As Ridiculous As This Looks

I've been contemplating leaving it as-is and just honing it.
The wedge appears to be a piece of leather... pins are bent-over nails, scales are, well - silly.
I can't tell if the effort was serious, or just some plunking around in the workshop. Seems to have been used like this, and the leather wedge holds the blade closed. Could be by accident though.

Oddly - the blade is in really good shape, with minimal wear.
I wanted to rescale it originally - now I'm rethinking that.

Ha, Ha, Ha, I love it! It must be huge, because that blade looks tiny.

WOW!!! Now that is some serious Wood there Troy LOL That blade does look to be in great shape though

LOL!!... Rescale it plllllleeeeease, please, pretty please! Gad! I think if it were me trying to shave with it 'as is' it could end painfully...
Might make a nice shipping container though

One word-No

It is a nice blade deserving proper scales

What would be very cool is using that wood for proper looking scales.

Maybe it was part of some barber-shop window display? Or some prop in a theatrical production to be viewed at a distance? It's curious. In France, I came across a naive carving of a straight razor made from wood that's around fourteen inches in length when folded up. The scales look sort of like yours, although perhaps a bit more tapered, but not by much.

Practice strop for that one.

After careful consideration in the bathroom this morning, I've decided that I might try to reshape the wood into something less clunky and a bit easier to deal with.

Whether or not they'll be 'proper' or not - I don't really care about that.
I've seen a great many sets of 'proper' scales that hurt my eyes or make me laugh.
So - I'm going to try and keep whatever the original concept was as intact as possible; basic/safe functionality is the main goal and I'll either leave the barbarian look or try to recreate it after I reshape the wood.

Any idea what kind of wood that is? That may determine what you want to do with it and whether it can be re-worked.

I like the scales the way they are. Leave them that way as a display piece. Take that nice blade out and make some "proper" scales for them. Put another blade (that is beyond salvage) in those cool scales

Gamma said:

I've been contemplating leaving it as-is and just honing it.
The wedge appears to be a piece of leather... pins are bent-over nails, scales are, well - silly.
I can't tell if the effort was serious, or just some plunking around in the workshop. Seems to have been used like this, and the leather wedge holds the blade closed. Could be by accident though.

Oddly - the blade is in really good shape, with minimal wear.
I wanted to rescale it originally - now I'm rethinking that.

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LOL! I like it! You already got plenty of purty razors I am sure. I say leave it as it is, and use it once in a while. Only difficulty is see is the wide scales will sort of push your fingers apart on the tang.

global_dev said:

What would be very cool is using that wood for proper looking scales.

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Very cool indeed.

dpm802 said:

Any idea what kind of wood that is? That may determine what you want to do with it and whether it can be re-worked.

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To guess, i'ts pine. I don't know wood all that well, but it reminds me of pine. Way too soft to do much with. I can punch a groove in it with my thumbnail easily. Can't thin the wood too much or it will split.
Since there will be no flex - I don't have to sweat the wedge. It'll be a spacer, and I'll prob use leather because that's what was in there originally.

It ain't gonna be the prettiest duck on the pond, but I think I can get it to come together decently.


Odd thing - when sanding the 'patina' on the wood a bit, the resulting 'fragrance' was exactly the same as what used to reek out of the old barbershop I used to go to up on 3rd Ave (Brooklyn). It's absolutely the exact same smell.

I think you should leave it as is. That is a really cool piece of folk art. It keeps the razor's history in tact.

I couldn't leave it as-is, had to rework it. No way to use it safely in the 'form' it arrived in. The blade was too loose, and it sat too far up in the pivot end of the scales when open; it created a see-saw type of hold what didn't make me happy.
Even as a 'every now and then' razor - it wasn't a good idea.

Tightening the 'pins' was a questionable (at best) consideration that I opted to not attempt.
If they were both pointing 'in' I might have tried to do it though. But the one at the wedge was really bugging me so they're gone.

So - well - I'm working on it now. I wasn't able to save the barbarian look but I did save the wood. That, and the new leather 'wedge' will have to be enough 'paying homage' to the original craftsperson.

Pinning it took longer than expected. With 'normal'materials, things don't move so much, soft wood and untreated horsehide are quite a combo to deal with.

Soft wood doesn't like to be pinned with conventional washers. A much larger bearing surface is necessary.
The existing holes for the pins was huge, and I should probably have tried to use a thicker NiAg rod.
Using a plain leather wedge is not the world's best idea.

I'm still working on making it a plausible option, I have to 're-re-refinish' the toe end of the scales.
Photos will follow eventually.

Not 'high art' - but functional. Kept some of the original concept intact.
For me & my needs - I'm good to go.
Still has to survive honing though. Not sure when I'll get to it, box o' stone arrived today so I'll be busy with that for a while.

Nicely done. Still looks like a man with just a pocketknife made it without looking dysfunctional.

Dunno, kinda liked the apple crate folk art concept.

Brianskeet said:

Nicely done. Still looks like a man with just a pocketknife made it without looking dysfunctional.

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Thanks - that was the basic plan... sorta worked. I can shave with it now at least.

bberg100 said:

Dunno, kinda liked the apple crate folk art concept.

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Dunno that I'd call the first 'folk art' - but I liked it too. At the same time, I don't like bleeding a whole lot so a compromise had to be made.

lmarkow said:

Practice strop for that one.

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Hehehe - yeah, well - got a few strips of horsehide lyin' around, that's not a bad idea...