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A rusty W&B

I recently landed this W&B from our favorite auction site.


I knew it had some rust, even alot of rust but man it came with a TON of rust.


An overnight soaking in CLR got the surface stuff but there was some hardcore oxidation on this blade.



Sanding and/or buffers (which I don't have) were not going to really work in this case. There was so much rust to get thru that it would have altered the shape of the razor for the worse.
I figured I'd give electrolysis a try.
Not long ago, I had good luck with an absolutely filthy/rusty/crappy cast iron that came out good as knew. And the same thing happened here. I can't really explain the why's of the electrolysis process but it just blasted out the rust and other gunk - completely.

All that's left behind is bare metal, granted quite pitted. More on that later.



And here she is. There was so much pitting I was worried it wouldn't take an edge. I got lucky.

OK, I know some of you are choking that I put the same scales back on but it just don't seem right to put a fancy dress on this homely blade. Maybe later but for now I kinda like them.

Oh and all that pitting poses a problem while stropping - it is going to scratch the he11 outta my strop. Luckily I had an old piece of leather to use as it isn't going near my Kanayama. I think I'll try stropping with a piece of tape.
 
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How are you doing your electrolisys? What's your setup/process/etc. It looks like something I may want to use at some point.

You may want to do something with the pitting, since the pits will collect oil, dirt and the like, giving rust a place to start again. I'm sure some clear nail polish (or similar) would seal it up nicely, and would replace the need for tape. Just thinking out loud.
 
Electrolysis is simple. Use a solution of sodium carbonate and water. Hook negative to your item and positive to your sacrificial steel piece. Run current from a battery charger through electrodes. Give it a day or so and you are good to go. Ive used this on motorcycle gas tanks


needless to say, dont let the electrodes touch.
 
Thanks.
Oh, and I'm glad you re-used the original scales. I always think it's a shame to throw out perfectly good old relics.
 

Antique Hoosier

“Aircooled”
Old Rusty W&B's can be brought back to life. My Great Great Grandfather's Wade & Butcher in Ivory is an example. Enjoy yours!
 

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How are you doing your electrolisys? What's your setup/process/etc. It looks like something I may want to use at some point.

You may want to do something with the pitting, since the pits will collect oil, dirt and the like, giving rust a place to start again. I'm sure some clear nail polish (or similar) would seal it up nicely, and would replace the need for tape. Just thinking out loud.
I followed this tutorial but there's lots of others out there. Very simple setup and it only took about 3 hours. The only part that made me nervous was sticking the negative connection under water then turning the power on. But no afro for me.
The nail polish idea sounds interesting. The pitting is very rough, way to rough to strop on good leather and already there's a hint of rust reforming. I don't really want to grind it down as it will look weird.
 
I've done electrolysis on a lot of Cast Iron pans. Works wonders.
Pitting it what it is though, that doesn't go away without elbow grease.
Nice save though - looks good to me. I might contemplate dressing down the pitting with some sanding, just to soften it up a bit.
 
I've done electrolysis on a lot of Cast Iron pans. Works wonders.
Pitting it what it is though, that doesn't go away without elbow grease.
Nice save though - looks good to me. I might contemplate dressing down the pitting with some sanding, just to soften it up a bit.
Thank you. The pitting does need taming so I'll have a go at it with some w/d.
First shave with it this morning - good but there's more work to be done on the coticule.
 
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