Went home for Thanksgiving, found Red Imp 133

[Pro2010]

I remembered seeing a cheap little straight with what appeared to be plastic scales in my shed, all rusted so I didn't give it much thought. Now that I'm back with a little more knowledge of straight I went to check it out, saw Solligen Germany on it... Immediately I thought it may be worth a second look. Everything that I have the knowledge to say is depicted in the picture.. Is it worth any work? I'm new to this so this would be my first razor worth any look, assuming that it is unsalvageable would it still be worth some practice?

 

[Kentos]

The rust will leave behind some pitting, and the rust on the edge may require you to hone past it...but other than that I think you could bring it back to shave worthiness...it will just be thinner spine to edge after taking out the rust and frown.

 

[Pro2010]

To start I should pickup sandpaper in hand sand it with grit 80-120-180-220-320-400? Sounds like a fun little project to work on this weekend, Now if I'm able to start this on a holiday...

 

[Kentos]

Depends...if you go too coarse it will leave deep scratches that will be hard to take out. I would start at 220 to see how it goes, dropping down if you need to. If you want mirror finish you will need to go up to at least 1500...400 will give you a nice satin finish...

 

[Krodor]

yup...to get the mirror idea going, the auto parts store sells 3M wet-dry sandpaper in packs...get the 1000-2500 assortment as well as the 400-800 ***'t. Don't be tempted to move to the next grit too fast: as an example, it might be 45 mins or so per grit. more so at the 150/200 end of things when you're getting out the rust/pitting. I waled on some really bad rust (similar to what you have) and turned nasty into purdy with simply 100 grit for a couple hours, IIRC. Then went 220/400. Still have a long way to go, but it's fun...just take it one step at a time and don't slice your finger!

edit: once 2500 is done, I've found if you then grab a bottle of brasso (found at walmart, hardware store, lotsa places) and brasso it for awhile with a toothbrush or old t-shirt, that's nice. However, since brasso has some abrasives in it, I find its a great transition into Flitz, which not only has no abrasives and gives it that extra sumpin-sumpin, but also leaves the surface with some kind of protective film on it. That's what I do anyway, since I don't have any power buffers or wheels or whatever. Just hours with me, the blade, and the sandpaper, little bits at a time. You really get to know every nook and cranny that way, I find.