Restoration Questions

[stringer bean]

Ok. So it turns out there might be something to that acquisition disorder thing after all. I've bought a bunch of razors and lots of them I honed right up and started using. Some have left me with some questions. So hopefully, you all can help me out a little. I'm only a few months and about a dozen razors into honing. So assume I know next to nothing.

First troublesome candidate.
Erik Anton Berg

Uneven honing. The toe is a 6/8 and the heel is a 9/16. I tried honing it regular first and I noticed that I was hitting the stabilizers. I went down to a 320 grit stone to see if I could nudge them out of the way a bit. It's doable, but I'm not sure I'm supposed to use that low of a grit stone or if it might be better to grind the stabilizers out of the way with my Dremel.




And what about the yellow scales. There is only a pin on one side. On the other it's molded together. Are they original? Even if they are original can I change them because they are ugly as sin and look cheap with the unibody construction.



Next I have a couple that I've honed and then tried a test shave and realized I missed little nicks. Like ones that are not enough to see with the naked eye if you look real close but just barely. I can feel them on my neck more than barely. Where should I fall back to to get rid of them. I have a full arsenal of whetstones. The bevel is great, steel is great, just need to move it back another fraction of a mm.



Next, I fixed one up that had a real high mirror polish. It has a little divot in the fancy ground toe. It bites my cheek. How do I get rid of it? Sand paper, file, Dremel, bread knife it? I also don't want to meet up the elegance of the fancy cut toe, but I'd like to use the razor without it scratching me.




The last one is a Red Imp with a crack right by the pivot pin. There is also significant shrinkage and the blade is hitting the wedge. Should I try and find vintage scales to match? How bad is a crack like that? Right now it opens and closes nice. Could I use it just how it is if I can trim the wedge a little?

 

[musicman980]

As for the uneven honing, wow 3/16 difference is a lot. Does that difference in width get reflected in a tapering in the spine? It doesn’t look like the stabilizer would get in the way seeing how far below the edge is from it. Can’t you just leave the stabilizer off the hone?

As for the ugly scales, they might be original? Not sure, do some google image searching for other examples. Yeah some were of one piece construction or had a built in wedge. You would have to remove it to fully restore the razor, but then it boils down to whether you’ll be selling it or not? It might hold collectible value if you keep it on, much like Filarmonicas and their less than ideal, but “fitting” scales.

As for honing nicks/bumps/inconsistencies out of the edge, one thing I’ve learned is that you will never fully enjoy that razor until it shaves well. I just took off a little material on my W&B for barbers use to get past a pit. It hurt a little to do it on the DMT, but in the end I now enjoy the razor rather than leaving it a second class citizen in my razor roll. Remove just enough material to make the edge consistent.

As for the fancy toe, I’m not sure what you mean? There’s chips in the bottom point of what looks like a Spanish point? If that’s somewhat like the issue I’d just use sandpaper to round it over a bit, no need for power tools.

And lastly, the red imp is sort of a classic. If you can find replacement scales I think that would be awesome. Cracks at the pivot usually leave the razor loosely pivoting, which is not good. To me, it sounds like they’re toast :/ but I’m using my phone and I can’t see the pictures as clearly as I might on my computer.

Hope this helps

 

[stringer bean]

As for the uneven honing, wow 3/16 difference is a lot. Does that difference in width get reflected in a tapering in the spine? It doesn’t look like the stabilizer would get in the way seeing how far below the edge is from it. Can’t you just leave the stabilizer off the hone?

Yes, the spine is tapered as well. I measured with my calipers. The widest point near the toe is 19.6 mm and in the other end right before it curves sharply toward the tang it's 17.6 mm. The spine is 5.4 mm at the toe and 5.0 mm at the heel. The stabilizer already gets in the way of getting a flat bevel to the sweep by the heel. I'll continue my gradual cleanup process awhile before I try grinding it off.

