My First Restore/Rescale

[Joe Edson]

Well I finally got around to trying my hand at a restore. I took a Case Temperite near wedge blade I had that came in a barber's lot that I'm pretty sure I bought for the strop. There were no scales, but the blade was in decent condition.

I used Azmark's polishing method with my dremel to get it to a near mirror finish. Probably could have looked better had I had it through the full buffers, but for my first one I wanted to keep it simple.

Since this was a case wedge I though of red acrylic for the scales immediately as it just reminded me of the case red imp 132's. Everything was going well and I even was able to taper my wedge (by hand sanding while losing part of my fingertip and nail due to inattention, i.e. I sanded part of my fingertip off and didn't notice till I saw blood on the sandpaper).

Got around to peening it this weekend and this is where I had issues. I used brass rod and stainless washers, but while doing the wedge I think I had too much overhang so the brass mushroomed quite a bit. Furthermore I don't have flush cutters and had to sand the reverse side of the brass rod flat and using my dremel I nicked the scales a bit. I was pretty mad at this point and almost thought of starting over, but decided to go ahead and leave the battle scars to remind of what not to do while doing a restore. While peening the tang I got the brass mushroom smaller, but still kind of nicked the scales on that part as well to flatten the pinch of the brass rod.

Anyway, here are the pics. Peening is definitely what I have to work on the most as I also think I may have been tapping too hard as well. Was debating to throw this up due to all the mistakes I made, but will take any constructive criticism. I certainly know where all the mistakes have been made.

Also my first time honing a near wedge. Used actually 2 layers of tape and established the bevel on my DMT 600/1200. Dilucot w/ coti and shaved with it the past couple days. Turned out to be a great shaver and also experimented tonight with it on my new JNat. Resulted in an even sharper and smoother edge. Was quite fun and I hope to share some better ones in the future.

 

[Oglethorpe]

Looks good!

 

[Nerdman]

That looks awesome man!! Great job
You can never go wrong with red and black! the wedge looks nice too! what was your process to get the nice wedge shape?

 

[superbleu]

Nice work Joe.

 

[Joe Edson]

Looks good!

Thanks! Appreciate it!

That looks awesome man!! Great job
You can never go wrong with red and black! the wedge looks nice too! what was your process to get the nice wedge shape?

Used the dremel sanding wheel to take off a bit of material at one end and slowly tapered it to the other. Finished by hand sanding it to smoothness.

Have a belt sander on the way to me and hopefully won't have to do it this way anymore.

Nice work Joe.

Thanks Bong!

 

[Nerdman]

Used the dremel sanding wheel to take off a bit of material at one end and slowly tapered it to the other. Finished by hand sanding it to smoothness.

Have a belt sander on the way to me and hopefully won't have to do it this way anymore.

Well it looks good man! I like it! And yes, that belt sander will help you a lot. I fninally picked one up and I dont know why I did not get one sooner!

 

[Joe Edson]

Well it looks good man! I like it! And yes, that belt sander will help you a lot. I fninally picked one up and I dont know why I did not get one sooner!

Yeah, I'm looking forward to it (though my apartment neighbors might not )

Saw one on eBay for $65 shipped that had been sparingly used and retails for $140. Hopefully it works out - I think it will be fine.

 

[dakotaev]

Looks better than my first attempt!

As for a few of your issues. I'm no expert but an enthusiast scale maker. I'll let you know how I deal with them:

Flush cutters, I bought a cheap pair at walmart in the crafts section for like $2. They're ****ty but strong enough to deal with the brass rod, if you try to cut anything harder they'll shatter (Found that out the hard way). Although they do cut pretty flush, I recommend a bit of finishing with one of the methods below to get them perfectly flat/free of cut marks.

Alternatively, you can use a buy a generic tool file from any hardware store, its MUCH safer than using the dremel for that type of precision work and inexpensive.

Alternatively, if you have a belt sander, I just put the brass rod in the scales, wear a pair of gloves and trim the rod down (It can get pretty hot if you're not careful, you don't want this with acrylic scales) this method takes a bit of control as not to touch the moving belt with the scales or fingers (Hence the gloves). I use Mechanix gloves so they fit tight and provide great protection.

Peening will get better with practice, just hit light and do a lot of circles around the pin so it mushrooms evenly, then just keep tapping until its got a nice even domed look. It's just something that will come with time. One thing I recommend is using Undream's advice and sand/polish your balpeen hammer to a smooth polished finish, it will make a big affect on the finished product.

 

[Nerdman]

Yeah, I'm looking forward to it (though my apartment neighbors might not )

Saw one on eBay for $65 shipped that had been sparingly used and retails for $140. Hopefully it works out - I think it will be fine.

Your neighbors will love you! I have my little work area set up in the garage, but when i use the sander, I take it outside cuz it gets messy! lol.
And im sure the sander you got will be fine! got any pics?

 

[Nerdman]

Looks better than my first attempt!

As for a few of your issues. I'm no expert but an enthusiast scale maker. I'll let you know how I deal with them:

Flush cutters, I bought a cheap pair at walmart in the crafts section for like $2. They're ****ty but strong enough to deal with the brass rod, if you try to cut anything harder they'll shatter (Found that out the hard way). Although they do cut pretty flush, I recommend a bit of finishing with one of the methods below to get them perfectly flat/free of cut marks.

