I don't want to do it...

[alla2465]

So, I am in the process of restoring 2 W&B FBU razors. One is a 7/8, the other is a 15/16
Cleaned up the scales, blade and wedge on the 7/8, and it's good to go now. The 15/16 need new scales, but blade and wedge has been cleaned up nicely.
This is about another razor I recently aquired, a much older and rarer W&B, picture will be below:

The scales are in great condition, and the blade looks pretty good.
My issue is that i really don't wanna take the scales off, or clean the razor "more than I have to"
There is some heavy and thick oxidation near the tail and tang, and in between the jimps too.
So, do i really have to take this apart to restore it?
I wanna shave with it, but I don't wanna do more work than necessary to get to that point.. And no I'm not going to send it out to a "pro" to get it restored.

 

[global_dev]

You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do. I’ve left some older razors well alone and survived so far. I have no idea whats in the pivot and try not to think about it too much.

 

[Dilbone]

Many times I've been able to clean up the pivot area and work around the scales with a brass brush bit in the dremel. A very thin brass brush can do wonders at slow speed in a dremel IMO.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

 

[Legion]

I have a lot of razors I use that are a similar age where I did not remove the scales. Clean it up the best you can, and stop any active rust making the issue worse, then call it a day if you want to.

If that razor had some historical value, a museum conservator would not pull it apart and throw away the original pin. They would just tidy it up to a point where it is stable (or in your case, stable and hygienic, since you are using it).

If that were my razor I would just hand buff the heck out of all the blade I could get to using metal polish, then hone it up.

 

[alla2465]

Okay, so here is an update, thanks for the comments.
I decided to not take it apart, and just clean it up by hand. I used a brass brush to clean the jimps, which worked really well, and I used maybe 1/4 sheet of 600 W&D to clean the oxidation around the pivot and on the blade.
It's not a perfect job, but it's "good enough"
Also the scales were a bit lose at the hinge pin, so I tightened it up a bit with no issues.
I know the razor pretty much looks the same in these pics, but it's hard to capture all the small "issues" that are a bit hidden away on a pic, like in between the jimps and the gunk in the pivot.

 

[KW Driver]

Well done, and I’d have taken the same approach. I think if the blade is in good enough shape leaving patina it’s earned leaves some character that would otherwise be erased.

 

[ajduplessis]

I love a bit of character on vintage blades.

 

[Legion]

Okay, so here is an update, thanks for the comments.
I decided to not take it apart, and just clean it up by hand. I used a brass brush to clean the jimps, which worked really well, and I used maybe 1/4 sheet of 600 W&D to clean the oxidation around the pivot and on the blade.
It's not a perfect job, but it's "good enough"
Also the scales were a bit lose at the hinge pin, so I tightened it up a bit with no issues.
I know the razor pretty much looks the same in these pics, but it's hard to capture all the small "issues" that are a bit hidden away on a pic, like in between the jimps and the gunk in the pivot.
View attachment 1144993View attachment 1144994View attachment 1144995

That looks fine. I would still give the blade face a bit more polish with some MAAS or Autosol, or whatever. But that razor will do the job.

 

[mr_houston]

Beautiful razor.

Since there are still areas with potentially active rust, you might keep it oiled when not in use.

 

[McBlade]

There may be better, modern alternative to peened pins: micro fasteners

Getting the scales off should be fairly easy and if the micro fasteners work for you putting it back together should be easy too.

Taking it apart is the only way to clean out a hundred years of crud.