I have got this razor (late 1700s, early 1800s?) and want it restored. I don't have pictures of its original condition but this is how it looks now.
When I got it it had no honewear on the spine but the cutting edge had definitely been tampered with. It showed signs of grinding with some coarse contraption. Blade is narrower at the heel than it is at the toe. After a couple of hours with my hones (coarsest being 1.5K Shapton) I got a shave-ready mid section of the cutting edge. I actually shaved with it once. You may wonder why I did not send it to a restorer straight away: well, I wanted to know if the razor would take an edge or not. Some razors with very coarsely ground cutting edges have been subjected to electric sharpening that destroyed their temper.
Looking at the pictures you can see it is an almost full wedge, I would like to keep it that way. The red and black transverse lines are bevel markers. One of the scales is bone, the other is wood.
I would like to keep the wedge shape, obviously the bevel and spine should be more or less parallel to facilitate honing. I would like some metal removed from the tang to increase the distance between the heel end of the bevel and the angle between blade and tang. This will center the anchor as well. Of course it needs new scales, I would like them to look period like: so bone or faux tortoise and pins that look like they might be original.
Here is my question is: who would you recommend that I send the razor to to have it restored? To be honest: I asked Bill Ellis but he is too busy. I do not know of anyone else who enjoys some sort of universal acclaim as a restorer. Any suggestions as to what you would like the razor to look like are welcome as well.
When I got it it had no honewear on the spine but the cutting edge had definitely been tampered with. It showed signs of grinding with some coarse contraption. Blade is narrower at the heel than it is at the toe. After a couple of hours with my hones (coarsest being 1.5K Shapton) I got a shave-ready mid section of the cutting edge. I actually shaved with it once. You may wonder why I did not send it to a restorer straight away: well, I wanted to know if the razor would take an edge or not. Some razors with very coarsely ground cutting edges have been subjected to electric sharpening that destroyed their temper.
Looking at the pictures you can see it is an almost full wedge, I would like to keep it that way. The red and black transverse lines are bevel markers. One of the scales is bone, the other is wood.
I would like to keep the wedge shape, obviously the bevel and spine should be more or less parallel to facilitate honing. I would like some metal removed from the tang to increase the distance between the heel end of the bevel and the angle between blade and tang. This will center the anchor as well. Of course it needs new scales, I would like them to look period like: so bone or faux tortoise and pins that look like they might be original.
Here is my question is: who would you recommend that I send the razor to to have it restored? To be honest: I asked Bill Ellis but he is too busy. I do not know of anyone else who enjoys some sort of universal acclaim as a restorer. Any suggestions as to what you would like the razor to look like are welcome as well.
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