First wedge where do I even start

[McCracken]

Got this thing for like $4 there's no pitting but that's where the good ends. This will be my first restoration. Does anyone know where I can find some replacement scales everything I can find online everything I can seem to find are ~4 3/4" from center of pivot to the spacer this old guy measures about 5 1/16" from center of pivot to the toe. I can make my own from blanks if I have to but I would rather spend that time honing.

Also does anyone have any idea what's going on at the back of the tang there? My only guess is someone cut it down at some point. Regardless that will have to be addressed as well. It definitely looks like I have my work cut out for me.

 

[kayvee]

What's the dating on this razor? My superficial read of some text I found may indicate this to be pre 1800. If so, the scales are wonderful for it's age. Could you try to salvage and repair the scales?

I'm just curious, please carry on if your mind is made up to replace them. The scales appear to be made of wood - sometimes you may just need to sand and seal them.

 

[McCracken]

Well this opens a whole new can of worms. I have no clue on the age. The only mark on it is the tang stamp you can see. The scales are definitely horn and extremely warped. If I can repair them that would be awesome but I'm not sure if that's possible at this point and if it is it's definitely above my pay grade. If it is that old keeping it original would be amazing and I wouldn't care to have the scales professionally refurbished.
It does appear to have some hopefully superficial fractures or stress cracks which would lead me to believe it's hand forged and the artifact on the back of the tang could be an artifact of the blade being cut off of a bar.
This is all very interesting it looks like I have some research to do.

 

[kayvee]

In addition to the apparent age (it's not a new replica), I'm using these two as evidence to support my pre-1800 thesis - short tang and lack of curve to the scales. If it is horn, look at this page - you may be able to straighten them Straightening horn. - https://www.badgerandblade.com/forum/threads/straightening-horn.439723/

 

[J B Addis]

I would guess not pre-1800, but early 19th c. based on the shape, so still quite old. The weird bits on the end of the tail are probably (functionally harmless) forge flaws from drawing it out, I've seen it before on hand forged razors. It's entirely possible that you can salvage the scales if you unpin it completely, heat them until pliable, then clamp them between flat surfaces like pieces of steel bar stock or wood while they harden up, and if there's still some residual warp, they can be heated again and then clamped with a slight counterbend. I prefer to err on the side of trying to save really old scales when possible.

 

[H Brad Boonshaft]

Noooo…

That’s an old razor with likely original horn scales. Those bug bite scales can easily be repaired. Horn dust, (sand the inside of the scales), & CA for an invisible repair. Lots of posts on repairing horn scales, or just ask.

Save and reuse the original scales and cool collars.

The tail is a hand forged tail, can be cleaned up with a Dremel and sanding drum or carbide bit. Or, I would just remove the rust and leave as is.

If you cannot restore it right now, soak the whole razor in a Zip-loc bag filled with Neets foot oil to rehydrate and kill any bugs in the scales, for a few days or weeks.

The oil will not harm the steel.

Cool, nice find. Don’t put some lime green plastic scales on it, please.

 

[McCracken]

Thanks for all the info guys I really appreciate it. And I would never put lime green scales on it I would definitely go with these. But In all seriousness I will always keep something period correct and original if I can. The old dust and glue trick is common in cabinetry and woodworking, I know it well. I will probably leave most of the damage alone and just fix anything that looks liable to break a little reminder that time affects us all never hurt.

 

[rbscebu]

.... Don’t put some lime green plastic scales on it, please.

What's wrong with iridescent lime-green plastic scales? They would have been very much in vogue if they were available in the 1700s .

 

[Frank Shaves]

Nice razor. Should clean up nicely. In my opinion, you should try to save the original scales. I would do the following:

1. Remove the scales
2. Sand the blade using 100, 240, 400, 800 and 1200 grit wet/dry sandpaper
3. Soak the scales in 100% neatsfoot oil (not compound)
4. Sand the scales with fine sandpaper perhaps 800, 1200 and 2000
5. Polish the blade and scales with Mothers polish
6. Assemble the razor, hone and enjoy

If it were my razor, the blade would never come within 10 feet of synthetic scales .

