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First Restoration Questions

Okay, guys, here's the story. I picked up a Joseph Allen & Sons 5/8 wedge at our local, friendly online auction for less than $10 shipped. The blade is in better condition than I had expected. There is some light rust on the back side that should polish out nicely. The edge will need some hone work since the razor looks to have been used as a pocket knife at some point. Even so, there are only very tiny nicks. There is no pitting and only a couple of minor, what appear to be, water spots.

The scales need to be replaced, which brings me to my questions.

1) How do I remove the old pins? Drill them out?
2) Where can I find new pins?
3) Is there a place where I can find some reasonable priced, decent replacement scales online? I live in a remote area of eastern MT, and I do not have the means to fabricate my own scales. I'm only here for a year, and I did not bring any serious wood-working tools. I have a cordless drill and a circular saw...hardly worthy of intricate wood work.

I want this to be a shaver, not a show piece, so keep that in mind.

I will post some pics after work if y'all would like to see them. In the mean time, I would greatly appreciate your input.
 
First things first...

I know nothing about restoring razors, but I'd like to say good luck. I want to tackle one of these projects myself.

If you like the idea of wood scales, try this website
http://www.bellforestproducts.com/ you would want to get a 1"x1"x12"... this was referred to me by someone that does restorations.

Post pics!
 
The scales need to be replaced, which brings me to my questions.

1) How do I remove the old pins? Drill them out? Yes
2) Where can I find new pins? Most people make their own
3) Is there a place where I can find some reasonable priced, decent replacement scales online? I live in a remote area of eastern MT, and I do not have the means to fabricate my own scales. I'm only here for a year, and I did not bring any serious wood-working tools. I have a cordless drill and a circular saw...hardly worthy of intricate wood work. Don't think there's a place to buy replacements on line but there are several resto artists here and on SRP that will make a set for you in whatever material you wish for a reasonable fee.

See above, sounds like a nice find, I for one would love to see some pics
 
1/16th brass rod, and tiny washers.

you can also get easier to use pins, though im not sure where in the usa theyre from.

for scale material look out for 'pen blanks' or 'knife scales' on ebay. just make sure the sizes are right for going a straight because most of those are too small.
 
3) Is there a place where I can find some reasonable priced, decent replacement scales online? I live in a remote area of eastern MT, and I do not have the means to fabricate my own scales. I'm only here for a year, and I did not bring any serious wood-working tools. I have a cordless drill and a circular saw...hardly worthy of intricate wood work.

Can't beat Classic Shaving. They carry Thiers Issard replacement scales, and some of them are under $12.00! :w00t:

Halfway down this page you'll find the scales.

Best of luck!
 
Thanks for all of the pointers, guys. I have checked out classic shaving and a couple of other sites including bell forest procucts. I think I have found everything I need. I still haven't decided whether or not to try and make my own scales. I may get a pair of those TI ones from classic shaving and make some for the two DA's I bought to play around with...we'll see.

Anyway, here are some pictures (as promised):

The darker spot near the spine is actually the only rust on the blade. Near the edge is what appears to be residue from where someone shaved bark off of a tree or something...not cool...
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You should be able to see the broken scales here.
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The biggest chip on the blade is right near the heel. You can see it here if you look closely.
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That should clean up really nice. I would bet that will be an excellent shaver.
May be more involvement than you are looking for but I would HIGHLY recommend Bill Ellis' CD on restoration if you plan on doing this a couple times.

Of course I always thought I was just going to buy a few for shaving purposes, but let me tell you there is a great deal of personal satisfaction from rescuing a discarded blade. I find myself buying more and more project blades just to see how nice I can make them.

Thus far the only thing I have resisted is making my own scales simply because I feel I don't have access to the adequate tools required. I have seen some other people say they have made their own from blanks using just a dremel and various sanding attatchments so I guess at some point I'll probably try that too.
 
Okay, so, I had decided to just buy some inexpensive, plastic scales from classicshaving.com. Then, per mdunn's suggestion, I did an ebay search for 'knife scales' and found some wood blanks that I REALLY like for a decent price. I love the idea of custom making everything myself...always have. I think I can get my hands on a dremel (having mine shipped to me from home).

Some new questions:

What are the best ways to seal/protect this wood from moisture without altering the natural color too much?

If I go this route, I'd like to make one piece scales (you know, having the only pin be the one at the blade pivot). The knife scales I found are thick enough to pull this off, I think. I still need to measure to be sure, but if they are not, I may look around for some wood that is. I understand that this will require much precision, but am I setting myself up for failure?

Looks like I'll be buying Bill Ellis' DVD pretty soon, huh?
 
So, I just pulled the trigger on some knife scales on the 'bay. I got two sets. One of 'Rhodesian Teak', and the other is 'Tambootie Sandalwood'. I'm not too sure about the sandalwood, but the teak should fare pretty well in the moisture. I just really liked the looks of the sandalwood.

