A call to Restore and Rescale and showing your work

Joost

Joost

Tovenaar van het open scheermes
Before entering into my second "brass" period, I would like to tell you a story.

As I mentioned before, a few years ago I was a member of a Dutch forum on which I regularly published. One day a member requested me, "Joost, I have heard and read that you are a fine honer and also a nice rescaler. I have a straight with poor scales being blunt as a rain barrel. I have acquired two pairs of unfinished good looking snakewood scales. Would you replace the poor scales with one pair of the by you pimped up ones and hone and strop the poor straight for me? The second set of scales are for you.”

Of course I agreed. If one or more of you were to ask me, "Joost, I have some straights that need to be brought to the stones and the strop, would you do that for me?" I would do that right away despite the 4,000 miles of water between the two of us.

Two weeks later I received the goods at issue. The member turned out to be a Dutch diplomatic employee working at a Dutch embassy in Hong Kong. The straight was an El Cheapo AliExpress Gold Dollar straight razor of a few poor $'s. But the snakewood elementary scales bought in Cambodia, were not too bad. I put everything in order and sent it back to Hong Kong.

I mounted the awarded pair of snakewood scales on an orphaned Gong. Please see picture.

Bad image. Tomorrow with daylight better.

Gong Snake.jpgsnakewood
 
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Salamander

Salamander

Well-known member
Joost said:
Before entering into my second "brass" period, I would like to tell you a story.

As I mentioned before, a few years ago I was a member of a Dutch forum on which I regularly published. One day a member requested me, "Joost, I have heard and read that you are a fine honer and also a nice rescaler. I have a straight with poor scales being blunt as a rain barrel. I have acquired two pairs of unfinished good looking snakewood scales. Would you replace the poor scales with one pair of the by you pimped up ones and hone and strop the poor straight for me? The second set of scales are for you.”

Of course I agreed. If one or more of you were to ask me, "Joost, I have some straights that need to be brought to the stones and the strop, would you do that for me?" I would do that right away despite the 4,000 miles of water between the two of us.

Two weeks later I received the goods at issue. The member turned out to be a Dutch diplomatic employee working at a Dutch embassy in Hong Kong. The straight was an El Cheapo AliExpress Gold Dollar straight razor of a few poor $'s. But the snakewood elementary scales bought in Cambodia, were not too bad. I put everything in order and sent it back to Hong Kong.

I mounted the awarded pair of snakewood scales on an orphaned Gong. Please see picture.

Bad image. Tomorrow with daylight better.

View attachment 6293snakewood
Click to expand...
Beautiful work sir!!??


I Love snakewood. I play fiddle and have a snakewood bow.
 
jaro1069

jaro1069

Administrator
Staff member
Oh no problem. I was speaking more about what is the standard size of the bolt and nuts and washers to get ..
 
Joost

Joost

Tovenaar van het open scheermes
jaro1069 said:
Oh no problem. I was speaking more about what is the standard size of the bolt and nuts and washers to get ..
Click to expand...
I apply brass bolt/nuts size M 2 x 15 and steel b/n M 1.6 x 16. Low head. With fitting washers (with hard material like bone and when at the head the wedge is glued I refrain from a washer; bold/nut only decorative function).
The reason for a bit bigger brass version is that after mounting I flatten the heads of the bolt and nuts further. This weakens the nut which smaller sized might break with periodical adjusting the pivot.
Sorry, only metric measurements.
 
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Joost

Joost

Tovenaar van het open scheermes
I forgot to say that brass bolt/nuts can be fixed by means of riveting after mounting. The steel version is mostly too hard to hammer flat. Apply Loctite 243 or alike or Superglue (very tiny little bit)
 
Joost

Joost

Tovenaar van het open scheermes
Gentlemen, here is episode 2 of the result of rescaling with brass bolt/nut hinges and locks.

In episode 1 I lumped 6 razors into one image. On closer inspection, this detracts from the image of an individual razor. I have opted for a somewhat different approach that contributes a bit more to the properties of each razor in itself.

I numbered the images from 1. to 5.

Number 1.

Here I express that - as every designer knows - (that's not me, I'm just messing around a bit), that when the same material is used, choice of detail and size results in a big difference in display. Shown at the top is a Paul Waldmin. Not much to tell about it except it's stainless steel. The 2nd is an old trustworthy Gong (ERN). Both 6/8th +. Both in a White Ebony jacket. But see what a totally different impression they leave behind! Category 4 and 1.



Number 1 (2).jpg

Number 2.

This is a John Clark & Son 6/8th +. Sheffield. I didn't write down what kind of Ebony I applied. Stupid. It has a particularly fine structure and no visible grains with a matte sheen. Nice deep etching. Category 6.

