First Attempt to restore a straight

[Luc]

I got another straight in the mail (It's my last restoration, I swear!)... A nice 6/8 Boker... I'm a bit worried as I have a pitting stain not too far from the edge... It might still be savable...

The razor isn't in a bad condition, except for that stain around the middle of the edge on the side that has the etching... (Not the one in the Hollow writing, the one on the second picture, below FULLY)...

The before pictures, I'm still working on it at the moment...

I got another Boker, 1926 King Cutter that might be a bigger challenge as the etching is nice but not the blade... Will post some pictures of that one later...

 

[Luc]

Updated pictures...

I tried another product as I used Brasso in the past, it works but there might be something else...

LaughingAtFate mentioned a product called "Metal Magic" in the Brasso thread I did (http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=159447). So, I bought a bottle and I think the results speak for themselves...

I did a maybe 1 hour of sanding with 800-1200 on the Boker and I then hit it with 1 hr of buffing with Metal Magic. All by hand, of course...

The razor stinks after but 24hrs later, the scent is gone or I'm used to it!

I put a square on where my piece of pitting might kill the straight as it's near the edge...

 

[Luc]

Now I know how disappointing it could be, I didn't take any pictures before...

Here's another Boker that I have, 5/8 - 1926 - King Cutter...

The etching is still there but almost invisible, it used to have some colours in it but I lost the gold...

I only used Metal Magic on this one (No, I don't have any links with the product)...

There are still stains, the blade was very dirty and looked like it was never cleaned, lots of watermarks and things like that. I reckon a new set of scales and I'm good to go with this one... Took around 20 minutes to clean...

I'm now tempted to re-clean the Hamburg Ring that I did the other week to see if the metal will end up better looking...

 

[Aussieshaver]

Both are looking nice Luc!

 

[thirdeye]

Luc, what a great read to and to be able to follow your journey through this restore has been a pleasure. Great job and awesome share.
Kudos to you sir.

 

[Luc]

Thanks gents! I will report back on the Hamburg Ring tomorrow!

 

[mdunn]

theyre looking good mate - ill have to try that metal magic stuff, myself

 

[Luc]

Thanks gents! I will report back on the Hamburg Ring tomorrow!

I lied I know, I didn't get to the Hamburg Ring yet...

theyre looking good mate - ill have to try that metal magic stuff, myself

I was very surprised by that stuff, very easy to use, very quick. You got to be careful for the etching on the blade... You can still see it on my second 1926 Boker but now it's only the lines around the logo, I lost the colours!

 

[mdunn]

so its more abrasive than brasso? by much?

 

[Luc]

so its more abrasive than brasso? by much?

I would qualify Brasso as mild and Metal Magic as medium at least.

If it can give you an idea, I probably spent the same time polishing/buffing the Hamburg Ring with Brasso and the Boker with Metal Magic... One of them almost lost is etching...

 

[mdunn]

cool. I will need to experiment with this stuff, brasso and mag polish

 

[grisha]

Very nice job!!!!!!!!!

 

[Luc]

I said a while back that I would do the Hamburg Ring with the metal magic product. I just finished.

Overall, it didn't improve the blade much I think but it does look better. I probably spent 15-20 minutes on the whole razor today. So, I could probably do more but I was afraid to remove the etching on the blade. Fortunately, it's still intact!

Pictures now unless you already skipped what I wrote...