Is this worth refurbishing?

[aaron.steele.9026]

I was given this straight razor a while back and I've already started a little bit of work on it (taking it apart and polishing the tang and blade) so it's probably a bit to late to ask but, is this razor wort refurbishing and if so what is the quality of this particular razor.

 

[ToddS]

My opinion, it's not worth restoring a vintage razor less than 6/8 wide; 5/8 if it is one of the trendy brands...

.... unless you are just doing it for fun and/or practice.

 

[strategy9]

Are you restoring it for personal use? Or resale,?

Shapleigh razors are good razor to shave with. They were manufactured in St. Louis, good ol' American steel, but during a period where demands became such that they couldn't keep up with the supply, they began outsourcing to Germany to make blades for them to keep up with demands...

That said, being a German (solingen) made Shapleigh, it is still a good shaver, but it's a later model and not one of the more desirable "collector" models, nor is it a more desirable size...

 

[gadgetgeek]

no major knicks or cracks, then the answer is yes. Totally worth restoring. Looks to be in great shape with no frown on the edge, so its an easy choice. The only blades I would not restore for users, are ones that are best suited to display if they were not going to have much left afterwards. Like large frowns, or cracks. Those might better be suited as show pieces if they were good brands or unique features.

 

[Ernie1980]

Yes, that one is worth the trouble. I have one just like it, it will give a nice shave. It looks like it's in nice shape already, so it shouldn't be too much work. You did well taking the scales off without breaking them! Here is a couple of razors that I restored and made a new set of scales for, one is made of cocobolo wood and the other is bulbinga wood. It is a fun hobby if you have the time!

 

[aaron.steele.9026]

I'm restoring it for personal use. It's the first and only one I have so I'm also just having fun with it

 

[aaron.steele.9026]

Yes, that one is worth the trouble. I have one just like it, it will give a nice shave. It looks like it's in nice shape already, so it shouldn't be too much work. You did well taking the scales off without breaking them! Here is a couple of razors that I restored and made a new set of scales for, one is made of cocobolo wood and the other is bulbinga wood. It is a fun hobby if you have the time!

I tried to do a mesquite wood burl but the handle cracked on me when I tried to set the rivet.

Are you restoring it for personal use? Or resale,?

Shapleigh razors are good razor to shave with. They were manufactured in St. Louis, good ol' American steel, but during a period where demands became such that they couldn't keep up with the supply, they began outsourcing to Germany to make blades for them to keep up with demands...

That said, being a German (solingen) made Shapleigh, it is still a good shaver, but it's a later model and not one of the more desirable "collector" models, nor is it a more desirable size...

 

[Ferahgo]

I would go for it. As far as I know, German steel like this is of excellent quality.

 

[BobbyH]

I tried to do a mesquite wood burl but the handle cracked on me when I tried to set the rivet.

Did you use an actual rivet or did you do the traditional pinning method?

Bob

Should have added that I think the razor is good enough to fix up and shave with.

 

[aaron.steele.9026]

I used a pice of rather thick brass tubing. I didn't won't to use the original size of the pin it used because it was way to small and left a lot of wiggle room ( enough for the blade to cut into the handle whale closing it).

 

[BobbyH]

I used a pice of rather thick brass tubing. I didn't won't to use the original size of the pin it used because it was way to small and left a lot of wiggle room ( enough for the blade to cut into the handle whale closing it).

You might find this interesting on how to pin a straight razor starting at the 5 minute mark https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmwvf8xLKmk .

If the pivot hole is too large you can do a couple of things to fix that. You can fill the hole with 2 part metal epoxy and drill the proper sized hole once the epoxy has set up. You can use an appropriate sized piece of brass round stock to fill the hole, peen it in place and drill the proper sized hole. You can also use tubing peened into the hole.

An over sized pivot hole won't necessarily cause the blade to hit the sides of the scales on closing but just usually give back and forth slop. If the is enough play it may go forward enough to the wedge though. A blade hitting the sides of the scales while closing is usually caused by the razor having a slight warp or twist to it.

Bob

 

[aaron.steele.9026]

The play may have been do to the pivot being drilled at a angel through the original scales.

 

[BobbyH]

The play may have been do to the pivot being drilled at a angel through the original scales.

Yea, I guess anything is possible. Have you checked the razor for a warp/twist? Regardless the proper way to pin a straight is in the vid.

Bob

 

[gadgetgeek]

Oversized, off center and skewy pivot holes are pretty common on older razors. the precision that we expect from modern folders wasn't part of the design philosophy back then. I've got an old razor with what I'm sure is a lead wedge in it. The only reason to do that would be as an easily formed and trim-able shim. Point is, they were worried about other things.