Number 2 (2).jpg

Number 3.

A King Edward. 7/8th -. ebony. No visible fixation on the wedge end. Nice deep contrasting etching on the blade with the purchase price listed! Half a Guinea! Under the former Gold Standard a colloquial term. Although the coin itself no longer circulated by the time the razor was produced 1938, the term guinea survived as a unit of account in some fields.(professional fees; medical, legal, etc.) Apparantly here too. About 1938 (a guinea was equal to 1 pound and 1 shilling (21 shillings) the razors price was thus £ 0.52. Which corresponds with a today amount of £ 36.25 = US $ 42.50! So this was pre WW II a rather precious razor considering the level of workers’ wages in those days. Category 1.

Number 3.jpg

Number 4.

A B&S Cowvan. ebony. A great razor. Close to 8/8th. Anytime when I pick it up, for some reason I am reminded of my a decade and a half ago deceased Bull Terrier called Ulysses. Category 6.


Number 4.jpg

Number 5.

The promised in daylight taken pic of the herefore earlier shown Snakewood coated Gong with a story. Compare the confusing harmony with the Number 1 shown white ebony coated Gong in order to emphasize a big difference in display by applying different sizes and materials on a twin straight.


snakewood day Nr 5.jpg

All shown straight razors carry an antler horn wedge.
 
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drmoss_ca

drmoss_ca

Is there a Doctor in the house ?
You'll see on your Half Guinea razor the numbers 10/6. I'm sure you have figured out the meaning, but for those who haven't, read the text right across the blade - "Half Guinea Razor/ Price 10/6". It stands for 10 shillings and six pence, which is half of 21 shillings, ie half a guinea.
 
Joost

Joost

Tovenaar van het open scheermes
By the way Drmoss, of course I read the 10/6 marking on the blade. But I did nothing with it. I associated the guineau and half of it with the pound and its shillings and not with the shillings/sixpence 10/6 sign. How very erudite of you.
I can still remember when I was a kid in school I had to do the math of 12 pence in a shilling and 20 shillings or 240 pence in a pound and multiply and divide. Commercial arithmetic was a school subject. Sometimes, now 60 years later, I still have nasty dreams about that with a bad sweaty wake up.
 
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Joost

Joost

Tovenaar van het open scheermes
Gentlemen, after episode 2 rescaling with brass bolt/nut hinges and locks, I decided - to avoid too much of the same - to discontinue this series trying to keep you away from snoozing. Tomorrow or so precious wood and bolt/nut steel hinges.
 
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Pun1sh3R

Pun1sh3R

One Batch, Two Batch, Penny, And Dime.
Joost said:
Dear friends, this a workshop. Are there any workers but me?
Click to expand...
I intend to join the maker world in the future.

As a self proclaimed maker in other areas, this is the next logical move.

I need to figure out and aquire the necessary tools and consumables of the trade. Ie. Pin/washer materials, small anvil and peening hammer. I have the wood working tools.

Then I need to get a volunteer or two for the potential upgrade to the scales.

At some point I want to make the razor as well.

Frank
 
V

verysharp

New member
Without knowing anything about what I was doing, I started a sharpening business 1.5 years ago. Blah blah blah jump to now, I picked up this blade at a local pawn shop. I've already got all the stones and strops but this unit needs cosmetic and functional repairs.

My first question to you is: is it worth it? I don't know what I'm looking at. This thing might be totally worn out and it might be just getting broke in. I don't know. What do you see? Corrosion has eaten through the blade in one spot (circled in yellow). Again, my first question is: is it worth spending time cleaning and refurbishing this blade?

Thanks,
Pete

20211216_143123.jpg20211216_143149.jpg20211216_143223.jpg20211216_143327.jpg
 
Lou Mowan

Lou Mowan

Snake River Razors, Admin
Staff member
My scales Broke during my shave this morning on my Artrazor 1000. I made these new ones this morning. Pictures don't show the color very good they are a dark maroon linen Micarta With a lot of grain, 0C6B16FF-CD51-4B40-BC37-375AD3406528.jpeg43C5EAA8-C8A3-40DD-9FC2-845E5D51547C.jpegE437DC30-B02D-4681-87A0-431AE77882D6.jpeg670BDD18-37DD-44FC-915C-E9DD05B1333B.jpeg8025D103-4605-43C2-95B3-DE34855984D4.jpeg picture don't show it
 
Bill M

Bill M

Active member
Bummer on the busted scales. They had nice colors.

Micarta should hold up to the battle axe size.
 
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