9/8 W&B FBU mycarverized

[hig789]

Alright I picked this razor up a while back and was just going to have Mark clean it up without removing the pins because I wanted to keep the original washers. It had some pretty good rust on the tang and a few spots on the blade. Well Mark talked me into removing the scales and that he could duplicate the washers, so I agreed. He ended up removing the pins and being able to reuse the original washers except one set. So it's all original and the scales are polished to a mirror shine. I was in awe the first time I saw it. Enough talk...here's the pictures. Sorry my phone camera isn't the greatest.

BEFORE(I buffed this a little but wasn't getting anywhere):

AFTER:

 

[Gingerbread]

Wowza. I'm jealous.

 

[Wid]

Nice ax.

 

[johnmrson]

Just beautiful.

 

[otto76]

Great looking blade, even before the restoration. It's a real stunner now though.

 

[Lexbomb]

Amazing work as usual

 

[noahpictures]

I can't stop staring.

 

[Legion]

It looks better than new. Cool.

 

[HLS]

For anyone who has ever tried to restore a razor you know the hardest part is that Devil's spit. Mark, how did you recover the R of Wade & ButcheR on the tang? Did you have to restamp it somehow? It would be a big help to know.
Beautiful razor and beautiful work. It's a real show piece.

Jim

 

[Khay]

For anyone who has ever tried to restore a razor you know the hardest part is that Devil's spit. Mark, how did you recover the R of Wade & ButcheR on the tang? Did you have to restamp it somehow? It would be a big help to know.
Beautiful razor and beautiful work. It's a real show piece.

Jim

From the first photos it looks like the tang stamps were deep enough that one could probably carefully remove that oxidation without losing the markings. I have one similar to this one on which the tang stamping was already a little faded and fortunately I didn't have that kind of corrosion on top of it.

BTW you can see the reflected image of the photographer holding the camera on the blade's tip on the second photo (counting from the end)

 

[blackman]

Amazing, Matt. Congrats. Great job, Mark, as always.

 

[BakerAndBadger]

Magic, simply magic.
Wish I had the time and talent to pull off something half as good as that with some of my straights.

 

[mycarver]

Thanks guys, don't know how I overlooked this post. If I may be so bold I'll add a few of my shots as well.,
Drilling out the center of the pin.
And the question of the E and the R and the little comma before and after.

I didn't restamp or etch a new R in there. It was simply covered with rust. I just knocked off the rust to get a better view, then carefully sanded up to and around the legs of the R so as not to sand over it thereby lowering it or having it disappear. I blended this area out into the surrounding area to make the pits etc. disappear. Now the rust under the S and the H I was only able to go so far. Now in a picture like this you're looking at a razor magnified how much? To the naked eye it looks pretty much clean. But you can see there are a couple of tiny pits there which I couldn't blend because of the bevel right under it. Had I sanded more in this area it would have compromised the line of the bevel and created a wave in it which would have been more distracting than a few micro dimples. So I let them be.

There are a few minor ripples next to the pin hole which I knew would be covered by the scales. As long as they're clean,, it's OK. Here too had I worked this area more it could affect how the razor centers in the scales as this is a bearing surface to guide the blade. Some choices have to be made.
Overall I think, looking at the blade in your hand without magnification such as these photos provide, it looks very good. Just my opinion.

And yes, the tip of the spine is polished as well. I try not to overlook any details.

 

[mycarver]

Not to go off on a tangent, but fussing over letters, scripts, etchings is becoming a passion of mine. I hate to ruin them. Here is an example of my recently completed "Constantinople" blade which required some fussing. Just imagine how tiny this image is. But here too it's a matter of sanding up to , and around the various images so as not to obliterate them. Takes a bit of care.
Here too the same sequence. See the rust, knock off the rust, sand around the design, polish it up, call it done.

 

[Wid]

Very nice. Great restore as usual.

 

[mycarver]

The finished blade.

 

[Obiwan]

More magic, well done Mark. Congrats Matt, she's a beauty for sure.

 

[hig789]

Holy crap that's some nice etching Mark, and a very nice job saving it.

 

[mycarver]

Thanks Matt. This one had me talking to myself. Then again that's not unusual for me to do.

 

[otto76]

The finished blade.

Very nice! Are the scales black palm?