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Wostenholm IXL Re-scale & clean up

Kev Kev

Kev Kev

I acquired this razor some time ago and have been meaning to give it a new life. The scales were shot, the blade was scuffed and scratched, and there was a serious dent (circled in red in the photo below) on the edge near the heel.
$wosty_pearl_before.jpg

To remove the dent required some careful reshaping of the blade curve and heel in order to make it a usable shaver. I made some new scales from 'Blue pearl' acrylic, and sanded & buffed to 5k. Very iridescent! The wedge was shaped from amber. The hardware was all brass: solid brass pins and I domed some brass washers. The blade was carefully sanded and buffed to remove all scratches and maintain the majority of the etched marking.
$Wosty_pearl_01.jpg$Wosty_pearl_08.jpg$Wosty_pearl_04.jpg$Wosty_pearl_11.jpg
 
Cachorro

Cachorro

Well that is a beautiful restoration, there is no evidence of that dent ever being there. I must say that when I read of the vinyl scales I was skeptical, but your material selection and shape of the scales if quite awesome.

I did wonder if amber was used for scale making, you made the wedge (which looks superb BTW), but I still wonder if there are some whole scales made of it.

Great restoration, congrats :thumbup:
 
Kev Kev

Kev Kev

Cachorro said:
I did wonder if amber was used for scale making, you made the wedge (which looks superb BTW), but I still wonder if there are some whole scales made of it.
Click to expand...
Amber is a dense but relatively fragile material (fossilized resin) that is easily shaped—but chips, fractures or shatters if mishandled. The biggest issue for making scales from it would probably finding a source that has blanks large enough and not be prohibitively expensive! $$$
 
Kev Kev

Kev Kev

Columbus said:
The blue pearl scales are stunning. Well done, especially with the etching.
Click to expand...
The blade was in particularly bad shape with some deep scratches to go along with the damaged heel. Some careful sanding and buffing removed the most obvious flaws on the blade's surface. In order to remove much of the gunk and scratches, I lost some of the black banner (behind the 'G. Wostenholm IXL Sheffield' etch), but overall I'm pleased with how it turned out. Damaged etched or engraved blades can be a pain!
$SafariScreenSnapz021.jpg$SafariScreenSnapz020.jpg
 
Snurgblat

Snurgblat

Kev Kev said:
I acquired this razor some time ago and have been meaning to give it a new life. The scales were shot, the blade was scuffed and scratched, and there was a serious dent (circled in red in the photo below) on the edge near the heel.
View attachment 570760

To remove the dent required some careful reshaping of the blade curve and heel in order to make it a usable shaver. I made some new scales from 'Blue pearl' acrylic, and sanded & buffed to 5k. Very iridescent! The wedge was shaped from amber. The hardware was all brass: solid brass pins and I domed some brass washers. The blade was carefully sanded and buffed to remove all scratches and maintain the majority of the etched marking.
View attachment 570783View attachment 570784View attachment 570785View attachment 570786
Click to expand...

The scales are beautiful.
 
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