How much imperfection to leave on a blade?

[Rusty Blade]

I am new to restoring SRs. I have been reading and watching videos on hand sanding/polishing restoring SR blades. The question I have is: how much imperfection should I leave on the blade? I realize the answer is probably YMMV.

A mirror finish and a lot of manipulation of the blade seem to me will increase the chance of damaging the edge. I also like the idea of leaving a bit of character in the blade. Should I be aiming for a NMF? Should I leave any pitting? Is this just a cosmetic thing?

 

[spoken36]

It's a challenging decision to make. Mirror finish is the most rust prohibitive. Even "stainless" steels benefit from it. Pits are places to get rust started again, and require extra proactive rust prevention.

That said, I weigh the overall condition of the steel and won't reduce a bunch of good metal to get rid of a little pitting in a couple spots. Others choose differently. Restoration for me does not include reducing the mass of the blade significantly and rounding previously sharp grind lines.

What I do is use some steel wool, and assess what the blade seems to want. Then assess again after some 600 paper. Then at some point I just have to commit to a level of pit removal and the aggressiveness of grit I'm willing to go down to. Have a look at some stuff on the restorations threads and see where some of the craftsmen here have taken their razors. There are different styles, and they all look great to me.

 

[jlindy]

As long as the edge is in clear metal the amount of patina on the blade is up to you =). On this one all I really did was a light buff. Any more than that would have most likely removed the shallow etch.

 

[spoken36]

As long as the edge is in clear metal the amount of patina on the blade is up to you =). On this one all I really did was a light buff. Any more than that would have most likely removed the shallow etch.

Plus...you would have risked radiation poisoning!

 

[jlindy]

Too late for that... Four years of submarine duty =D

 

[spoken36]

Hey, btw, that was a cool shot showing the work you did and still saving the etch. Most instructive.

 

[Rusty Blade]

Thanks guys...great advice. I have two razors that have a nice branding etch on the face of the blade...and it seems very shallow. I wouldn't want to remove part of it by trying to remove a few imperfections. I like the vintage razors because each one seems to have an interesting story, a character that you don't necessarily find in the newer razors. The Carbo Magnetic razor I am currently working on was made around 1900...so it is 116 years old...I find that amazing...and believe it or not there is still some magnetism in the blade.

As [MENTION=26536]jlindy[/MENTION] noted...as long as the blade edge is clear...I should be fine.

I am thinking as long as I remove the active scaling or pitting or rust, and keep it dry and oiled I should be able to arrest any further metal deterioration. That's good enough for me. Can't wait to clean them up and send them off for honing.

 

[Rusty Blade]

Here is a picture of the razors I purchased. And a pic of the restored Carbo Magnetic (third one down in the picture).

 

[jlindy]

Hey, btw, that was a cool shot showing the work you did and still saving the etch. Most instructive.

Thank you=) An inexpensive USB microscope makes a great inspection tool!

 

[jlindy]

Here is a picture of the razors I purchased. And a pic of the restored Carbo Magnetic (third one down in the picture).View attachment 663238

Great job!

 

[Rusty Blade]

Hey, btw, that was a cool shot showing the work you did and still saving the etch. Most instructive.

That was not skill...just pure luck. The tarnish on the blaze was quite superficial...so I didn't have to dig deep. And I followed the advice given to me by others...use the least invasive method first.

 

[Brianskeet]

It largely depends on the blade for me. If the pitting is deep and I would be risking geometry issues then I leave a bit more. If I can go full mirror and not lose to much steel then I will.

 

[Gamma]

To each their own - me, I seriously dislike seeing old war birds with a mirrored polish. Makes me cringe every single time. A regrind is another thing entirely though - even then I'd rather see a matte polish before a mirrored one.
But that's just my pov.

As for how much 'patina' I leave on - depends on how motivated I am and what I think the end result might be like. Most of the time, I"m just fine with removing rust, some sanding after that, and a light bit of polish at the end.
General rule-of-thumb; you can always take more off. But you can't put any of it back on.

 

[Bayamontate]

Many of those old, mirror polished war birds are buffed to death (lost of temper) to look pretty. I like a clean, matted finish, I think it looks pretty cool against the shiny bevel.

 

[Rusty Blade]

Many of those old, mirror polished war birds are buffed to death (lost of temper) to look pretty. I like a clean, matted finish, I think it looks pretty cool against the shiny bevel.

I agree with your view about taking an old razor beyond what it was originally. The one I restored above was done by hand (no machine buffer...just elbow grease)...and the mirror finish just appeared. I am assuming the original Carbo Magnetic had a mirror finish. I don't know this for certain, but I didn't put in that much effort to get the mirror finish to appear.

 

[spoken36]

I've got a Carbomagnetic that is polished to that degree and has never seen rust or tarnish. I think you brought it right back to where it belonged. Real nice job. Unfortunately, my Carbo has silly hone wear that progresses from none at the heel to what the !#$@ at the toe. Yours is just absolutely gorgeous.