First go at a restore. Comments? Tips?

[Monsieur Blaireau]

This is the first razor I have bought off Ebay, and when it arrived yesterday I was a bit put off. It was even cruddier than the pix had looked, and there were a couple chips in the end of the edge toward the toe - very small chips, but visible to the naked eye. It seemed as if the blade had been shortened, too, judging from the gap between the end of the blade and the scales in front, but I noticed that's not a lot different from how a GD looks, so maybe it was just that somebody had tried to round what was once a spike point. Live and learn, I figured. Twenty bucks was worth it to remind myself to curb those impulse buys. I could always just chalk it up to experience and PIF the thing.

After a little time on the hone and some dish soap, I took a picture.



Then I got the 320 grit out. I went next to 400, 600, 1200 and 2000. It looked better.



OK, it's not a Mycarver mirror finish, but my initial disappointment has turned hopeful. How'd I do? Could I have got a shinier finish by more time at the lower grits? What will polish do at this point; is it worth it?

The blade is pretty tight in the scales, craptastic plastic though the are, so for now I will leave those and try my hand at honing the thing.

 

[Mike H]

Looks great! I would hone it and be done. Those scales look like pressed horn to me.

 

[oakeshott]

M.Blaireau,
From the pics, it looks like you could have spent a lot more time on the tang portion of the blade, but that the blade proper took quite a nice shine.

Fwiw, I don't think you made a mistake at all. I have a bunch of razors that I got rough off of ebay and they've been an education in: honing, restoration, re-scaling. I would hate to screw up a nearly mint MK32 or 8/8 W&B as part of my learning process, but a well made German razor sold to a hardware store in Des Moines for resale over 80 years ago? Have at it.

The nice thing is, for what you paid for it, you can hone it, sand it, put new scales on it and the sell it again, worst case, for what you paid. That might mean you're out a couple bucks for sandpaper or some scales, but you exchanged those dollars for education. A fair trade I say.

oake

 

[Monsieur Blaireau]

oakeshott, I agree about the tang. I think I backed off out of fear of damaging the maker's mark. And I don't feel it was a mistake at all; I wasn't so much describing my conclusions about this blade, which I'm growing kind of attached to, as my initial buyer's remorse.

MikeH, thanks! Pressed horn? Wow. I thought it might be that initially, but they're so light . . . Should I do anything to treat them? Neatsfoot?

 

[pmaster]

You could definitely finish it with a nice mag polish. Its surprising how much of a shine it will put.

 

[thatsilverguy]

You could definitely finish it with a nice mag polish. Its surprising how much of a shine it will put.

As long as you are hand-polishing this will be safe for the temper. Dremel-polishing can destroy the temper and make it difficult to hold an edge unless you are very careful.

Treatment of the horn scales? I've heard good things about neatsfoot and camelia. Mineral oil destroys some scales.

That's a great first resto man - Bring 'em back alive! You just rescued a razor that was destined for the scrap heap and turned it into a usable instrument!

 

[oakeshott]

MB,
are you going to try and hone it?

 

[Monsieur Blaireau]

I just snagged a coti from raccoonandbrush, so I will probably give this a try when that arrives, yes.

 

[global_dev]

doesn't really look like the blade was shortened? nice job so far!

 

[KindestCutofAll]

Looks great. You still have plenty of blade left. A little honing and it should be a great shaver.

The original scales are great. Maybe you can salvage them (some kind of filler).

Restore this a close to original as possible and you will have a prize piece in your collection.

 

[Krodor]

Treatment of the horn scales? I've heard good things about neatsfoot and camelia. Mineral oil destroys some scales.

That's a great first resto man - Bring 'em back alive! You just rescued a razor that was destined for the scrap heap and turned it into a usable instrument!

+1! nice! I've got some neatsfoot here with me if you want some, just holler. Picked it up over here on this side of the river at a saddle shop.

 

[Monsieur Blaireau]

A little walnut oil - of all things - did some wonders for the scales. The hardware store usually stocks neatsfoot, but the shelf was bare.