As for the ugly scales, they might be original? Not sure, do some google image searching for other examples. Yeah some were of one piece construction or had a built in wedge. You would have to remove it to fully restore the razor, but then it boils down to whether you’ll be selling it or not? It might hold collectible value if you keep it on, much like Filarmonicas and their less than ideal, but “fitting” scales.

I won't be selling it to make money off of it but I might decide to sell it because I have a lot of razors and there are lots more out there to try. So I don't want to ruin it's value. But I'm probably overthinking it.

As for honing nicks/bumps/inconsistencies out of the edge, one thing I’ve learned is that you will never fully enjoy that razor until it shaves well. I just took off a little material on my W&B for barbers use to get past a pit. It hurt a little to do it on the DMT, but in the end I now enjoy the razor rather than leaving it a second class citizen in my razor roll. Remove just enough material to make the edge consistent.

Cool. I will take it down coarse.

As for the fancy toe, I’m not sure what you mean? There’s chips in the bottom point of what looks like a Spanish point? If that’s somewhat like the issue I’d just use sandpaper to round it over a bit, no need for power tools.

Yeah there's just dings to the point that are above where the hone reaches. And so far it's my most expensive, shiniest, fanciest razor. I don't want to screw it up.

And lastly, the red imp is sort of a classic. If you can find replacement scales I think that would be awesome. Cracks at the pivot usually leave the razor loosely pivoting, which is not good. To me, it sounds like they’re toast :/ but I’m using my phone and I can’t see the pictures as clearly as I might on my computer.

Hope this helps

It works fine for now as long as I'm careful closing it. I'll start putting it though the honing/cleaning/testing process and keep an eye out for some Imp scales. I think it's the European Morris version.

You have been very helpful. Thank you

 

[esveka]

Эрик Антон Берг. Это не испорчено, а сделано просто так. Посмотрите в картинках Google

 

[stringer bean]

So the taper is intentional? I could see that. And someone's technique exaggerated it a little more probably. I'm very happy with it either way. My first Swedish blade. It should clean up nice.

 

[esveka]

So the taper is intentional? I could see that. And someone's technique exaggerated it a little more probably. I'm very happy with it either way. My first Swedish blade. It should clean up nice.

 

[stringer bean]

Yup. That's exactly how it's shaped

 

[stringer bean]

Update on the Red Imp

I'm still looking for new scales. I did find a sibling for it. Picked up a 133 wedge. I decided to go ahead and hone it. Very nice shave this morning.
Hopefully, I'll find some non cracked, shrunk, faded scales someday that don't cost a fortune to match the brilliance of the blade. And hopefully they happens before the crack by the pivot pen fails.

 

[mr_houston]

A couple of thoughts.

Yellow scales: I dont see pictures of Erik Anton Berg razors with those scales, so maybe not original. However molded scales like that are common. I have added a wedge pin just for balanced looks before.

Red imp scales are often shrunken. You can sometimes file down the wedge enough to clear the blade.

 

[stringer bean]

A couple of thoughts.

Yellow scales: I dont see pictures of Erik Anton Berg razors with those scales, so maybe not original. However molded scales like that are common. I have added a wedge pin just for balanced looks before.

Red imp scales are often shrunken. You can sometimes file down the wedge enough to clear the blade.

Thank you for your thoughts. I'm still not sure what I'm going to do with the Berg. I did a couple of rounds of honing on it but it still has some invisible little burrs and some pitting that needs cleaned up. I really don't like the scales so I might knock them off to make cleanup easier. And then replace them with something more fetching.

I'm going to keep looking for replacement scales for the Imp. In the meantime I might try filing the wedge a little. I attempted this on another razor. I was successful, but damaged the scales a bit. I suppose since I have to replace the imp scales anyway due to the crack at the pivot pin, it would make a fine candidate to practice on.

 

[Joshua223]

Doubt the scales are original.
This doesn't look like a factory pin job and the scratching around the pivot is probably from when the original pin was being removed.