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Wade & Butcher Fine India Steel and damaged Blonde Horn Scales (Hornoxy repair)

Didn't intend posting this but there aren't many threads on hornoxy repair so it might be of use to someone.

I wasn't even considering keeping these scales as they were so badly damaged but @Frank Shaves was inquiring here about fixing blond horn so I said I'd give it a go. I've done this before on black horn but never blonde so was interested in how it would go.

The blade itself has one of those delicate reverse etched faces saying "Wade & Butcher Celebrated, Fine India Steel Razor" although it's difficult to see and means if I want to keep it I can't use anything other than polish for this part. The hone wear is all over the place. Thick/thin bevels, and a decent amount of wonky spine-ware.
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The scales are totally trashed which was where they were going until Franks questions. I took them off and saved the collars so the end product would be all original except for the pinning stock.

The scales are filthy, delaminated and, according to @Darth Scandalous, those bite marks are from Dermestid beetle larvae. They must have had the family over for dinner as some bits go all the way through. All I can do for now is clean them up which in itself was difficult with the jagged sides and all. Out with the neatsfoot oil.
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I'm not a fan of submerging scales as it dirties the oil so I prefer several applications instead.
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They were absorbing the oil for about 3 or 4 days so I took a look at the blade.
Blade repair has been covered ad nauseam so I just sanded the bejeesus out of all but the face and only polished the etch about 10 times.
The etch is still visible but you need the light at a certain angle to see it, nothing else I could do here.

After 3 applications I dried them off with tissue and started sanding to both repair and get raw ingredient
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Hornoxy
The areas to be filled get a base of blue painters tape 5mm thick, a bit like a mold.
PXL_20220512_151040736.jpg

Mix up 2 part epoxy, I doubt it matters what make as long as it’s clear
Mix in some blonde horn dust, don’t use much as it goes a long way.
It's difficult to judge how much as when it’s wet it's going to look darker than it should be but I think less is more in this case
PXL_20220512_151759477.MP.jpg

Apply quickly, don't let it dry as you want it to flow as much as possible into the blue tape molds you made earlier
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Sand to shape but try a light color sand paper as black wet/dry seems to stain the hornoxy, something you're never going to see on black scales. I used micromesh when I discovered this which helped keep it cleaner looking
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Reassembled with original collars
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The back scale had some delamination so there was little I could do but the front scale turned out fairly good
 
Hone
Wow this thing was a pig to hone

I did about 30 laps of what I thought was going to be a standard bevel set but this is a wedge type grind so that was never going to happen. The 30 laps put some spine-ware on the blade as it's very soft steel and I had high spots on both toe and heel (of the spine), weird for a wedge. The show side wasn't too bad geometry-wise but the back had all sorts of problems going on.

Some preliminary investigation
Taped spine and edge and used pressure to identify problem areas without introducing more unnecessary honeware.
I can see where the original wonky bevels came from now. When honing the back, so show side showing, the heal wobbles quite a bit.
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This is the one type of honing I really don't like as you can destroy a blade trying to fix this

From the preliminary investigation it looks like I need to tape the middle 1/3rd to make decent contact all the way along.
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Some red marker confirmed this and a rolling x-stroke took care of the rest
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Bevel set on Shapton 1.5k and finished on 3um and 1 um film for accuracy.
I probably could have continued honing on the 1.5k to even up the bevel but it's set and I'd be loosing steel for purely aesthetic reasons. I might go back and do it at some stage, we'll see but I do like an even bevel on a wedge blade.

No point jnatting this thing until a shave test tomorrow. I think it should be good but need the shave test to be sure
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Thank you @Bevel. I have been following this topic too, and I found it very helpful to get a "visual" on the type of results that might be achieved using this method! I've got an old B.J. Eyre that has been "rode hard & put away wet". The scales are in a similar condition, and the blade is pretty tired too, but it shaves well! I'm struggling with the idea of permantly seperating the blade from its scales. They've been together for a long time. This may be a good option/project for me. I've got some garbage blond horn that I can test on & practice with before I commit to anything. Thanks for the pics!
 
