What makes a vintage straight valuable?

Hot pin test is, supposedly used to to test;
a) Smell: If it's smell like burnt plastic..it's plastic. If it smells like burning hair - then it may well be tortoise, and
b) Resistance: A hot pin into plastic will go in very easily - but with tortoise there will be more 'resistance'.

 

Thanks! I'll take some photos of them up close tm. The one i got today could be used to swap the scales. It's amazing how similar the scale are, and both from england.

 

The Sheffield razors do look similar to each other. A lot of makers in Sheffield and Solingen would use some of the same workers. Designs of straights haven't changed drastically in the last 200 or so years, but they have had their different stages from hunks of iron/steel to heavy wedges with stub (short) tails, to the Hamburg hollow grounds to extra hollows and from large razors to smaller razors. The steel making process has kept changing as well. Artisan makers often use 01 tool steel or specialty steels. The Sheffield razors have a special heft and feel of their own and they'll last forever.

You could sell them pretty quickly on badgerandblade and straightrazorplace.

 

yea I got in a fight with b&b mod and got kicked off lol

 

Numbers

Having honed well over 12k razors I have held in my hands less then 20 with Genuine Tortoise scales

Most everything that people think are Tortoise are either Mottled Horn or Celluloid

If you post a pic with the scales lit from behind and if they are dark a pic that I can see the edges, I can probably tell you just from the pics


Hot Pin + Celluloid = Bye Bye Scales
Vintage razor scales are not Plastic they are Celluloid or Bakelite and variations of them.. Celluloid is HIGHLY flammable and cannot be extinguished easily once ignited.. It is easily ignited in fact I have lit it off with a belt sander just to see if I could, and it was with a quickness

Value = Condition Condition Condition much like Real Estate is Location Location Location

 

ok will do. Maybe they could be horn.

 

At B&B?! Unheard of!

 

Old, clean, shaves.

 

joseph smith:

 

I believe the other is just horn. Just a few pics of it here.

 

Great Pics BTW

Yes they are both what are called "Mottled Horn" which was basically Honey Horn pressured dyed to look like Tortoise..

A 24-48 hour soaking in Neetsfoot Oil followed by a rough cloth rubdown will vastly improve both of those scales... The one might be too far gone to help much but it wouldn't hurt to try..

 

cool thanks! The Joesph smith scales I believe are the ones that are not salvage? Could I re scale it without killing the value?

 

If the scales are not functional they are detracting from the value not helping it

 

Insta-PIF

I just ran out to the shop and found a few sets in the "Bench Box"

Here these are in pretty good shape and a good cleaning and soaking should make them even better



Fire me a PM with a mailing address and I will send them to ya PLEASE tell me you are in the US hehehe

 

nothing turns me off more than a non functional or ugly set of scales

 

I think I'd be more turned off by a non functional blade