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GreekGuy
04-16-2011, 12:10 PM
I picked these all up pretty cheap, thinking they might be worth restoring. 2 of them are wade and butchers I think. The other is a fairly large Greaves (wedge?)

What do you think? Would they be worth the cost of a professional restoration?

157959

157960

157961

Skrymr
04-16-2011, 01:12 PM
It looks to me like they would be worth restoring. Whether you do it yourself, or have someone else do it.

raccoonandbrush
04-16-2011, 03:52 PM
The second and third one look good. I'm not sure about the blade of the first one.

Pkrankow
04-16-2011, 05:02 PM
Hone them and shave. They have interesting character.

I love how the third one has a repair by tying the scales at the wedge.

Phil

honed
04-16-2011, 05:11 PM
Just do it:thumbup1:

Harvitz81
04-16-2011, 05:34 PM
I picked these all up pretty cheap, thinking they might be worth restoring. 2 of them are wade and butchers I think. The other is a fairly large Greaves (wedge?)

What do you think? Would they be worth the cost of a professional restoration?


IMHO - no. Professional restorations cost a good bit of money (if you're thinking new scales and all).

They are however pretty easy to fix up yourself (at least 2,3 and 4 are). Start at some 400-600 grit sandpaper on 2-4 and see how they look. If you like it take them up to 2000 and polish with MAAS.

Honestly a good MAAS polishing and elbow grease on those 3 will probably make them look pretty good as is.

The W&B Bow razor (#1) could probably take an edge, but it needs pretty serious edge repair to fix it.

Clean them up yourself lightly, hone them up and enjoy.

grump
04-16-2011, 07:05 PM
The Greaves and Bannister look like they are great restoration candidates.

The Bow will need some time to straighten the edge but I think it could be saved.

GreekGuy
04-16-2011, 09:21 PM
Thanks guys for the input. I'll try a self restore (although I have no means for making scales) and hopefully they will come out in shaveable shape

Harvitz81
04-16-2011, 10:33 PM
Thanks guys for the input. I'll try a self restore (although I have no means for making scales) and hopefully they will come out in shaveable shape

You can buy replacement scales at classicshaving or thesuperiorshave for reasonable prices.

GreekGuy
04-16-2011, 10:39 PM
You can buy replacement scales at classicshaving or thesuperiorshave for reasonable prices.

I apologize if this is an ignorant question, but isn't there a tendency for the replacement scales to not fit properly?

Pkrankow
04-17-2011, 09:14 AM
You don't need a lot to make replacement scales, just a small hand saw like a coping saw or a jewelers saw, sandpaper, some small drills bits and some type of drill. You can have a rough set of scales in about 1/2 hour and then it is finishing.

Phil

taffy
04-17-2011, 09:17 AM
Thats a nice little project there, clean them up, its great to have a razor you brought back to:thumbup1: life

Greybeard
04-17-2011, 10:11 AM
I apologize if this is an ignorant question, but isn't there a tendency for the replacement scales to not fit properly?

Not an ignorant question at all. Unless you have measurements of the replacement scales then you're just guessing. You can use the existing scales on the razor as a guide to try to get a reasonable match.
You need to know that there's enough clearance from end to end of the replacement scales for the blade to fit. Some replacements come without the pivot hole drilled which gives you more leeway but requires precision in drilling the hole. You need to make sure that the replacements are wide enough that the bottom of the blade doesn't protrude (especially at the heel) when the razor is closed. You have to make sure that the wedge provided gives you enough flare for the width of the shank without stressing the scales and wedge pin. Or not too much flare that the blade falls through the scales. Fortunately I find wedges easy to reduce or replace even though I'm lousy at making custom scales. YMMV.

GreekGuy
04-17-2011, 05:28 PM
Thanks Greybeard for the info :thumbup1:

I think I'm going to try to restore these myself. Once I get around to cleaning them up and figuring out what to do about the scales, I'll update this thread.

Thanks so much everyone for you advice and help :thumbup:

Pkrankow
04-17-2011, 06:00 PM
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=185548&highlight=nickle+insane

some inspiration, over the top.

Phil