You don't need to be a 'pro' to restore a razor

[Gamma]

After reading some posts on the 'net' - some authored by 'pros' - I sorta got the feeling that there isn't enough tolerance for 'adequate' work.
It's like there's too much emphasis on 'perfect' or artisinal work.
Some of us just don't have a lot of tools, patience, practice, etc.
Having said that - everyone has to start somewhere. First efforts that turn out like stellar show-pieces are grand - but those results are the exceptions and not the rule I think.
Realistically - our first attemps should be rated 100% if we get to shave with the razor when we're done. Anything after that is gravy.


Honestly - If you know how to hold a screwdriver you can restore a razor found in the wild or on an auction site.
Fancy tools and machinery are not needed for the basic work. Sure - a full mirror polish and MOP inlays are going to require serious skils, tools, and experience.
But to get a basic razor cleaned up and into good-great shaving condition can be done easily enough.

Of course these blades all need to be honed from the ground up - that's another layer of concern. I might do a similar thing about that at another time. This thread is simply about getting started and jumping into doing a simple resoration.

The rough looking razors we see for sale all over the place are a good place to start - the investment is low, at least it should be low, and therefore -a catastrophic failure won't be felt so harsly.
Note - sometimes sheet happens. Scales break, blades chip, pitting can kill a blade etc. To play in this arena, we need to be ready for that to be a possibility.

I'm going to post a few pix here - this project isn't done yet, but I'm far enough along to spark the idea and give a decent visual type of explanation.
I'll stay light on the words - and let the pix tell the story.

One more thing - this isn't going to be the prettiest duck on the pond when its done.
But it will be a really nice duck and it's going to shave extremely well.

For starters, a wedge or a heavy grind blade is a good place to start.
Hollow grind razors are fine too - but when there's pitting on the very edge they can be tedious to hone up sometimes.
When/if the steel at the blade's edge is rotten, a wedge offers more 'meat' to work with and clearing it will be easier.
I just feel that working on a heavier blade to start off with makes things easier.
It's been said that honing a wedge or heavy grind is harder than honing a more hollow blade.
Well - that can be true in certain, but not all, scenarios - but here I'm looking for more of a sure thing than an 'easy' finish.

The other thing is that dropping a wedge isn't likely to be a catastrophic event - where hollow razors can 'pop' fairly easily.

Oh - you won't drop it you say - well, then you're a better man than I Charlie Brown....

For this demo, I chose a poorly treated and very thick Wade & Butcher near wedge FBU found on an auction site.
The seller wanted an obscene amount of money for it, but after 40 days or so he accepted my reasonable offer.
The original scales are chipped, dried out, and fragile. The blade is full of active rust.

Why this blade? Well - the barber's notch is intact, and the tang stamp seems readable.
I know there's enough good steel under the rust so even if I have to take a lot of metal off I'll be ok.
I love these big W&Bs - so when I'm done I'll have something I really like to shave with that's ready to go.

Show side

Obverse

 

[Gamma]

First - unpinning the blade.
This doesn't always need to be done, sometimes you can just polish up a blade and get honin' on it.
Me - I hate knowing there's gunk in the pivot, and stuck to the inside of the scales.
This particular razor though - it had to be taken out so I can repair the scales and take all of the rust off the steel.

Expensive tools are not needed. The flush cutters in this pic were about 10 dollars.
First - I cut off one collar, and then the other. When cutting the second collar, the pin usually retracts a bit on the other side and that helps the scale pop off cleanly.
When cutting the pins - I do 1/2 cut first, then I finish the cut at about 90° to the starting cut. That seems to help keep the pin more 'round'.
Otherwise, the pin deforms slightly and that makes it more difficult to get the scale free.

Note - sometimes, this step doesn't go so easily. About 1 in 10 times the pin is frozen and I need to wiggle the scale gently to pry it off.
Of those times - about 90% of the time it works out fine, but occasionally the scale cracks.
So I guess the moral of the story is - go slow, and don't force anything.

Sometimes - I wind up drilling the pin out or tapping it out with a drift pin.
But - most of the time when I cut off both collars/washer-sets, the scales open up easily.
When the scale doesn't want to budge - never ever force the scale up on the pin. always be gentle.

