tips on a minimal cleanup without unpinning?

[freedj]

I just got this as my first straight razor and would like to get it cleaned up a bit while still leaving it in serviceable condition.


The dark stuff does not appear to be rust, just a really tough layer of something. I would like to get the blade and as much of the tang gook free, but my initial attempt with some semi-chrome polish and a soft cloth didn't seem to touch the stuff.

After i get it back to consistently shiny i would like to try and smooth out the shoulders where it looks like it had an unfortunate run in with a grinder. What is the best tool for this job?

 

[Legion]

Dremel with a sanding drum. Go slowly and use eye protection.

To be honest, there is an awful lot of wear on that blade. Unless it had sentimental value, I probably wouldn't spend much more time than just giving it a good MAAS polish and a hone.

 

[freedj]

So I hit it yesterday with a bit of 600 grit wet/dry sandpaper and a pencil eraser. Surprisingly the eraser seemed to work really well and let me get into the corners to get the gook off. I got almost all the black off of the shoulders but have not tried to do anything with the tang yet. The 600 grit was fairly ineffective. Perhaps I need to give it more elbow grease or drop to a lower grit.

It almost seems like someone ground down the shoulders so that it would slip into the scales better. The scales are not original to the blade and are quite snug around the shoulders.