What do I need to start restoring?
- Thread starter TheCrash
- Start date
time and sandpaper
you also need to know what youre looking at on ebay to decide how easy it will be to restore
you also need to know what youre looking at on ebay to decide how easy it will be to restore
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I too have just started gearing up to try my hand at str8 restorations. Here are a few of the stickies/how-tos I've found helpful in determining what's involved and what basic equipment is needed to start:
http://www.badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=28539 which is part of B&B's Interactive Guide to Straight Razor Shaving
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=47303
http://straightrazorplace.com/srpwiki/index.php/Hand_sanding_a_blade
http://straightrazorplace.com/srpwiki/index.php/Category:Blade_Restoration
In summary it boils down to, at a bare minimum:
From what I understand, one of the most popular and affordable starting rigs for honing is this: http://www.amazon.com/Norton-Waterstone-Starter-Kit-flattening/dp/B000XK0FMU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1258073028&sr=8-1
Good luck!
http://www.badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=28539 which is part of B&B's Interactive Guide to Straight Razor Shaving
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=47303
http://straightrazorplace.com/srpwiki/index.php/Hand_sanding_a_blade
http://straightrazorplace.com/srpwiki/index.php/Category:Blade_Restoration
In summary it boils down to, at a bare minimum:
- various grits of sand paper to clean the blade - the grit you start with will depend in if/how much pitting there is. Can start from as low as 80 grit and go to as high as 2k with about 8 to 10 grits being used in total for a blade
- 1,000 or 1200 hone for setting bevel (not REALLY necessary but much quicker than a 4k
- 4k hone
- 8k hone
- And, to put a final nice polish on bevel before first stropping, a paddle or balsa (Although most of the more practiced restorers finish on a 10k or 12k (or even higher) hone instead)
From what I understand, one of the most popular and affordable starting rigs for honing is this: http://www.amazon.com/Norton-Waterstone-Starter-Kit-flattening/dp/B000XK0FMU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1258073028&sr=8-1
Good luck!
B
bluefoxicy
I take razor restoration as a general metal clean-up and repair job, so I've gone with the following:
- Aluminum foil (remove rust)
- High-grit sandpaper
- Emory cloth (high-high-high grit sandpaper)
- Metal polish and buffing cloth
- Dremel with cotton buff tip
- Reductor solvent (naptha) to remove oil stains etc
And for scales:
- Dremel tip to crack pins out
- Dremel buffer tip to polish scales
- Ball peen hammer to put new pins in
- Stain and lacquer for faded wood scales
- Tung oil for hardening (and sometimes as a finisher, rather than lacquer) wood scales
- OxyClean to clean up dirty scales
I haven't yet actually completed my first restoration, mind you. Metal should be relatively easy to clean up and polish, and then the blade edge just needs time on the hone. Some of this comes from guitar repair stuff I studied....
Oooooooooh! I should get maple scales, finish and lacquer them, and then relic them!
B
bluefoxicy
Very nice and useful!
Talent.
Talent is good, but in its absence practice and an insistence on perfection will go a long way.
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B
bluefoxicy
Persistence and goals might lend you quite an advantage, if we're talking in such abstracts. And of course, try to appreciate and enjoy your own work for yourself.
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I think you might have mis-understood Max's meaning there...
The question was not what do I need to start restoring... It was what do I need to start a Restoration Business... That changed the answer really, from doing restores that make you happy, to doing restores that make your customers happy....and that my friends I have to agree with Max, takes talent...
The question was not what do I need to start restoring... It was what do I need to start a Restoration Business... That changed the answer really, from doing restores that make you happy, to doing restores that make your customers happy....and that my friends I have to agree with Max, takes talent...
I have to agree with Max and Glen. Talent is required for a resto business.
OCD is also needed. And a healthy dose of "knowing what a good blade is supposed to look, feel, and balance like."
I think Max left out "2nd job," much more capital than you would think, and a liking to ramen/cereal wouldn't hurt.
OCD is also needed. And a healthy dose of "knowing what a good blade is supposed to look, feel, and balance like."
I think Max left out "2nd job," much more capital than you would think, and a liking to ramen/cereal wouldn't hurt.
I dont believe anyone exists on this planet that has no talent but it does take some practice to develop the talent for restoring razors (in some cases, a lot of practice).
But if you ask the experts, most will forget to mention one very important thing, and that is no matter how much of a head start you get or where you start or the quality of your tools, you will destroy quite a few razors as you develop the skill no way around it.
But if you ask the experts, most will forget to mention one very important thing, and that is no matter how much of a head start you get or where you start or the quality of your tools, you will destroy quite a few razors as you develop the skill no way around it.
Maybe I'm lucky or careful, but haven't destroyed a razor yet. Have broken off the tip of one though. That was saved by careful lopping off of tip.
Much more common is putting in a ton of work to discover that the edge swiss cheeses during honing.
Maybe I'm lucky or careful, but haven't destroyed a razor yet. Have broken off the tip of one though. That was saved by careful lopping off of tip.
Much more common is putting in a ton of work to discover that the edge swiss cheeses during honing.
Thanks Leighton...
Brings to mind another learning curve that doesnt get much talked about you will purchase a few un-restorable and many difficult to restore razors along the way (good for practice).
But as you develop your restoration talent, you will also develop the skill of recognizing what's worth it, and what may not.
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