 

[Gamma]

After the blade is out, I cut off the pin at the wedge the same way; first one side, then the other.
Flush cutters are great - I used to file the heads off of pins but these are just so much easier.
Losing a wedge is easier than one might think - so I always pay attention to where it is and put it in a safe place after it comes free.
I'll be taking a small piece of 600x w/d and cleaning up that wedge too. Its lead - so I won't want to handle it too much, I suppose wearing gloves would make sense here.
But I really don't like gunk and I do try to clean up every bit of it when I'm in this far with a razor. The 600x w/d is still fine, but it can also take some of the lead away and I don't want to ruin the 'wedge' shape so I'll go easy on it - rubbing lightly and not trying to make it gleam with a polish is the key. I'll just hit the surface enough to get rid of all of last 100 yr worth of crud off of it. Then it'll go into a little zip lock baggie and get put into the parts box so it's safe.

 

[Gamma]

At this point - I put the blade into a bath of hot water and CLR - 50/50 mix.
(CLR is - Calcium, Lime and Rust Remover - a greenish liquid sold in grey plastic jugs)
I make a foil pan for it and place it in the sink. When it cools off I just run hot water under it and it heats back up.
CLR is some kind of organic acid for removing limestone deposits and rust - it's a slow acting acid and it's easy/safe to work with.
I let this sit while I was working on the scales. Maybe an hour or so. It doesn't remove every single spot of rust on something like this, but it does do a good job and what it leaves comes off pretty easily most of the time.

 

[Gamma]

Back to the scales while the blade takes a bath.
You may have noticed in the photo above that the scales are in harsh condition.
They're chipped badly and dried out too. The surface is gummy inside and out from years of use also.
After sanding them down on both the ouside and inside with 220x w/d - the faults are more readily seen.
Note - save the horn-dust when sanding the scales down.

At least the gunk is off them now - but what to do with that huge missing chunk, and the smaller chips too?

 

[Gamma]

Since I hate cutting scales - I really do - I usually try to salvage what I can.
I will forsake some 'pretty' for not having to cut scales any day.
I've made a decent number of scales for restorations from scratch, and I'll probably make more in the future too.
But - if I don't have to - I won't. I do not have a band saw, or a bench grinder or a drill press.
If I make scales, it gets done start to finish with a dremel and sand paper. It's time consuming and it makes a mess.

Anyway - here's my plan to save this pair of scales.

Starts with Epoxy and some horn-dust I gathered when sanding the scales.

This is 5 minute epoxy but when it's mixed with horn-dust it takes a lot longer to set.
Here's the basic layout I use for this step, but whatever works - works.

 

[Gamma]

Now - this is why I lay it out the way you see it above.
I use white paper so I can judge how dark the epoxy is.
I use a toothpick and mix the epoxy a/b stuff so it's ready to set, and then move some out of the 'pool' to mix some horn dust into it.
This never looks pretty or 'right' - it's usually messy too. But making more epoxy than I need, and having more horn-dust than I need helps me get the mix right.
Well - close - I never get a perfect match but its always stable and functional and it's never really 'ugly' when I'm done.

In the photo -that's not thick/dark enough yet, but you can get the idea. The epoxy will take a while to set, so there's no need to rush the mixing.

 

[Gamma]

Next - application of the goop.

after I get a nice thick sticky wad of the epoxy/horn-dust on a tooth pick, I squish it onto/into the chip/hole/etc.

Here - I taped the inside of the scale to keep the goop from running too much and to keep it flat on the inside.
If the goop is too thin, it'll run and not cover the area of the scale that needs to be filled.
If that happens, sometime a sprinkling of horn dust onto that spot can help, or sometimes I just get a sticker/thicker bit of it on the toothpick and squish it onto the first layer.
Other times - I just let it cure and go over it again after it cures. Patience is key here. This will take a full day to harden to where it's really sandable/shapeable.

 

[Gamma]

Ok - here's the blade out of the CLR bath and sanded a bit with 220x-600x - maybe 20-30 minutes worth of free-hand work.
It's not too shabby - but admittedly, it can be sanded further and polished higher.
Personally - I prefer to see the battle scars on these old blades though.
And here - this isn't about being 'perfect' or making a 'showpiece'.
This is about getting into it, and getting it done, and working with what's on hand rather than buying an entire workshop to get this lovely old Sheffield back in the game.

 

[Gamma]

Ok - that's the bulk of the first steps, now I have to wait for the epoxy to cure so I can sand/shape the scales.
Hopefully - it'll work out ok. It'll be a few days before I get to that stage so this is all there is for now.

