Received family heirloom, to restore or not H Keschner 33 Diamond razor, info?

B

Byeofcr

Joined
Dec 27, 2013
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So Ive been wanting a vintage straight razor. I told my father about this and he went into his room and came out later with this:

it was my great uncles who was a barber. Its in rough shape, the celluid handle is cracked in two and the other side has some slight warpage. as you can see the blade needs work. My question is should i restore this and get it back to shaving shape or leave it as is and enjoy it as a part of family history. I did a quick google about H Keschner razors and didnt find much, most links came up for auctions for them. Any info on the company? Or from a time frame this razor is from? if i do go the resto route, is there anywhere i can begin my search for new handles?

thanks guys, hope ya'll can give me some advice on which way to go.
 
I'm a user, I see very little in wall hangers and blades without edges. My first instinct would be to sharpen and fix up the handle. I know others want to keep everything with even a slight patina over 50 years old as museum pieces. So there is middle ground to be occupied. It's yours, do you want to keep it in a drawer, under glass, invest in it or just use it?

I personally would look for a guy that does repairs and see if I could get those handles epoxied onto 420J liners and repinned, then fix up the edge and use it.
 
Honestly id like to use it. Its just if i was going to get it back to using it i want to make sure i do it right. Could you explain to a newb like me how to go about this epoxy process? Or even get some ebay handles and get the blade right then i can keep the old handles in the "memory" drawer ya know?
Appreciate the help!
 
I'd hit up Bernard Levines forum here for info, the regulars have a great body on information in this sub forum as well, just a little slow on posts here.

For the handles, I'd do some searching around here for guys that do blade work, I'm not even certain that epoxy and liners would be the way to go, just a thought.

Don't be deterred by low amounts of posts, sometimes the most important ingredient in a good solution is time.
 
If you want to use it, I would clean it up, do up some new scales for it, and enjoy it. If you just want to keep it, then I would clean it up as much as possible, as corrosion begets more corrosion. besides the corrosion, that blade is in pretty good shape, so getting to shave shouldn't be too bad. Nice piece, and a great heirloom.
 
If you want to shave with it, get it set up the way you like it. It was once a tool used for work and he made his living with it.
 
First, hope your dad is o.k and living large. ck. out the custom guys on this site, 100's of guys to help with websites and actual telephones, wow. Blade is great old german steel, best in the world when this was made...
MISSED POINT, you should always ask Dad. You are only borrowing the blade until dad passes." Dad, what do you want to do.." never assume anything. If he says ok to fix, spend the money and get it done well, Blade spotting, i would NOT mess with, the edge is what you will play with. It's harder than you think, look at the beards back then and that little white paper roll around the neck on gentlemens shirts then, why you think ?? ck on here and get you a strap . Go into your town and see if any BARBERS, shave and spend a Sat. am watching. and prepare to let the bleeding begin.
 
One thing to remember, these were the only razors for quite some time, and "safety razors" were still a disposable expense many may not have bought into. Every hardware store, supply house and groming product company sold razors with their name on it, often made overseas just for the seller. Do you think Rachel Ray or Paula Dean own factorys to make their kitchen knives? Sure doesn't say on the blade who did.

Personally, I would inspect the edge under 10x magnification, minimum, for pitting and small cracks. That would determine the work to be done after that. Bad pitting on the edge, even just one or two pits means its not gonna shave real well. Why go through the effort beyond just a clean up.

I totally understand family heirloom value, maybe consider just having it put back together and preserved rather than made all shiney and new again.


-xander
 
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