My neighbor gifted me a Shumate's barber after learning i wanted to start wet shaving (this is my first non cartridge/disposable). It was his grandfathers and fathers razors and i would like to treat it with the respect it deserves because of that and get it restored, however i would like to do something that i haven't been able to find much if any of and give it a unique scale made of some sort of polished stone. My question is whether or not this is a good idea. I know it would give it a lot of extra weight and the blade would need some sort of protection from the stone when folded. Any thoughts?
The engineering of the scales calls for a certain amount of flex to keep the blade positioned when being used. Using stone makes for very little ability of the scales to bend. I've seen a few and they were backed with metal, probably silver or brass. You might consider a stone-like material? There may be a synthetic material that would be functional and suit your desire. What specifically did you have in mind? Got a photo?
I don't have anything specific in mind yet, my grandfather has a lot of experience polishing and shaping stones. i was going to see what types of rocks he had and go from there. Going through him would also mean a smaller price which with my current situation is preferable. My next choice would be a wood handle, most likely cocobolo from razor emporium since thats where i plan to get it honed and polished at. this is the razor currently
Most often I've seen Mother of Pearl. While having a stone like hardness, it's from the inside of oysters, and similar mollusks. Have you checked The Bay? There are many guys here that do restorations. You've come to the right place to get answers. I've begun to gather my materials and tools to make new scales & repin vintage straight. Unfortunately my experience is only theoretical at this point. I'm still learning what I don't yet know enough about to even know the questions.
I don't know why I hadn't thought of checking there before but thank you for the redirect, going through some of those I can already tell I'm going to be putting more money than I probably should into this hobby and am going to regret none of it. I'm definitely going to continue trying to get my shumates restored, but will probably get a cheaper blade for now. What's a good price range for a good but inexpensive straight razor?
Price range is a subjective thing. A "Good Price" is what you and the seller agree on. You can find fully restored shave ready straights on this site. Because of Peer Review if someone sells one here, you can be pretty sure it is a quality tool done right. Personally I've purchased unrestored razors (as cheap as $14.00), and using my amateur touch, a Barber's hone (Antique store $40.00) & an inexpensive strop (New for $25.00) gotten an acceptable shave. Polishing a razor with a slight patina can be done with wet or dry sand paper purchased from a store selling auto paint supplies. 2000 grit gives a nice mirror reflection. But you have to work up to it removing rust, pits, & scratches with rougher paper until you get to that shine.
Thank you for all of your help ryx. this turned out better than i expected on any internet forum and I will make sure to remember all of this when I make my next purchase.
For a cheap razor to test the water Whipped Dog sight unseen straight razor is a good choice. Many of us got our start with a 'Whipped Dog', I did. It will be ugly but come with a good edge. Welcome to the dark side.
Yup, me too. My first shave ready was a Whipped Dog sight unseen. I still use it. And yes it's not polished, doesn't have beautiful scales. But Larry will correspond with you, and set you up with a decent working razor. Mine's a 5/8 Round point Brandt 100 manufactured between 1911 & 1916.
