So, today I bought my first straight razor...

[El Dingo Satanico]

Now, before I go any further, I have to admit I know just this side of not a damn thing about straight razors, or shaving with a straight razor or restoring old straight razors. But today I found this at a store that sells old crap that you find in the attic after your great aunt dies and leaves everything to her 13 cats. I saw this:

http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u305/SatanDingo420/IMG_0111.jpg

Now, usually, when I'm at a swap meet or a flea market, I might see a straight razor, pick it up and find that it's previous owner had decided it prudent to store the thing in sea water or sulfuric acid. Those few I've found that were in decent shape were going for $50-60. I can't lay out that kind of cabbage on something I don't know anything about. $2 on a TTO Gillette that looks like it went to war? No problem. If it turns out to be a real dog, I'm only out the cost of a short beer at the corner bar. But $60 on something that turns out to be a piece of crap I wouldn't use to butter my toast with? Man, I can't get behind that.

But I've done a tiny bit of cursory research on straights and have managed to retain this minuscule amount of knowledge on the subject so far:
Old=Good
Chips on the blade=Bad
Rust like you'd see on the remains of the Titanic=Bad.
And that's about it.

So, like I was saying, I found this thing at the old-stuff store for $20. It has a little bit of rust:

http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u305/SatanDingo420/IMG_0116.jpg
http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u305/SatanDingo420/IMG_0112.jpg

But nothing too horrible. And it had some wear on the scales:

http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u305/SatanDingo420/IMG_0113.jpg

But I'm OK with that as I don't think I need that it will affect it's ability to take hair off my face. Not that it's going to be doing that any time soon. I don't have the money for a strop and I'm sure the blade has to be honed (another thing I can't afford right now). But it was $20 and it appeared to be in decent shape, so I took it.

I will get it properly honed and I will be saving up for a good strop, but right now I just want to get that rust off it. My dremmel is buried under a metric ton of my belongings is storage, so I can't get into a full-fledged restoration project just yet (which I will inevitably screw up on an absolutely galactic scale, let me assure you).

But I've got some Flitz and a bottle of Brasso under my mom's sink. I'd like to just get it looking good so that when I show it to someone they don't just look at me and say "My, what a lovely bit of tetanus you've bought for yourself. Your father must be so proud. If you're interested, I've got a jar full of rusty box-cutter blades I can sell you for $10."

So, is there anything I can do to just get the rust off it? And before anyone says "Get some MAAS polish," I can tell you that the stuff doesn't exist in any store in my area. My empty gas tank can attribute to the extent of my search.

Any pointers you, the manliest of wet-shavers, can offer would be greatly appreciated.

EDIT: I should also add that I know absolutely nothing about the razor itself. It says it a "Celebrated Anglo-Saxon Concave Razor" on the blade and it once belonged to "W.S. Dyer." That's his name scratched into the scale there. I like to think that he spent his time hunting bear with a bowie knife and used this razor to smarten up when he went a-courtin' the widow Malone after he settled down and moved to the city to make bricks and be awesome. But other than that, I got nothin'.

[rajun50]

Looks to be a Wade & Butcher shoulderless faux frameback with a barber's notch. I'm no expert, however. Sheffield steel is pretty highly regarded, and with the W&B name behind it I'd say you've got yourself a winner. Nice find!

[Legion]

That looks like $20 well spent to me.

Get some mag wheel polish, if you cant find MAAS.

What country are you in? We might be able to recommend alternate products.

Ideally you would want to sand it with wet/dry sandpaper, starting at a grit sufficient to remove all the scratches and marks you want gone, and then keep sanding with progressively finer paper, up to about 2000, then polish. I won't lie, it's time consuming. But that looks like a nice razor, and it is probably worth the restore.

Oh, and leave your Dremel where it is. That way madness lies.

[El Dingo Satanico]

That looks like $20 well spent to me.

Get some mag wheel polish, if you cant find MAAS.

What country are you in? We might be able to recommend alternate products.

Ideally you would want to sand it with wet/dry sandpaper, starting at a grit sufficient to remove all the scratches and marks you want gone, and then keep sanding with progressively finer paper, up to about 2000, then polish. I won't lie, it's time consuming. But that looks like a nice razor, and it is probably worth the restore.

I am definitely going to restore this badboy after I get my feet under me with respects to economic situation. But right now i got the aforementioned polishes and a rag. I can get some sandpaper with no problem; there's a hardware store behind my mom's house. I got some Flitz polish (I'm in upstate NY by the way) that I was going to use to spruce up some old brush handles I've found. I just don't want to use something that will end up eating through the metal or the scales.

[Legion]

Leave the scales alone for now. Flitz should tidy up the blade some. Give it a go, it wont hurt it.

Just make sure everything is clean and dry when you put it away, and give the blade a light coat of mineral oil.

[El Dingo Satanico]

Anybody got an idea on how old this baby is? I know that's the first thing people are going to ask me, and I'll likely just tell them it's the first razor ever wielded but civilized man. Because they will never question that. They all shave with Mach 4000's or whatever the hell people are pressing against their faces these days.