Pretty much everything you need to know and do is on this channel somewhere:

What's on your work bench right now?

I've got several Irons in the fire so to speak.... It got me wondering if hat everyone else is working on. So, what are you sanding, rescaling, polishing, or modifying??

www.badgerandblade.com

Ask questions and try. That's how we all learned.

 

[Frank Shaves]

Before careful removing the scales. Do not try to force or pry the scales apart. Again, ask questions.

 

[McCracken]

Before careful removing the scales. Do not try to force or pry the scales apart. Again, ask questions.

Yea I really appreciate how helpful this community is you guys are very quick to help and believe me I am going to try my best to keep it all original, I don't even plan on polishing the blade it doesn't have any active rust so I'm going to let it show it's age. I'm pretty excited about this old guy, I'm going to leave it alone until my order of neetsfoot oil and new pins come in. I will be sure to update with some more photos as I progress on the restoration thanks for all the advice.

 

[Frank Shaves]

Nothing wrong with leaving some pitting - can look great.

Another nice technique is to go over the blade using steel wool with WD-40 to remove any active rust. WD-40 is somewhat secretive about their secret sauce, but WD-40 is said to remove and stabilize active rust by turning active rust (red oxide) into stable black oxide (magnetite).

Some guys put blades in boiling water. I have never tried this one.

And do keep us posted.

 

[McCracken]

Nothing wrong with leaving some pitting - can look great.

Another nice technique is to go over the blade using steel wool with WD-40 to remove any active rust. WD-40 is somewhat secretive about their secret sauce, but WD-40 is said to remove and stabilize active rust by turning active rust (red oxide) into stable black oxide (magnetite).

Some guys put blades in boiling water. I have never tried this one.

And do keep us posted.

Boiling water is a common way to conserve old guns with active rust so that tracks.

 

[H Brad Boonshaft]

Yup, horn dust and CA works exactly the same, I too use it all the time repairing antique Rosewood and Ebony tool handles for invisible repairs. I sand over a clean cookie sheet and save the dust.

First hose it down with WD40 and scrub with 000 steel wool. A coffee stir stick wrapped with a piece of paper towel will clean between the scales. WD40 will not harm the scales.

Nothing wrong with lime green scales, saw a super nice new razor ground from a file the other day. On that razor it worked just fine.

But since your razor appears completely original, I would keep it original. Besides I like horn, it is one of my favorite scale materials to make scales from.

 

[Gamma]

Stub tail, looks like this one was dropped and chipped. I've seen a couple cast steel blades chip like that.

A lot of sellers do not provide enough useful info for their products. They'll tell you their scales will fit an 8/8 blade but not tell you how long they are. You could try emailing them directly to see if they have longer scales for you. If your measurement is correct, you might spend some time trying to find blanks to accommodate.
FWIW - those scales would be easy to reproduce out of horn or wood. You can re-use the wedge. A blade from that era deserves period-correct treatment.

Horn can be repaired but I can't tell how much repair yours need. I don't like to have huge chunks of the scale filled with resin or epoxy. Some is ok, but when the area to fix is large, I usually want to replace it. There is a balance to consider, the scales need to flex, if there is a larger area of epoxy or whatever it won't bend like the horn. It might work, it might work for a while and then split, or it might just split when pinning. I tend to rely on epoxy because it sets slow enough to mess with and there are less fumes. Epoxy seems to last longer too. I might opt to use a CA fill on a divot, but for a major structural fix I'd go with epoxy.

 

[McCracken]

I used to work at a custom cabinet maker I mar have them make a set of scales and go ahead and switch them out and keep the old ones they have quite a few larger chunks missing and there's some pretty bad delam on one side thanks for the advice Keith you have been a great mentor on this straight razor journey.