Thread: At this rate, I will never get rid of razors. Ever.

A couple days ago I picked up a junker razor at an antique store because it had good aluminum scales. I figured I've got a pile of scale-less blades, might as well fix one up. Maybe this time I'll make one I feel like selling!

While the scales were definitely in better shape than the blade, they weren't what I'd call pristine. I took it all apart and polished it up real good with micromesh (which works really fast on aluminum, by the way). In the process I discovered that this razor, strangely, used a larger size pin for the toe than the pivot. This caused me some grief. I'm probably going to take it apart later and modify the wedge so that the pin holes are 'standard' and the scales are flat (currently they're hollow, so the only point of contact between scales and wedge is the lip around the end).

But still. I got this at the end:



The blade could probably do with a bit more polish to get the pits out. Still, I'm surprised how much I like the blade/scales combo. I'm normally pretty unmoved by round point blades, but this one verges on French point, which I'm rather fond of.

I don't think I'll be getting rid of this razor.

Those scales are beautiful. Wish I had a set!

Nice. I like the scales, very classy.

You can tell the guys who spend heaps of time on the forum, they don't leave their computer to take a picture of their razors

Thanks for sharing.

Stu

Looks like a keeper to me, beautiful scales and honestly the blades looks fine the way it is, i like some patina.

Man those scales are realy cool!!

Those are very cool scales. Are they pretty light? I have a razor that has stainless steel scales which are a bit weighty.

Sweet! You have done a fine job! Looks familiar! I took mine apart(Wostenaluminumholm ) and discovered the same thing. The factory aluminum wedge had been in place as the scales were struck, resulting in a molded, custom fit. I desired a more narrow wedge, using an old lead wedge. I filled the space up with some common thin brass spacers until it fit right. I wonder if the bottom was pinned collarless with a big aluminum pin as mine was? I used some brass tube to bush the bottom pin holes. The bigger collars hide all sins! I would like to know the orgin of these scales! Kudos, Tom

Note: as I went back and looked, there are differences in our 2 sets of scales! Not quite the same. From the same maker, I would bet! Also, ats200 said he had some. Start an aluminum razor club?

Originally Posted by sharptonn

Sweet! You have done a fine job! Looks familiar! I took mine apart(Wostenaluminumholm ) and discovered the same thing. The factory aluminum wedge had been in place as the scales were struck, resulting in a molded, custom fit. I desired a more narrow wedge, using an old lead wedge. I filled the space up with some common thin brass spacers until it fit right. I wonder if the bottom was pinned collarless with a big aluminum pin as mine was? I used some brass tube to bush the bottom pin holes. The bigger collars hide all sins! I would like to know the orgin of these scales! Kudos, Tom

The toe was struck collarless, and the pin was a big, thick aluminum one. At first I thought it was actually integral to the wedge but I was able to knock it out with a punch. I'm probably just going to use some epoxy putty to flatten the toe of the scales and fill in the hole in the wedge and drill'em out in 1/16th. As it is, that wedge just flops around like a landed fish, even pinned pretty tightly.

I also realized, too late, that I really need to only polish the pin & collar with some tape around them so I don't leave that telltale 'polishing ring' on the scales.

One thing worth noting, the decoration on these scales is pretty clearly done by hand, so these might well have been done by the same folks.

Note: as I went back and looked, there are differences in our 2 sets of scales! Not quite the same. From the same maker, I would bet! Also, ats200 said he had some. Start an aluminum razor club?

I'm for it!

I also need to get a good picture of all my Greaves razors and put it in the Greaves club...

Originally Posted by markdfhr

Those are very cool scales. Are they pretty light? I have a razor that has stainless steel scales which are a bit weighty.

They're the lightest scales I've got. While they look like a solid piece, they're actually not. They're only about 1mm thick and just formed into a standard scale-shape.

I like those scales! Someone needs to cast these...