Can you explain this further? I'm not understanding this part of the process.
You use tape to make a receptacle for the epoxy.
Here is a part of the more damaged scale that was bitten clean through
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Here is the tape making a little pocket for the epoxy
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Epoxied and drying before sanding
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The result on the front of the scale
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To be honest I think I could have done better now that I see the closeups but you can't really see this defect with the human eye. I could certainly sand it some more to get rid of those 2 notches but I probably won't bother now that it's honed up and ready to go.
 
You use tape to make a receptacle for the epoxy.
Here is a part of the more damaged scale that was bitten clean through
View attachment 1458176

Here is the tape making a little pocket for the epoxy
View attachment 1458177

Epoxied and drying before sanding
View attachment 1458178

The result on the front of the scale
View attachment 1458180
To be honest I think I could have done better now that I see the closeups but you can't really see this defect with the human eye. I could certainly sand it some more to get rid of those 2 notches but I probably won't bother now that it's honed up and ready to go.
Got it. I wasn't looking at the photo right. Thank you.
 
Hornoxy
The areas to be filled get a base of blue painters tape 5mm thick, a bit like a mold.
View attachment 1458113

Mix up 2 part epoxy, I doubt it matters what make as long as it’s clear
Mix in some blonde horn dust, don’t use much as it goes a long way.
It's difficult to judge how much as when it’s wet it's going to look darker than it should be but I think less is more in this case
View attachment 1458115

Apply quickly, don't let it dry as you want it to flow as much as possible into the blue tape molds you made earlier
View attachment 1458116

Sand to shape but try a light color sand paper as black wet/dry seems to stain the hornoxy, something you're never going to see on black scales. I used micromesh when I discovered this which helped keep it cleaner looking
View attachment 1458118View attachment 1458120View attachment 1458121

Reassembled with original collars
View attachment 1458122View attachment 1458123View attachment 1458124View attachment 1458125
The back scale had some delamination so there was little I could do but the front scale turned out fairly good


Very cool!

Funnily enough I’m attempting something similar atm with black horn, using grated charcoal:

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Very cool!

Funnily enough I’m attempting something similar atm with black horn, using grated charcoal:

View attachment 1458317
Looks like an unpinning gone wrong. It should be much easier on black horn.
If I had a do-over I would've approached the inside of the scales slightly differently in that I would have used only clear epoxy inside and used the hornoxy on parts visible on the reassembled razor.

The charcoal is an interesting material. Charcoal is famous, when crushed properly, for it's surface area (the reason it's used in water purification) so should be a good substitute for the horn. On the razor scales I'd probably still use the horn from sanding for colour match but the repair on that knife, presumably with the charcoal, is flawless. Really good job.
 
Looks like an unpinning gone wrong

Haha kinda, though it might have been unavoidable... it looked like the scales had been eaten into by some kind of bug or mite, does that happen? And so had made them very thin and fragile, particularly in parts up at the wedge end - you can see other bits of it in my pic above. I’m going to blame a bug anyway... nothing at all to do with my rubbish unpinning efforts! ;)


Charcoal is famous, when crushed properly, for it's surface area (the reason it's used in water purification)


Oh I didn’t know this. Explains why it worked remarkably well to colour the epoxy. Almost as good as mica in terms of the way it mixed, and certainly better than pretty much anything else I’ve experimented with.

When I’ve tried using sandings from black horn to do the same - I’ve not managed to get it particularly good, because even black horn when sanded is a kinda white / light grey colour. Possibly different kinds of horn might be different; the stuff I use for ferrules is water buffalo, I dunno what they were using for razor scales back in the day... (?)
 
