Need help by restoring an E.A.Berg razor

[Dr.Jhivago]

Hallo ,
I am new in the forum and have a little experience with a SR.
I recently bought a vintage SR ,which need a restoration.
The razor is Erik Anton Berg made in Eskilsuna/Sweden. It is a 4/8 French point and i belive it is a 1/4 Hallow grounded.
I have cleaned it twice with a bath of Alcohol 70 % and hydrogen peroxide 3%.
I have sanded the blade with wet sand paper 600-2000 grit and try to polish scale and blade with tooth paste.
I try to hone it on fine grade coticule but it took me 4 hour to set bevel and get it to shave arm hairs.
There is some rust in pin area because i do not have any tools to can get the pin off and remove blade from scale to sand it properly.
I do not have any rotary tool to help me polishing the blade and own only one coticule.
So i am glad to get any advice which can help me restore this razor, because i do not see any point of having a razor, which i con not use as shaver.
Thank you all for your time and answers.
Kind regards

 

[Joshua223]

Nice looking razor. Should be a good first SR for you.

You don't need a rotary tool to polish with. Some of the best blade finishes I've seen were done by hand using sand paper and buffing compound on a rag.
When you are sanding blades, make sure you remove the scratches from the last grit before going to a higher grit (ie: don't go higher than 1000 grit until you have the 600 grit scratches out) . Otherwise you will still have scratches in the blade when you get to the highest grit that won't come out.
Blade looks like it cleaned up well so I would just get it shave ready and put it to work. Don't worry too much about getting everything perfect on your first project.

If there is any buildup in the pivot you want to clean out, try using a floss pick.

If you have a proper bevel set, you should be able to get it shave ready using the Dilucot method for Coticule honing. Basically honing with a slurry and adding drops of water while honing until you are honing with clean water and no slurry.

 

[Dr.Jhivago]

Thank you very much for your answer and advice.
I may have sand it again, but now i have to go lower grit because the scratches were there before and after i sand with 2k then i go 1200 but still was bad then just got into 600-1200-1500-2000. i have an abrasive sponge but not sure if it any good for metal , especially for a swedish steel.
About floss pick i have never use them i have to google , so i get any information what it was and for was use for.
About the honing , i am not sure because i never have done a full honing before. I try to get bevel as i was read and watched in internet. I tried to shave with it but it pull my skin and the shave was not comfortable.
I do not have any polish compound but i have seen some staff for auto pain repairs.
On the photo here is all my sand papers. Shall i get any lower ?
Kind regards.

 

[Ice-Man]

Hi Sir!!!

Swedish steel is very hard for sure, you will need a progression of grits I use from 340 right up to 8000. it is very rare I go lower than 340 unless a lot of steel needs to be removed due to very deep pitting, by the time you get to 8000 grit the blade will only need hand polishing with a good metal polish.
IE: peek, autosolve, white diamond, or mothers mag, all are very good to give the blade a shine I find the more time spent removing the lower grits before moving to the next in progression the better the shine...

 

[Dr.Jhivago]

Today i did some sanding on the blade using the abrasive sponge+ tooth paste and the result was a better shine but the scratches were still there i believe i have to go lower grit to get them out but the blade look good anyway so i did some more work on it with 600 and at end the edge was gone. I start honing it again and took me 2 h to set the bevel or at least try it.My coticule is so fine that i believe is more then 12 k. The swedish steel is so hard to hone so i give up for now. I do not have any 1k or comb stone like 3-5 or 4-8 to hone it properly.I may look for some hone service in my country but i find only one in internet. It is pity to sell this razor because i cant use it.
I am not sure this time if i even set the bevel it cut some arms hairs but still not sharp for a razor. When i do more slury the stone get so dry then i have to add some water and the slury is immediate gone. Thank you for your advice for further steps.
Kind regards.

 

[sanch]

Lapping film is a good alternative to the coti till you can get the bevel set. Also king hones will set a bevel in a pinch it's what I use. Plus they are inexpensive on Amazon. So is the lapping film. Don't give up on straight razors the payoff is imensely satisfying!

 

[Ice-Man]

Sorry but that razor is not the right one to learn to hone on as they are very hard steel, and honing is not easy to do the first time it is a skill on its own its taken me a year to get a edge to my liking. Your better off sending it out to have it honed then you have a benchmark to work to.

As those razors are very good once the bevel is set it will be a top class razor. Also where abouts are you from as someone might be close to help you out.....

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

I wouldn't worry about doing anything with this razor other than getting it sharp. Whether you can achieve this is another matter.

