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Those look good and cleaned up nice, as for the crack I would put some epoxy in the crack and place thrust washer on top. As I think epoxy offers more support and would be stronger, then once cured dunk the whole lot in Neats foot oil and hydrate those up then sand and polish.
I have nothing to add, this is exactly what I'd do!
 
It's a process they use on guns, I bought the kit a while back to do a blue Diamond. But I never used it due to my blue Diamond was painted blue.

But it is very easy to blue them just follow the steps, and you end up with a nice gun blue on the tangs.

This is the product I used

View attachment 1080641
What did you end up using to repaint the Blue Diamond? I assumed it was a type of blue back in the day, but it definitely looks like some sort of sealed paint.
 
Oh man, Ultra sharp! I'm always impressed by your restorations!

Thank You, Matt!!! I did enjoy restoring this one, as it was all something new that seemed to work in a good way.

What did you end up using to repaint the Blue Diamond? I assumed it was a type of blue back in the day, but it definitely looks like some sort of sealed paint.

I think it was a sealed coat tbh, but I used a translucent metallic blue. With a clear coat to keep it close to original as I could. One thing I have found restoring razors its all a big learning curve, with trying to replicate how and what they did in the past and searching methods used. lots of times coming up blank as they kept it a secret or never kept records one or the other if not both.
 
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This one is the result of a deep rescue.
When I found it, it was in a bag with a few other razors. This one was covered in rust. I should have taken a picture of it. It seemed to have been a advance case of cellrot. Moreover, one of the other razor in the pouch was infected too (I still have to restore that one).
After taking it out of its scale and dutifully throwing them away, I proceeded to remove the rust. Often it looks a lot worse than it really is. In this case, it was bad indeed. 2 parts of the blade could not be rescued, but fortunately, one was close to the 1/2" from the heel, the other about 1/4" from the toe.
The round point became scare and I gave it a Japanese-inspired heel.
I had another Le Grelot original scale lying around to which I added a zinc wedge.
Honed.jpg

Honed on synthetic, culminating on a Gokumyo 20K finish.
 
Finally I was able to get a little fun time...
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A little unpinning. A little sanding. A little polishing. A little repinning. A James Barlow "Echo" (upper right) and a heavy Torrey (on the magnetic jig)

Tomorrow will be a little lapping on my pasted balsa and stones. A little repasting got the balsa And then s lot of honing and stropping (balsa and leather) for the above to razors plus a Taylor's Eye Witness and a Torrey "Gibraltar".

And for extra funsies I lapped a Swaty barber hone and tried a refresh on the Taylor's. Mixed results but enough fun to keep trying...
 
Finally I was able to get a little fun time...
View attachment 1085312
A little unpinning. A little sanding. A little polishing. A little repinning. A James Barlow "Echo" (upper right) and a heavy Torrey (on the magnetic jig)

Tomorrow will be a little lapping on my pasted balsa and stones. A little repasting got the balsa And then s lot of honing and stropping (balsa and leather) for the above to razors plus a Taylor's Eye Witness and a Torrey "Gibraltar".

And for extra funsies I lapped a Swaty barber hone and tried a refresh on the Taylor's. Mixed results but enough fun to keep trying...

Very nice Sir!!!!
Those have come up real nice....


I just got this Friodur with a cracked scale.
That gave me a great excuse to get rid of its plastic dress and replace with horn
View attachment 1085787

Oh yes you cannot beat horn scales, and love how they turn out much better than plastic...
 
Finished some heavy reprofiling on some prefab scales, finishing with a Neetsfoot soak last night. A little clean up on the W. Greaves & Sons tonight and she'll be ready for her new dress (and maybe even get a trip to the stones in if I'm lucky).
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This my second attempt at shaping scales. Went much better with the Dremel drill press (rotated to 90 degrees) and a better assortment of sandpaper. Who knows, I may be ready to try my hand at this...
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A horn blank.
 
Here is a Barbers Pet 421 from Simmons Hardware that I just finished. Sanded, polished, and new scales.

It didn’t have washers inside the scales, so I didn’t use any in the restore. I’ll be interested in how those wear over time. But they sure are nice and tight.

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Finished on my Robeson “Extra Choice Selected”, an off-brand Escher.
 
Finished some heavy reprofiling on some prefab scales, finishing with a Neetsfoot soak last night. A little clean up on the W. Greaves & Sons tonight and she'll be ready for her new dress (and maybe even get a trip to the stones in if I'm lucky).
View attachment 1090585
This my second attempt at shaping scales. Went much better with the Dremel drill press (rotated to 90 degrees) and a better assortment of sandpaper.

Update: After a few uses I decided that, once again, the scales I made were too clunky. That's twice now! Today's project was to (again) remove the scales, put them on a strict diet, and then reassemble.

But ... When I took the scales off there was active rust at the pivot. Guess I didn't clean it up as well as I thought. Out came the 1k grit sandpaper and then the progression to 5k and Flitz to finish. I added a coat of Renwax for good measure.

The scales ended up losing about 0.75mm of thickness from each, about 1.5mm across the assembled razor. 320 grit did the trick.

Repinned in brass with stacked washers. A quick trip through the balsa progression brought it back to treetopping.
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A little time at the bench again today.
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This Joseph Smith "Universally Approved Concave Razor Set Ready For Use" needed some serious cleanup. Went down to 600 grit wet/dry to get rid of the rust on the spine and tang, then came up to 5k and then Flitz. Applied a coating of Renwax so this doesn't happen again. Etching is in great shape.

Gave the original (bone I think) scales a good cleaning with dish soap and a toothbrush and redressed her.
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Ready for honing either later today or tomorrow.

But, I think the "Concave" claim is a bit exaggerated...
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Methinks this one is gonna need some tape...
 
Just started working on this Greeves & Sons SheafWorks. The scales seem OG but they are badly warped and a chip has rotted in on one part.

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working on a Wade & Butcher with faux Bamboo scales I will be able to save.

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this poor soul was covered in crap, sludge, and rust. after dremel/porter cable polish compound and vintage crocus cloth......she began to shine. the wedge pin has a collar the pivot pin did not. I have a pair of old collars that im saving for my next restore that should ship tommorow.......so if anyone has a little baggie of antique collars laying around, PM me......lol.

this poor razor has seen no love in its life. the pivot pin is the worst I've seen out of all that I've had to pull.

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this measures closer to a 4/4. I dont see heel wear that i would expect. anyone know if WB made a 4/4????? I have trouble believing this is a worn down 5/8.

either way, figure I have a razor that has Bombay (Mumbai) or Bay Rum feel to it!!!!

any thoughts appreciated.

camo
 
Nice job, probably meant to wrote 4/8 not 4/4, though.

Have a pic of the original condition?
yep you are right....its been a long day.

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much worse than this seller pic looks.....especially around the pivot and inside the scales!!

happen to know if they made a 4/8????

camo
 
didnt have a pic of the spine. it was rust city but looks good now and the monkey tail.

camo

just hit again. it is now mirror finish. im not posting a pic because even on my usual "select focus" phone camera feature I am having trouble capturing how shiny this is now. I'm sold on the crocus cloth.

camo
 
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