... it looked like the scales had been eaten into by some kind of bug or mite, does that happen?
The scales are filthy, delaminated and, according to @Darth Scandalous, those bite marks are from Dermestid beetle larvae. They must have had the family over for dinner as some bits go all the way through.
I think most classic black horn was buffalo back in the day unless someone wants to correct me.
 
I do much the same thing with horn, when trying to match color, or rosewood to repair hand plane totes and knobs. You can sand or file the insides of scales flat and collect the dust in a clean tray.

Tape the bottom and sides, if needed, fill the holes with dust, packing the holes with dry dust and use a drop or two of thin CA glue in place of epoxy. A mist of CA kicker hardens instantly. File to shape, (CA files better than it sands, again collecting the dust and over fill the second layer to get a level finish. File the repair to the proper level and hand sand with a backer to an even height and finish and work up a sanding progression to a high gloss.

CA and CA kicker makes the job quicker and less messy than epoxy. Repairs are invisible.

I keep jars of different wood and horn dust just for quick invisible repairs. The dust itself speeds hardening of CA, but kicker is near instant.

Pro tip. Old model maker trick, keep CA Kicker (2 oz small spray bottle) in a sealed glass canning jar to keep well away from open CA bottles. I also keep open CA bottles in a separate glass canning jar to prevent hardening in the bottle. I do buy kicker in large bottles and refill a 2 oz spray bottle.

Also do not spray the kicker over your work area or near an open bottle of CA glue, it will make the whole bottle kick off. I also buy CA in smaller bottles, even though it is more expensive, cheaper in the long run.

I like Bob Smith kicker, mostly because I can buy in large bottles and control the spray, Aerosols will fill a shop, but they all work, probably all the same stuff.
 
Had a shave test today and I rate it at about 75% so there's still room for refinement.
WTG/XTG good but ATG and fools pass was where it needs improvement as it skips a bit.

I will need to experiment to see what type of edge will best suit this razor. I put a Thuringian edge on it this evening so we'll see how that goes.
Handmade badger 30mm and Palmolive kept variables to a minimum.
Shave6 - 20220519.jpg


I also keep open CA bottles in a separate glass canning jar to prevent hardening in the bottle.
I've started using that white plumbers tape stuff after I open a new bottle of glue. Open bottle, wrap the threads in plumbers tape and reseal tightly. It works well. There's little more annoying than needing glue and finding the bottle frozen stiff and useless.
 
I've started using that white plumbers tape stuff after I open a new bottle of glue. Open bottle, wrap the threads in plumbers tape and reseal tightly. It works well. There's little more annoying than needing glue and finding the bottle frozen stiff and useless.

Great suggestion! Not sure I would have ever thought of that one.
 
Reset the bevel on the W&B to a more uniform shape as the wavy edge was annoying me. It's much more even now.
Finished on film just cause I had them out but I prefer a natural finish on an old wedge, just haven't decided what yet.
I recently got a Thuri from Germany so I might try that.
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Reset the bevel on the W&B to a more uniform shape as the wavy edge was annoying me. It's much more even now.
Finished on film just cause I had them out but I prefer a natural finish on an old wedge, just haven't decided what yet.
I recently got a Thuri from Germany so I might try that.
View attachment 1459861

Do not underestimate what a Naniwa 12k can do to Sheffield crucible steel. Some of my best edges on these razors have been from my Nani 12k.
 
Do not underestimate what a Naniwa 12k can do to Sheffield crucible steel. Some of my best edges on these razors have been from my Nani 12k.
I don't have a Naniwa 12k, I have the Shapton 12k though. Can't remember the difference between the two re grit sizes.
I've heard people saying the 10k is better than the 12k Naniwa?
 
The finish difference between the two is negible. More important is the honers skill and the quality of the edge progression leading up to the 10 or 12k.

I defy anyone to tell the difference between the two edges in a blind shave test.

Both 12k’s are or can be way more aggressive than folks give them credit for.
 
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