I have not much experience with these near wedges, but enough to know they're not easy. Swedish steel isn't easy either. In other words you're into a difficult honing job at best.

Can a coticule do the job from bevel setting to finishing? Yes, I believe a coticule can be a one stone solution. Not all coticules are the same of course. I've certainly set a bevel with a coticule (using the dilucot method). However, I'm not of the opinion that the coticule is the best bevel setting stone partly because setting the bevel with the coticule is hard on the stone.

I've not ever removed the scales to clean and polish the pin area. It's not that I can't peen and pin razors. It's just that I'm too lazy to do that much restoration. Of course sometimes one has to do it because the scales are so damaged they won't function properly.



I have used sandpaper to polish a blade but often find that a great deal of work can be done with just a liquid polish and a rag. It does a remarkable job. Of course, it won't remove deep scratches, but it also won't introduce new scratches. I do not use power tools to polish a blade (mostly because I don't have them other than a Dremel) but also because I enjoy rubbing metal with Flitz and a rag. Other liquid polishes are much the same from what I know of them so just use one that guys recommend.

In my view of things it is hugely important (if possible) to learn to shave with a straight razor using a very sharp razor. Otherwise you can't know if it's the razor that's at fault or if it is your lousy technique. It is not always so easy to get a straight razor sharp even if you have some experience doing so. It's worth persisting in my opinion, but the learning curve can be long and steep.

Good luck with this and happy shaves,

Jim

 

[Dr.Jhivago]

Hallo and tank you all for you advice and help.
Recently i did some work on blade and seem to get a bit better, but still not as good as i wish.
Sometimes i sand the blade and do more scratches then was before and came to 0 again.
I bought sandpaper with grit 60-120-180-220/40 and 320 ,when i moved to 600 grit it has no difference at all i think i miss 400 grit before i go to 600. The blade looks nice and clean but it seem that it has own patina and after i remove it it comes in day again strange to explain it.I got some tip for sanding a blade- i get a wine cork and use it as surface to put the sandpaper. It help me by sanding but i feel even on dry sandpaper i have to use some water oderwise the blade get more scratches. I try my coticle bout 1 - really small cati and cut much more then selected grade.
I was thinking to get the Shapton Ha no Kuromaku 1 k and 5 k but was not sure if i spend much money on that razor.At some point was disappointed and think to gift it to a gentleman, who use swedish razor . I really enjoy his shave videos on youtube.
I have no luck on straights at all. Real story of mine i purchase a ERN 786 2 months ago and it has not be delivered to me ,even i dont get my money back what a luck . I sped so much time and money to find the razor and now i am not sure it will even comes. It was a NOS razor i can post tomorrow photo of it. Another story i got me a present set for my 26 birthday few month ago a Straight razor set of very respected artisan over 300 Euro were spend on it and it was a disappointment- thanks he is very kind and after i send it back to him he give me refund.
Today another gentleman write me an email if i was still interested in one Robert Klaas 207- it claims to be NOS.
Not sure if i will bay it.I was aiming to buy it but this was 2 month ago seem he sell it and the buyer was not satisfied or something else happened not sure.
Btw i owe one razor i bought new and use few time i have even a 2-3cm scar on my face but was not giving up to learn
haw to shave with a razor, but thb i have not used it 2 months. Now i just use my DE- Muhle R89 or R 41.
Tomorrow i make some photos on the project, my sister will brig her camera because i dont own a good quality phone to make good pictures.
Thank you all for your time and help
Kind regards.

 

[Dr.Jhivago]

Hallo, today i finally did my last work for now.
I got a 400 grit sandpaper and did regress from 600 to 400-600-1200-1500-2000 sanding.
During the process i got some scratches and have to more work on blade with lower then higher grit.
At end i did some polish work with Autosol metal polish. Do i have to wash the blade after using it? I read that it give some kind of protection on metals after using it.For now i have to cleat it well and do some polish on scales.
Can i use 2 k grit on scales or just tooth paste and do some polishing on them ?
Kind reagrds.

 

[sanch]

I am new to this as well but you look like you are heading in the right direction the scales look good from the pictures 2k grit sandpaper then polish with white polishing compound the blade looks good as it is. Hone it and shave! Good job!

 

[Dr.Jhivago]

I think i still have to do some scratches removes, for scales i did not find a plastic polish compound for now i will leave then as just as they are. About the honing i asked one gentlemen, who may hone it for me but have to wait a bit.
Anyone has any idea haw old is the razor i find some similar model in 7/8 date back to 1895-1906 and another razor with same razor box was dated back to the early 1900s.If anyone has some knowledge please share it.
Kind regards