Picking a Restore

[rawknives]

I dabble with restoration work from time to time as you may have guessed from my last thread on this forum. When I feel like doing a restore typically I spend time watching auctions and will bid on a straight that is in worse condition for most, but carries a recognizable brand name for resell.

Wade & Butcher seem to have a following. I'm also intrigued with Puma and J.A. Henckels. I see Dubl Duck and Filarmonica have some fans. I tend to sell my restores and plan to keep selling them until I finally get the one I want. I'm a bit into WW2 memorabilia, and the type of razor I seek is about as rare as hen's teeth but I'm curious what others are looking for.

So what is your favorite brands to look for in the old razors?

 

[Herrenberg]

Well, my favorite brands would be Iwasaki, Heljestrand, and Berg. But if I were doing what you were doing, I'd probably go with a Fili, assuming you can find a restorable one for a price that makes it worthwhile. Since you plan to sell it, it should deliver a good return on your investment, if you get it at the right price, and you'd be doing a public service. Plus, if it turns out you like the hardest end of the steel curve, it's very possible that this would be the keeper.

 

[lloydw]

If I had the skills already and wanted to resell - I agree with the idea of the Filarmonica razors, they are very popular collectibles.

For me, I like the Japanese razors - in my mind, great quality and lots of options. I thik the easiest to recognise widely would be Iwasaki's mentioned above, and I would add Tanifuji stamped razors. I believe these would be popular for reselling once restored.

Practically, the above are often expensive to find and perhaps the value add in your restoration makes them only available to a certain few. There might be more opportunity in more widely available, cheaper options that could be found as bargains, relatively being sold for a better profit margin, at a hogher volume.

I used to buy a few razors at a time from yahoo japan and end up with some great ones, and some that were unusable. I believe that the risk here includes the fact that the razors are well used for many years, not necessarily rusty or with damaged edges, but honed excessively.
I have only recently started learning to restore my 'needing attention' box as I have had some time to do so.

 

[alpster]

For me, it's more about condition and uniqueness (if that's a word). here's an example...

 

[Njguy1977]

I would agree with Al, to be its all about how unique it is and the condition. I generally don't look for a straight that's pristine, sometimes a little patina looks good. As long as the edge isn't affected by rust or devils spit, there is no cell rot, and there is no unfixable frown of overdone smile they catch my eye. My blades run the full gamut of shape from round, to french to square, to spanish, to barbers points...I just wanted a fun way to try them all and see what point I enjoy when time allows. Right now I think I have 36 and I don't think I am adding to my collection much more, what I have I'm pretty happy with. I usually take them all out and retouch them in the winter time when I have nothing to do on a weekend, the rest of the year is weekend use when I'm not in a hurry.

Larry

 

[alpster]

For me, it's more about condition and uniqueness (if that's a word). here's an example...

View attachment 1639689

Here's another unique and rare (I've never seen one like it) in great condition....

 

[Frank Shaves]

The condition of those razors is amazing, @alpster!