Restoration service?

**jbedwell** · 01-25-2010, 10:39 AM

Hello all,

I'm a newbie to all of this stuff. I've only been shaving with a DE razor for a couple of months. I'm not really ready to start with a straight, but I picked up a couple of vintage straights at an antique store this weekend. One is in pretty bad shape aesthetically. Actually, the blade doesn't look awful. The scales are in pretty bad shape. I think from what I've researched that it's an old Shumate blade out of St. Louis. To be honest, the only reason I got it was because of the box. It had a reference to Oklahoma City and I live in Oklahoma. It also says "Made in Germany". Here's the weird part, though. The box says "Spear No.3", and the scales have the "Spear" logo, but the blade has Shumate and St. Louis on it. I wondered if the blade and the scales weren't originally together. Does that ever happen? Anyway, the other blade I got is a Wester Bros. blade and it's in decent shape. However, that's my opinion and again, I don't know anything about this stuff. I was wondering if anyone on here did some basic cleaning and restoration for a fee. I bought both of them at an antique store in Bethany, OK. They were each marked $32.50, and after declining initially, the lady told me she'd sell them both to me for $30, so I figured what the heck. If nothing else, I'll get them cleaned up and keep 'em around for nostalgia or something. I'll post pics tonight. Any info is greatly appreciated...particularly if anyone knows anything about Shumate or Wester Bros.

Thanks,

Joe

**LaughingAtFate** · 01-25-2010, 03:51 PM

can't say much about the brands themselves, But razors have been spliced with scales from other razors in the past, Even different brands of razors... (it's easy, just one pin holding the blade to the scales) Having said that, theres also a good chance that your frankenrazor come like that from the store originally.

There are folks out there who do restorations/cleanups and honings, You could also do it yourself if you're feeling up to the challenge (buy shares in MAAS, it's always a popular tool for razor restos)

Having said that, Congrats on finding what sounds like some pretty awesome gear, I'd have to say Please Post Pictures if possible

**Ookla The Mok** · 01-25-2010, 04:14 PM

Both are well thought of brands for sure. As far as Restos go, there's a pretty good selection of guys to choose from. I can only attest for the GsSixgun, as he does all of my resto work. Here's my latest installment from him. The Yellow Spear had a large chip in the blade and the Blue Heljestrand was covered in oxidation when they were sent. All 3 were outfitted in custom scales.

**jbedwell** · 01-26-2010, 06:51 AM

Thanks guys for the feedback.

Ookla, after seeing your razors, it seems obvious that the scales on my shumate originally belonged to a Spear. I'm thinking if I were to have them reworked, I would have new scales put on the Shumate, but just have the old scales on the Wester revived and left with the blade. What do you guys think? I think I may contact GsSixgun and get a quote. His work looks awesome. But to be honest, I haven't seen anyone's work on here that doesn't look pretty good to me. Thanks again for the feedback.

Joe