Electric Cutlery Co - My first restore

[Kavik79]

Picked this up off theBay recently and got straight to work on it. The scales were completely trashed, but the blade caught my eye and I snagged it for less than $15 shipped, so I'm not worried about the scales.

Pics below, but first a question: I can't tell if the shape of the blade has been modified to get rid of a broken tip, or if it was made this way. this link has a pic of one that is mostly the same, but has a slightly thicker tail and a more traditional tip....but just something about how well the angle of the tip matches up to the angle of the heel has me wondering....either way, I like the design, but if anyone has any input that'd be great

Original pics:

All Shined up:

I had to make a few compromises between cleaning it up and not ruining the etchings, but I'm happy with where it's at for the moment. Went through 400, 600, 800, 1000, 1500 and 2000 grit papers, finished of with Mothers Mag & Aluminum Polish and a Microfiber cloth.

Next step: My first scales

 

[Gamma]

If I had to guess - I would guess yours was shortened. The etching looks to be a bit off-center on the one in that link, but you're seems more off-center.
Whatever - for the price, you got a really sweet looking blade. Nice work.. I can never get mnie that shiny and even looking. Kudos!

 

[Kavik79]

Yeah, I did notice the off-centered-ness....so you're probably right. Honestly though, I think I like the "left justified, indented" look better than centered on this one

Thanks for the compliment. I just took my time on each level of paper and always kept rubbing a little longer than I thought I needed to. Sitting in front of the tv and spread out over a couple days so I wouldn't start rushing myself

 

[dakotaev]

Very nice job. Electric Cutlery is underrated too, that should be a heck of a shaver when you get the edge right.

 

[Kavik79]

Thanks! I hope you're right, when I first got it the back half of the blade was already popping arm hairs even without looking all that smooth to the naked eye....yeah, I'm anxious to see how it turns out

STILL waiting on my hones to arrive though, so here I am working on restoring the razors before even learning how to hone or shave with them These are the things that happen when I get bored I guess LOL

 

[otto76]

That is a very unique looking blade, nice polishing job! Looking forward to seeing your scales.

 

[Kavik79]

yeah, I'm having a bit of a time trying to decide on a shape for the scales, but I think to go with the blade it needs to be a bit different than 'the usual' shape. I'm leaning towards something in a blue/purple or slate colored burled wood

 

[otto76]

That was my opinion as well, if you could come up with an interesting scale design it would complement the blade and give you a really cool razor.
Seems like a tall order for a first set of scales!
I was looking at these last night-these are some pretty "out there" designs, very artistic stuff. I like them a lot. I think the scales are just interesting enough to enhance the look of the steel without taking the focus from it. Maybe a little inspiration for you here:
http://www.customrazors.com/razorsgallery.html

 

[Kavik79]

LOL I have this habit of trying for things above where I should be aiming for my first attempts

Those are some some crazy razors on that site....maybe just a tad too extreme for this one, but definitely interesting stuff there!
Been toying with sketches of scales that would mirror the shape of the spine....but would take a lot of work getting the 3 dimensional curves right, and then even So chances are that won't be the final design

 

[Kavik79]

Picked out the wood:

What do you think? It's a dyed and stabilized Curly Hickory, each piece is 5" x 1-3/4" x 5/16". Cost me $35, which seemed a bit high compared to most places I looked....but I really wanted the section where it blends from black to blue, and depending on where I cut it out I may get 2 sets of scales out of it

just working out the outline still....trying to make something that uses only curves from the blade. "Tracing" and re-arranging lines in photoshop to see if I can stumble across anything that works

 

[otto76]

Awesome! Very interesting looking. Where did you pick that up?

 

[Kavik79]

http://burlsales.com/
Under the "Knife Handle Materials Webstore" link

They didn't have nearly as large of a selection as some other places, but that one in particular really got my attention. It was the only one they had like it, but they did have this other one that I almost bought too:

Since they're knife scales they're a bit on the thick side, so I'm going to have to figure out a way to thin them down evenly without any real power tools


edit:
Damn, I read a little closer after grabbing that pic and now wish I had bought it. I thought the white section was just a white section, but the description reads "The wood has a metallic flash that changes as you move the piece and the light hits it from different angles."


Edit edit:
Ahhhh screw it, I went back and bought that one too. Now I better go to bed before I spend any more money due to poor judgement and sleep deprivation LOL

 

[kirk 988]

sweet material ide love to see some scale out of it

 

[Kavik79]

Here's one concept:

Needs work, not sure how I feel about it

 

[otto76]

Nice scale material! I like the way your concept imitates the lines on the blade. I would be curious to see what sharper, more angular lines on the scales would look like myself but that's just a matter of personal taste. Cool idea, good luck.

 

[Kavik79]

yeah, I think I'm going to have to really hold the wood in my hands before I decide for sure. For all I know I may end up using the other wood to get the 'metallic sheen' with the 'electric' blade LOL We'll have to wait and see, should be here in a few days