But eventually I'll have to show this to my father-in-law, and he likely actually knows the first razor ever to be wielded by civilized man. That's the kind of stuff he knows. And I'd like to be be able to give him a 90% BS-free answer so that he doesn't just shake his head sadly at the waste of flesh he allowed to marry his favorite daughter. I get enough of that on Thanksgiving

[Legion]

Post a better picture of the tang stamp and we can be more precise, but I'd estimate around 120 years on the blade. It might be a re-scale.

Are you nocturnal, by the way? :lol:

[Shangas]

Hi Dingo.

Provided the rust ain't deep, like most other people, I would recommend you use a fine-grit sandpaper. A few good scrubbings with that stuff ought to strip off most of the worst of the rust. Once it's back to the metal, you can polish it up with a metal-paste or something. Then just give it a good clean.

[rajun50]

Does it say Sheffield England (or EN) or just Sheffield on the tang? I can't tell from the pictures. If there's no "England" on the tang, that makes it pre-1890. If it says EN or England, it's post 1890.

[El Dingo Satanico]

Post a better picture of the tang stamp and we can be more precise, but I'd estimate around 120 years on the blade. It might be a re-scale.

Are you nocturnal, by the way? :lol:

The tang stamp has gone the way of all things. It is very worn out. It states that it was "Manufa***** By ****(blarggh)*** Shef****" and it has the arrow insignia under that.

And,no. Not nocturnal. Just bored and drinking. Which the wife is not crazy about. But she prefers it to the alternative states of "bored, drinking and seeing what happens when one stuffs low-grade explosives into a (insert household object here)," or "bored, drinking and playing with sharp things he found at a swap meet that could possibly disfigure him further."

She has learned to pick her battles over the years.

[El Dingo Satanico]

Does it say Sheffield England (or EN) or just Sheffield on the tang? I can't tell from the pictures. If there's no "England" on the tang, that makes it pre-1890. If it says EN or England, it's post 1890.

I can't tell if it ever said EN or England on the tang. There's not a lot of room there for the letters, but this baby has seen some action. Mr. Dyer must have had a beard made out of granite and tungsten.

[rajun50]

By looking at the pattern of the stamp, I'd guess that it only said "Sheffield" - so pre 1890.

[El Dingo Satanico]

By looking at the pattern of the stamp, I'd guess that it only said "Sheffield" - so pre 1890.

That officially makes this razor the oldest man-made thing anyone in my family has ever owned. Wow. I can't wait to scrape this thing across my visage.

Thanks man. Holy crap. That's like finding out you own George Washington's favorite shoehorn. Which is to say, pretty damn awesome.

Bet Mr. Dyer never thought his razor would have lasted longer than most of his descendants.

[Kentos]

I think Mr Dyer would be turning in his grave if he knew the beloved razor he purchased at considerable expense, and then spending an additional tuppence to get his name engraved on the thing would be sold for 20 bucks at some second hand shop.:biggrin1:.

Looks like a nice acquisition!!

[DLBconductor]

Wade and Butcher razors are very good. You made a good find.

Stick with the Flitz and elbow grease. Be careful of the edge. If you push down on the edge, it is possible to break a chip off and it is also possible to cut yourself polishing the edge.

HINT:
I lay a folded towel on the table and put a paper towel on top of it to catch the black gunk. Then I lay the razor down on the towel while I polish. That allows me to get closer to the edge. If you stay away from the edge, you can hold the razor in your hand while you polish. Good Luck. I think you may be amazed at how much the Flitz will help.

By the way, your post made my day. You have a great sense of humor!
:thumbup:

[El Dingo Satanico]

I lay a folded towel on the table and put a paper towel on top of it to catch the black gunk. Then I lay the razor down on the towel while I polish. That allows me to get closer to the edge. If you stay away from the edge, you can hold the razor in your hand while you polish. Good Luck. I think you may be amazed at how much the Flitz will help.

I'm going to be doing this tonight, tomorrow night and likely the next night. I'm going to take this very slow and gentle, as I have a tendency to push thigs too far and too hard. I must keep reminding myself that haste in this hobby will end in me no longer having pads on my fingertips.

[mdunn]

Great score. It'll clean up a treat.

[Kentos]

I'm going to be doing this tonight, tomorrow night and likely the next night. I'm going to take this very slow and gentle, as I have a tendency to push thigs too far and too hard. I must keep reminding myself that haste in this hobby will end in me no longer having pads on my fingertips.

No, no, no no no...you will keep your finger pads, it's your wallet's contents that you will lose.
:lol:

[El Dingo Satanico]

No, no, no no no...you will keep your finger pads, it's your wallet's contents that you will lose.
:lol:

Oh this is becoming all too apparent all too quickly. DE shaving is the gateway drug. I have now started experimenting with the black tar heroin of the wet shaving hobby.

[Brent]

Oh this is becoming all too apparent all too quickly. DE shaving is the gateway drug. I have now started experimenting with the black tar heroin of the wet shaving hobby.

Man, you're cracking me up with your comments.

The only thing I can give a bit of advice on is the strop- you mentioned you were going to save up for a good strop. I'd suggest not spending much on the strop as you WILL nick and cut it as a newbie no matter how careful you are (after 3 or so weeks I still cut it and I'm careful). Go to whippeddog.com - they have a starter strop that will set you back only 19 bucks (which includes US postage).