, “Lets buff-out the scales and finish them to a high gloss before honing the blade”.

But the pin was still partially attached to it.

So I placed it on a piece of wood that had a 1/4” inch hole in it, and “lightly” tried tapping it out. (The same direction it got tapped-out to remove the blade).

***craaaaack***

Arghhhhhhhhh!

Dog-Gone-It!

I don’t want wood scales on it, and I don’t know how to play with acrylic.

Now it’s gonna cost me extra shekels (the extra proceeds that selling the SE and DE razors will bring me) to send it out to someone to do it for me.

Drats!!

Know anyone who can do a good job at a reasonable price, or will trade for cleaned SE and DE razors?

View attachment 1147382

hopefully one of our talented forum members can step up and provide some assistance to you.

camo

 

[Raymondmillbrae]

Hope so.

I was hoping to come out ahead on this deal...till the dang scale broke when removing the pin.

 

[camoloc]

Hope so.

I was hoping to come out ahead on this deal...till the dang scale broke when removing the pin.

maggards has a basic set of black plastic that would fit the bill nicely. might have to drill the pivot pin........but with a nice set of collars could end up being pretty darn good.

camo

 

[Matt O]

That’s a neat old straight razor! Congrats!

Vr

Matt

 

[Raymondmillbrae]

maggards has a basic set of black plastic that would fit the bill nicely. might have to drill the pivot pin........but with a nice set of collars could end up being pretty darn good.

Thanks Camoloc!

You saved me a few shekels, and inspired me to try replacing the scales as well.

I just purchased a set of BLACK REPLACEMENT SCALES from Maggards.

And while I was there, I also picked-up a SILVER PIN KIT to install the scales. (Enough for 10 straights).

Looking forward to receiving the items, getting it all put back together again, and taking it for a test run.

I stayed-up late last night to finish polishing and honing the blade.

That blade is sweet. Super sharp.

I pulled a hair from my wifeys head to see if the blade would pop it...and the hair just broke in half from fright, before the blade even touched it.

Funny story...

I found an old 6/8” inch Wade & Butcher. Pretty clean.

Doode sold it to me for $20.

And another project is now in the works.

 

[camoloc]

Thanks Camoloc!

You saved me a few shekels, and inspired me to try replacing the scales as well.

I just purchased a set of BLACK REPLACEMENT SCALES from Maggards.

And while I was there, I also picked-up a SILVER PIN KIT to install the scales. (Enough for 10 straights).

Looking forward to receiving the items, getting it all put back together again, and taking it for a test run.

I stayed-up late last night to finish polishing and honing the blade.

That blade is sweet. Super sharp.

I pulled a hair from my wifeys head to see if the blade would pop it...and the hair just broke in half from fright, before the blade even touched it.

Funny story...

I found an old 6/8” inch Wade & Butcher. Pretty clean.

Doode sold it to me for $20.

And another project is now in the works.

if you have to drill.......pay attention to both sides when drilling.

have to take in account of blade width etc.

long story short.......just cause your plumb and level on the entry side.......doesnt always mean that will be the same on the other scale I've found.

nothing major or to freak out about......just recheck before drilling through to the other side.

the next contemplation would be...... how far off of the scale end to drill the pivot hole? I'll throw in my findings. on average the majority of the razors I own fall into the 7/16" off the edge range.

not written in stone......but this is the number I use. should be interesting to see if others have a "general" goto measurement for this.

congrats on the W&B......love them!!!!

camo

 

[Straight up]

Why don't you look here and download the pdf of all the scale shapes (showing pin holes)? I'll be using these next time rather starting from scratch.

 

[global_dev]

Why don't you look here and download the pdf of all the scale shapes (showing pin holes)? I'll be using these next time rather starting from scratch.

Is that link working?

 

[Straight up]

OK, try this link. In the Restoration forum there is a conversation about scale .pdfs. The first entry by
@dmcconnell has the .pdf. I tried to short cut it and provide the .pdf link directly but that failed

 

[Mountain Grown]

If you read french it is per

Is that link working?

If you speak french it is perfectly readable. Knew those classes would pay off!!

 

[Raymondmillbrae]

A bunch of the other links were dead.

But I held my breath and read to the last thread.

It shared THIS LINK.

Is this the link that you say in the French site. The one about the scales?

 

[str8six]

I'm not in the US and don't have many left otherwise I'd send you a GEM blade---you should try that Micromatic. Hopefully someone can help you out there? I didn't get into SE razors until some injectors that came in a box of straights and I'm really glad I did. They're very much their own thing and you use them quite unlike a DE, more like a straight in some respects actually as it needs a very shallow angle and benefits from stretching. Since you have several thousand shaves ahead of you and already have this kicking around I do recommend you give it a go--I'm finding every new type of razor I learn to make work for me improves my shaving overall. A warning though, the Gem blades are almost too much when new, I'd start out just using this on my cheeks to begin with or perhaps look into "corking" or "palm-stropping" it.

I was really intrigued by your "just use this one straight for the next decade" plan, was interested to see how long that lasted and how well the razor held up--seems like if you don't ding it on anything and use good techniques you can probably stretch a straight for most of a lifetime. But I don't begrudge you succumbing to the RAD, the variety is a lot of fun and I certainly fell quite deep myself...

 

[camoloc]

I'm not in the US and don't have many left otherwise I'd send you a GEM blade---you should try that Micromatic. Hopefully someone can help you out there? I didn't get into SE razors until some injectors that came in a box of straights and I'm really glad I did. They're very much their own thing and you use them quite unlike a DE, more like a straight in some respects actually as it needs a very shallow angle and benefits from stretching. Since you have several thousand shaves ahead of you and already have this kicking around I do recommend you give it a go--I'm finding every new type of razor I learn to make work for me improves my shaving overall. A warning though, the Gem blades are almost too much when new, I'd start out just using this on my cheeks to begin with or perhaps look into "corking" or "palm-stropping" it.

I was really intrigued by your "just use this one straight for the next decade" plan, was interested to see how long that lasted and how well the razor held up--seems like if you don't ding it on anything and use good techniques you can probably stretch a straight for most of a lifetime. But I don't begrudge you succumbing to the RAD, the variety is a lot of fun and I certainly fell quite deep myself...

word of advice raymond.....avoid the GEM rabbit hole......LOL

I was there. came out and fell into another hole.

its only now that I understand how the intitial marketing pitch must have been difficult to convince SR users to move over to the new GEM razors......then came the Gillette guy.

camo