All About Pocket Knives

I don't know a thing about this razor, and the tang stamp helps only a little. No marks on pile side. I can't tell what the handle material is, but it may be early plastic? I'm considering a rebuild, but I don't know if I'd ruin any collector value. I think it'd look good wearing some ebony scales. The wedge-less scale construction makes me think it's an older razor. Whaddya think guys?

The scales appear to be horn rather than plastic.Look closely at them to see if you can see a straight grain to them.Horn is actually made up of coarse hair that is melded somehow to be hard.
I've never seen that mark before and it looks to be in good shape;what's to rebuild?

Blonde horn on the scales.

Unusual for a German razor.

I'm thinking it has been re-scaled as the pins don't match.

Soak 'em in mineral oil for a few days. Wet sand 'em with 2K wet or dry. Polish 'em out with MAAS or Mothers or the like.

From what I hear they are great shavers. Fix it up and run it.

Frederick Reynolds used that style of scale on a lot of their stuff. I've got an FR with pretty much the same scales. Looks like those were rounded off on front and appears the original pin was filed off.

Thanks guys. Willie, I don't think it's been rehandled, but the lower pin has been replaced. Original pins and washers were of carbon steel or iron. The scales don't line up at the razor end and the pin is bent from someone trying to tighten it up a bit. I'm thinking of disassembling it, cleaning the scales, and replacing the pins/washers with something that won't rust. In the meantime, I'll try and put a bevel on it and get her honed up. Still don't know what the country of origin is.

Kolibri is German for hummingbird



Tim

basser5 wrote:Kolibri is German for hummingbird



Tim

Right on. It's German. I was trying to track down the maker, but hit a bunch of dead ends.

Fix her up Barry, it'll do good.

New handle material slabbed out, ready for cut-out and shaping.

Wood?

Sure! Ebony. You don't get the scales wet, really. The wood will be waterproofed in some fashion though.

Did you do the hot pin test on the old scales by chance?

I have not. How does it work?

Heat up a paper clip or straight pin and touch it to a part of the backside of the scales. If it smells like burning hair, they're horn. If it smells like burning plastic, tehn they're plastic.

I had to try it three times, but by God Willie, it does smell like burning hair. For the life of me, I can't see any grain in the scales, only what looks like inclusions from disintegrating plastic. I'll try and clean them up a little more and check 'em with my most powerful magnifier.

I thought I may have been wrong before, but I was mistaken.

That "blonde" or "honey" horn is some very dense horn. It's fascinating how clear it can be.

See the pics of the Freddy R I posted above.

Here it is all put back together:

What happened to the wood handles?

Looks good now

I still have the wood, but decided to keep the razor as original as possible. The clear material was actually clear horn and not replaced with plastic. Now I'll have to find a cool old blade to use the ebony on!

I thought so.

It turned out really nice.

Great job!