Alternatively, you can use a buy a generic tool file from any hardware store, its MUCH safer than using the dremel for that type of precision work and inexpensive.

Alternatively, if you have a belt sander, I just put the brass rod in the scales, wear a pair of gloves and trim the rod down (It can get pretty hot if you're not careful, you don't want this with acrylic scales) this method takes a bit of control as not to touch the moving belt with the scales or fingers (Hence the gloves). I use Mechanix gloves so they fit tight and provide great protection.

Peening will get better with practice, just hit light and do a lot of circles around the pin so it mushrooms evenly, then just keep tapping until its got a nice even domed look. It's just something that will come with time. One thing I recommend is using Undream's advice and sand/polish your balpeen hammer to a smooth polished finish, it will make a big affect on the finished product.

Good advice, and yes, Brads tip on keeping that hammer polished does make a pretty big diffrence!

 

[Legion]

A good rule of thumb when peening. Don't hit the pin any harder than you would be prepared to hit your finger. Lots and lots of tiny little taps. As I get close to finishing the peen I get gradually lighter until I am barely touching the pin. This is how you get the really polished pin with no dents or blemishes. (Also, polishing the head of the hammer helps too.)

 

[Joe Edson]

Looks better than my first attempt!

As for a few of your issues. I'm no expert but an enthusiast scale maker. I'll let you know how I deal with them:

Flush cutters, I bought a cheap pair at walmart in the crafts section for like $2. They're ****ty but strong enough to deal with the brass rod, if you try to cut anything harder they'll shatter (Found that out the hard way). Although they do cut pretty flush, I recommend a bit of finishing with one of the methods below to get them perfectly flat/free of cut marks.

Alternatively, you can use a buy a generic tool file from any hardware store, its MUCH safer than using the dremel for that type of precision work and inexpensive.

Alternatively, if you have a belt sander, I just put the brass rod in the scales, wear a pair of gloves and trim the rod down (It can get pretty hot if you're not careful, you don't want this with acrylic scales) this method takes a bit of control as not to touch the moving belt with the scales or fingers (Hence the gloves). I use Mechanix gloves so they fit tight and provide great protection.

Peening will get better with practice, just hit light and do a lot of circles around the pin so it mushrooms evenly, then just keep tapping until its got a nice even domed look. It's just something that will come with time. One thing I recommend is using Undream's advice and sand/polish your balpeen hammer to a smooth polished finish, it will make a big affect on the finished product.

Yeah, I searched my local hardware store and they didn't have flush cutters - just the ones like I already have that leave a pinch. The file is a good idea, but when I get my belt sander in I'll give that a try.

Believe me I've watched Undream's videos about 3 times now and saw his advice about the ballpeen hammer. Had to use another hammer head with some holes drilled in the head like how he did it, but am thinking there is a better way. Noticed in his new restore threads that he uses a polished stainless steel block I think. Will have to keep my eye out for something better than another hammer head.

Your neighbors will love you! I have my little work area set up in the garage, but when i use the sander, I take it outside cuz it gets messy! lol.
And im sure the sander you got will be fine! got any pics?

It is an ace belt sander - this one
http://www.amazon.com/Ace-Benchtop-Belt-Sander-60701034/dp/B002DZG0LS

Not sure if it has a dust collector but will just set up a shop vac ala Undream's videos if it doesn't.

 

[life2short1971]

My new neighbors love me! I am used to living in the middle of nowhere!

 

[Blue58]

Another thing I have not seen mentioned yet, but you might want to use your dremel with a small buffing tip and polish the tip of your nail set that you use for peening. I would think that will give the brass rods a more polished look when you peen.

Ohh I almost forgot your restore looks awesome. very nice work so stop beating yourself up you did a great job

 

[Joe Edson]

Thanks for all the suggestions so far. Peening definitely is the thing to most work on and I'm hoping it comes with time.

 

[ambrose]

Looks great

 

[Joe Edson]

Another thing I have not seen mentioned yet, but you might want to use your dremel with a small buffing tip and polish the tip of your nail set that you use for peening. I would think that will give the brass rods a more polished look when you peen.

Ohh I almost forgot your restore looks awesome. very nice work so stop beating yourself up you did a great job

Thanks! I'm just a perfectionist and know where I went wrong. In time I think I will get it down. I mean it did take me about 2 months of everyday shaving with a straight to get truly comfortable with it.

My new neighbors love me! I am used to living in the middle of nowhere!

Until they come knocking on my door I'm not going to worry about it.

A good rule of thumb when peening. Don't hit the pin any harder than you would be prepared to hit your finger. Lots and lots of tiny little taps. As I get close to finishing the peen I get gradually lighter until I am barely touching the pin. This is how you get the really polished pin with no dents or blemishes. (Also, polishing the head of the hammer helps too.)

That is kind of what I figured needed to be done after doing these ones.

Looks great

Thanks Jose!

 

[walto]

Great work

 

[BladeRunner001]

I'm impressed Joe ...For a first try, not too shabby at all. Pretty nice in fact. Good job

 

[Luc]

Nice work!