Today's work, Le Grelot & Henckels(

[pmaster]

I just finished two razors today. One was a Le Grelot which was in pretty bad shape. I don't know what it went through, but it actually seems like it burned got burned up to a certain point. The metal was a weird color and the scales were "bubbly". I'm hoping its not going to affect the edge.



The was a lot of deep pitting so it shows quite a bit, but still, its my first Le Grelot, I can't wait to hone it up and try it out.

 

[pmaster]

The second razor I restored was a LOT of work, first let me say that I just love inlays/bolsters. However most razors with them go for big $. I got this one for an OK price but the scales had a hairline crack. When it got here I realized they were too frail to try and glue them back together, so I decided to make some new scales and go with a "transplant'. Let's just say this took much more time than doing scales from a small template, to try and fit the bolsters was real pain. I put the old scales in acetone, then glued the bolsters on the new scales with epoxy, which was kinda messy.

Anyway enough said, here is the final result, which I'm very very happy with

 

[pmaster]

Two last ones:

 

[ANeat]

Great job; just lovely

 

[pmaster]

Thanks.

I'm having some issues with the inlays on the razor though. Just swiping the razor with my thumb yesterday, I managed to lift the very small edge of the "D" on "Denbar". I'm not sure what to do to make sure everything is sitting tight and almost flush... Anyone ever tried putting nail polish on inlays? Or should I cover it with epoxy, wait a day for it to harden and sand it flush with the rest?

My first try was to set the inlay with acetone. Had lots of fun with that... For a second it held in place, then I thought I'd put just a little more acetone to secure everything, and obviously it came off and didn't reset properly. I'm open to any suggestions, the way it is now I'm afraid if I make the smallest mistake when handling it, I might get stuck in the inlay and bend/break it.

 

[ANeat]

Honestly Pm I have a couple like that, needing restored, and Im not sure myself. I have some casting supplies coming and I may try to cast new scales with the inlay and bolsters in place.

I think the clear coat of some type would work as well. Not sure if I would trust fingernail polish though

 

[pmaster]

Honestly Pm I have a couple like that, needing restored, and Im not sure myself. I have some casting supplies coming and I may try to cast new scales with the inlay and bolsters in place.

I think the clear coat of some type would work as well. Not sure if I would trust fingernail polish though

I've been reading all over the place and it seems some people are using CA, some epoxy. However what annoys me is that the inlay still "sticks-out". Maybe I should've stuck longer with acetone but even though it seemed like the inlay dug-in the scales a bit, I wasn't convinced it was going to hold. I will try to carefully apply some more epoxy I think, with a toothpick of some sort, and then allow it to dry for 2 days. If it doesn't look good I'll remove the excess with acetone.

If you have a couple like that I'd say goodluck Nah actually now that its done, if I look back, its not all that bad. It just takes more time, and if you do it over the course of a few weeks, with breaks in-between, it can be done in a good way. Also I think some inlays/bolsters are probably easier to deal with than others.

 

[ANeat]

Possibly if you use the acetone to melt the inlay into the scales to get it flush, then glue with CA

 

[Firewalker]

The set I am working on now has bolsters and seem to have been bonded with the scales with heat and pressure due to the tiny bit of outflow of scale material between openings in the bolsters.

Beautiful resto though, I like the fresh color of the scales.

 

[pmaster]

The set I am working on now has bolsters and seem to have been bonded with the scales with heat and pressure due to the tiny bit of outflow of scale material between openings in the bolsters.

Beautiful resto though, I like the fresh color of the scales.

Thanks.

For these scales, the originals were pretty much embedded into the celluloid. I imagine they were set with acetone, or possibly put in a mold in which they poured the celluloid? Or they used a heat gun. Since I don't have any reliable way to heat them into place, and I'm thinking I would need a lot of heat to do such a thing with acrylic, I went with epoxy again.

I gently applied a layer of epoxy over the whole inlay. Honestly, I have no clue how it will turn out. Its drying on the table right now :-D

I will wait 2 days to touch it, and if its hardened as solid as plastic, I will very slowly sand the surface away to get something evenly smooth, and then possibly rub it lightly with acetone if its clouded on the surface. If it fails, I can always remove with with acetone and have another fun try with some other method...although I'd prefer to be done with it!

I'll post some pictures once its dried up.

 

[Firewalker]

You will find that epoxy is not affected by acetone at all, only the celluloid. Here are my bolsters:

 

[pmaster]

You will find that epoxy is not affected by acetone at all, only the celluloid. Here are my bolsters:

View attachment 330798

Looks like you're all setup to work on the scales! Did you manage to trace the outlline of the old scales, or do you have at least one of the sides which is still usable to compare?

If you only have bolsters, I think these will attach just fine with some epoxy or even CA since they're held there with the pins anyway. Although to be honest I personally would've like to dig them into the scales like the old ones (but I think is difficult to do only with acetone).

I haven't had time to post the pictures after I applied epoxy to the inlay (probably this weekend). Its actually "ok" but now I want to try and sand it down so it is mostly flush with the scales. In retrospect I'm not sure pouring a glob of epoxy over the whole inlay was the best plan, but then again this way I'm sure I won't get a tissue or towel caught in the inlay and lift/break it.

 

[Raithskar]

Fantastic job Pmaster!

 

[KZero]

Sorry you had troubles with the inlay, but overall it sure is beautiful! Well done!

 

[pmaster]

You will find that epoxy is not affected by acetone at all, only the celluloid. Here are my bolsters:

View attachment 330798

So, have you progressed on your restore?

Turns out I will probably have to rework on the Denbar inlay. Epoxy doesn't take so well to sanding, so I will try to remove it all and start again with some CA, or carefully apply some epoxy on a few small spots.

 

[JGKC9AYC]

So have you gave the Le Grelot a test shave yet?

 

[pmaster]

So have you gave the Le Grelot a test shave yet?

Will try it tonight :-D

I honed it up 2 days ago, along with 2 other razors. I finished it on 1um, no paper underneath. Following this I'll probably re-finish it with 1um+paper, and then 1um+paper+crox.

Trying to figure out if I see a big difference between these different finishes, and if I actually like the effect of crox or not

 

[JGKC9AYC]

You're asking the wrong guy...LOL!

 

[pmaster]

Shave was very very nice.

I'm thinking it still can be slightly improved though, I just re-did another 60-70 laps on 1um, then about 20-25 laps on 1um+paper.

I will try it again tomorrow

 

[tomjr]

nice work.