Reviving My 7DS...?

[Shangas]

I have a rather strange question to ask...

I have a 7-day razor set:

...if you use a strong magnifying glass (and a lot of imagination...and if the light is JUST right...and the moon is full...during a solar eclipse)...you'll be able to see the days of the week on the spines of the razors. I believe they were acid-etched in, back around 1900-ish, when this set was new.

Problem is, over the last 120-odd-years or so, the lettering has faded to the point of near invisibility...which is sad, because I like the fact that the razors had the days of the week on them.

Anyway. I'm thinking of having the days of the week engraved on the spines, as opposed to simply having them acid-etched, that way, they'll actually...you know...LAST...and be noticeable, and readable. What's peoples' thoughts on this?

 

[ajduplessis]

I would do the same. Have them engraved and the polish the spines afterwards to make sure you don’t damage your strops. I would also clean up the jimps.

Nice set dude.

 

[Shangas]

Thanks. I bought it for...what I considered to be a fairly high price...a year ago. Then I researched what a brand-new set like this costs, and damn near had a heart-attack...that's what's motivating me to try and revive this set and make it look better.

 

[Shangas]

Visited the engraver today, and brought my set along, showed it to him and his assistant, and explained what I wanted to do, and why - engrave the days of the week across the top of the razor-spines.

They said that it shouldn't be a problem, but that there were a few variables to key in, first...

1). Either clean the razors, and do custom engravings once the old markings had been removed.
2). Keep the original markings, and simply engrave the days over the top of them, using a new font.
3). Keep the original markings, and engrave the days of the week, using the original markings as a guide/template.

In the end, we went with option #3. It seemed to be the best way to go, since tracing-engraving over the old markings/letters would keep the same style of lettering, the same size, and same position of the engraving - just making it easier to read and see.

They said the only issue is that because the surface was small, and slightly curved - and because they were copying the old markings as a guide for the new ones - the engraving would have to be done the old-fashioned way - not by laser or computer-guided. I said that was fine, so long as they stayed within the lines and didn't **** it up!

After very careful examination with a magnifying glass, we managed to get all the razors lined up in the correct order, Monday to Sunday. Like I said - the original gothic-style font is almost invisible from decades of cleaning, so reading it was damn near impossible! It took all three of us with magnifying glasses to get it right!

Then it was just a matter of doing the actual engraving. I'll pick them up later in the week once they're done. Fingers crossed! I have had engraving done by these guys before, so I know what they're like...just gotta wait for it, now.

They also agreed on a reduced price, since it was so much engraving to be done, and it was a set, after all.

Will post photos when I get them back!

 

[Shangas]

It took a bit of waiting, but I got the engraving done!

Now that I can actually see the words, I'm much happier. And as promised, the engraver managed to copy the original font-style, so it has that Gothic old-world look to it

 

[rbscebu]

Shangas, that's really nice work. I hope I can find a good Filipino engraver here in Cebu to engrave my new 7DS next month.

The spines on my razors are almost semicircular in section. I'm not sure if that is going to be a problem.

I haven't yet decided on the font to use but the wording for each day will be in Latin.

 

[Shangas]

Oooh, Latin! Fancy

Given that it is Latin, perhaps a gothic-style font like mine?

That said, a REALLY semicircular spine may be tricky. Mine are semicircular, and the engraver had to do it all by hand, which takes a long time. He did at least have the acid etching to work from as a guide, though, so it was at least uniform.

 

[pyronut]

The engraving looks fantastic. Congratulations and enjoy!

 

[Jakebullet]

Great set and photos and a great story thanks for posting.

 

[Shangas]

Thanks. I'm very pleased with how it turned out.