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First Restore - what should my first steps be?

Well, I have some old straights that I want to restore myself. I want to restore this Johnson Spencer Co. Sheffield razor first.

What do I need to do first? Obviously I will need to do something with the scales, whether just reconditioning the scales or taking them apart to clean and put back together I don't know.

What about the blade? It is in great condition but should I go over it with some high grit sandpaper to clean off some of the black marks? What grit would you recommend if I decide to do that?

Thanks for any advice,

Nathan

EDIT: Thanks for putting it in the right place.
 
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Try a good metal polish first,
Maas, Simichrome, flitz or even turtle wax rubbing compound might clean it up enough for your liking. If that doesnt cut it you might start at 800 or 1000grit wet dry sand paper.

Probably best to leave the razor assembled for now. You can rub the scales down with neatsfoot oil, let it soak in for a few hours then buff dry with a towel.
 
Ok, I will try just the polish for now. Does anyone know a place to get Neatsfoot oil (other than online)? Thanks!

EDIT: Nevermind, found a thread about where to buy it locally.
 
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That will clean up very nice. Pics shown, I dont see any bug bites...thats good.

If you dont want to unpin, soak in neatsfoot few days. Wipe down, give easy sanding from 400 to 1000 to the scales. Avoid scuffing the pins. Hand polish, or buff (dremel/other) if adventurism.

In the pics, I like the blade as is. Other than honing, dont think you need to even touch the blade. If you want to wipe off the light patina and see if the black also comes off, use Maas. I think the black is deeper than "wipe off". Once you start to polish, you might see pits. Then you'll end up sanding. Once you start sanding, you wont want to stop until mirror finish (ok, maybe i wouldnt, ,lol) If hand sanding, youll invest 4-20 hours...but I still like it right now per pics. I like its look/charm of age as is regarding the steel. Scales would look nice cleaned/polished up, IMO

You'll end up with a very period true and pretty restore.
 
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Thanks for the reply.

I have put some neatsfoot oil on it for the past two days and it definitely improved the look of the scales a lot. I think I will probably do some light sanding. Especially because there are some darker spots that I think must have been some dye or paint. However, it is only in a few odd spots now.

I have not had time to polish the blade yet but should get to that next week. I will probably leave as is because it already looks pretty good.

One question, as far as honing the blade. It appears to have a small smile (am I correct?). Or at least it is not a straight line across. What do I need to know about honing a blade like that?

Thanks for all the help,

Nathan
 
Well, I have done a bit of work on this old razor.

I used some Mothers metal polish. It did a great job, there is a significant difference. It even took off a bunch of the black tarnish / marks. There is still some left (as you can see in the pictures), do you think if I keep using the polish more will come off?

I also used some neatsfoot oil and did some sanding to the scales, I will continue to sand up from 400 grit a bit just to get some of the small scratches less visible.

I am definitely pleased with the improved results.

One other thing, I want to clean out in between the razor and the scales near the pivot pin but that is proving difficult. I have tried dental floss with some success but want to get it cleaner still. Any suggestions?
 
It is pretty difficult to get in between the scales at the tang withoug unpinning. Ive had a few members tell me that they have used a Fiberglass tip pen? ive honestly never looked it up, but saw some before and after pics and it worked pretty well. I usually unpin everything so I dont have much experience with that, but maybe a small rod or something small and flat with a few diffrent grits of sand paper would fit in there and you can slowly rub and progress thru the grits? Then polish with a small q tip? just ideas man. Hope it helped!
But, you did a good job bringing her back so far:thumbup1:, thats a beautiful razor!!
 
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