Opinions? Anyone here ever work with these for razor scales?

It'll be a week or so, but I'll post pics once they get here.
 
Okay, so, I had decided to just buy some inexpensive, plastic scales from classicshaving.com. Then, per mdunn's suggestion, I did an ebay search for 'knife scales' and found some wood blanks that I REALLY like for a decent price. I love the idea of custom making everything myself...always have. I think I can get my hands on a dremel (having mine shipped to me from home).

Some new questions:

What are the best ways to seal/protect this wood from moisture without altering the natural color too much?


Looks like I'll be buying Bill Ellis' DVD pretty soon, huh?

Haven't done it myself yet, nut there's a process called CA, again that Ellis and other's use to protect the scales with a glue like substance. I think that's the right term. Anyway if you look around I am sure you'll be able to find some info on it.
 
I just got back from an auto parts store. I was there to get some polishing stuff, mainly some rubbing compound for the blade. I have used 3M rubbing compounds often while I was turning wrenches on boats and doing gel-coat repair, but I've never had to buy the stuff myself. It is expensive!

Does anyone know of some cheaper options for fine grit rubbing compounds? Or, perhaps there are better options for polishing up these blades?
 
You are talking about the 3M rubbing compounds for use on automotive paint right?

Are you going to be using the compounds by hand or by machine?

Have you priced rubbing compounds from other manufacturers?

Have you looked at polishing rouge?
 
I am talking about compounds for auto paint, although I have used them mostly on boat finishes.

I'll be doing the work by hand. I am having my dremel sent to me from home, so that will be an option in a couple of weeks. I had planned to use that mostly for scale, pin, and grinding (thumb notches on some DA's maybe?) work. Have you had good experiences polishing with that type of tool? I'm pretty confident that I can get by with hand polishing on this project, but I'm planning to do more of these in the future.

I haven't searched online for other compounds yet. I went to a hardware store and an automotive parts store (ACE and CarQuest). Those are the only two place anywhere near me, and I could only find the 3M stuff. I am confident with that since I have used it so much in the past. What are some other brands that are good for razor resto-work?

I'm planning to go to Billings (the nearest large city to me at 100 miles away) next weekend with the intent of finding some more resources and maybe picking up some tools. Know of some stores I should seek out?

What is polishing rouge?
 
I am talking about compounds for auto paint, although I have used them mostly on boat finishes.

I'll be doing the work by hand. I am having my dremel sent to me from home, so that will be an option in a couple of weeks. I had planned to use that mostly for scale, pin, and grinding (thumb notches on some DA's maybe?) work. Have you had good experiences polishing with that type of tool? I'm pretty confident that I can get by with hand polishing on this project, but I'm planning to do more of these in the future.

I haven't searched online for other compounds yet. I went to a hardware store and an automotive parts store (ACE and CarQuest). Those are the only two place anywhere near me, and I could only find the 3M stuff. I am confident with that since I have used it so much in the past. What are some other brands that are good for razor resto-work?

I'm planning to go to Billings (the nearest large city to me at 100 miles away) next weekend with the intent of finding some more resources and maybe picking up some tools. Know of some stores I should seek out?

What is polishing rouge?

I have never used a Dremel to polish anything. All the metal polishing that I have done was either by hand or I used a drill with the Mothers Power Ball, but you could not use the Power Ball for a razor.

I don't know what brands would work for razor restorations. Which 3M compounds are you looking at? I have used the 3M compounds with a machine polisher on automotive paint and didn't like it. I switched to other polishes. If you are using one of the aggressive 3M compounds you should be able to use another similar polish.

I think that maybe you might want to look at metal polishes like Mothers, you should be able to find then any auto parts store, Wal-Mart, or Target.

Edited to add:

Take a look at this site. I think that the polishing/jewelers rouge may be more economical and work better for razor restoration then paint polishing compounds.

Polishing rouge; http://www.hobbytool.com/jewelers-rouge.htm
 
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Ok let me chime in here.
1st for depinning I have a video on my site which might help you.
2nd as far as polishing compounds. Do not waste money on jewelers rouge. It's meant to be a non-cutting polish for gold. It is ineffective on steel. Go with emery compound and stainless steel rouge if you want to go that route.
3rd there are tons of wood finishes. CA is tough for your first set to get right. You'd be much better with something with less of a learning curve like brush on/wipe on polyurethane.

Also one of the turtle wax rubbing compounds contains rouge and works well when dryed out a little and used on a felt wheel. I'll have to look it up later as I need to run to work.
 
I could also recommend Mothers Mag and Aluminum polish, which you can also get at the Auto Parts store.

I just use this for general clean up and polishing. It's not going to remove and pitting or serious staining but it works great for the normal stuff a razor accumulates sitting around. Some of my Ebay purchases have required nithing more tha a few treatments with Mother's to be back to practically new looking again. I know others prefer Maas or Flitz. With me it was simply convenience that Mother's was available at a shop close to me.
 
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