This is what I've used to acomplish the above;

Jug of CLR - $5.00 (local hardware store, used about 3 oz out of 28 oz)
Epoxy - $1.99 (local hardware store, used 1/10th of the tube)
1/8th of a sheet each of 220/320/600x 3M w/d paper - $2.00 (that's for the 3 full sheets)
Flush cutters - $10.00 with shipping (Amazon)
Small pliers - $??.?? - had these so long, I have no idea what they cost.
Small scredriver - $0.00 - was my dads, I 'borrowed' it a long time ago.

 

[oakeshott]

Fantastic, G. Have wanted to know how to do the horn dust trick. I've also come to the conclusion that I don't need NOS perfection in my blades and, in fact, it makes me a bit nervous whenever I want to hone or use them that I'll mar their perfection.

Spent nearly 8 hours getting a near mirror on a vintage sheffield wedge and it was beautiful, but it wasn't worth it...for me.

 

[gumbo]

Fantastic work, and great tutorial thus far. A lot like how I do things too but you've given me a few great pointers.

But part of me is angry, you're just creating more competition for purchasing fixer-uppers!

 

[Alum of Potash]

Wow, quite a sequence of posts. Thanks for your generosity in sharing the technique. I especially like that you have given new life to an outworn animal product in this way. I'll study it later, when I have a bit of time.

 

[Doc226]

Very nice, like the epoxy/horn dust concoction.

 

[otto76]

+1000 to your first post! The know it all's and elitist's can take a dive.
Just get the stuff, do a little research, start working and see how it comes out. Learn from your mistakes and try to improve the next one.

I like the powder/epoxy trick, I would have said those scales were throwaways. Pretty cool.

Edit- I don't mean this to sound arrogant, I have learned a lot from others on this site, not in any way snubbing all the useful info and help here. Only talking about the condescending and obnoxious.

 

[Bird_Flu]

Awesome thread Gamma! I'll be following this one and trying my hand at these exact techniques! Thank you so much for posting this!!!

 

[Gamma]

A long time ago - I used to set up guitars for other players. I had no real money to shop at Stew-Mac, or buy anything really - but I did know how to make a guitar sing.
So - I taught myself how to make things work with what I had.

One day - Two guys come to my house, when I answer the door - one of them asks - can you fix my guitar? It's pretty broken.
The other guy was a friend of mine, and he just rolled his eyes and said 'take a look'.

He had put a 1960s Gibson SG into a chip-board (cardboard) case, and checked it when he flew to LA.
Yep. He did. Why? I do not know.

I opened the case and almost cried. I didn't have to - because he was already in tears at that point.
Neck off, wood everywhere. headstock split in two, chunk of mohogany ripped out of the top, etc.
My friend kept saying - no way, that's toast. Keep the hardware and toss it.

I took the job on - had no idea how to go about it or where to start. The owner of the now useless pile of mohogany had 80 bucks and a gig in a week.
I told him to keep the 80 bucks to eat, and I'd do it for free - and I lent him a Les Paul and said come back in 6 weeks.

Took me almost 3 weeks just to fit every single splinter back into where it belonged. I learned how to mix hide glue and make clamps out of clothespins, rubber bands, wire, and some other stuff I had lying around; I needed to get the pieces fitted perfectly in the neck joint or it was going to be a no-go.
I worked on that Gibson obsessively - endlessly.

The epoxy thing where I mix horn-dust into it for the scales came to me during that job. There were gouges to fill near the neck joint and I couldn't sand them out without making things really tedious. So I figured the next best thing would be wood dust fixed into those ravines - so I sanded the back of the body and saved the powder, mixed it up with some hide glue and filled them. It worked well - didn't look perfect but it was better than before. Mostly - I didn't have to compromise too much of the body to get it done.

Following that - I figured out how to steam the face plate on the headstock off by wrapping the head in a wet cloth, putting it into a coffee can and heating it with a bernzomatic torch. Yes - I did that. (not long after this, I set the neck of a Harmony 12-string archtop ablaze with that same torch), and so on...jury rig after hodge-podge after kluge - I had to make what I had available work.

After I reset the neck, replaced the missing fret wires (Luthier at Sam Ash helped me with that part) and everything else was sanded, filled and smoothed out - I had what would be a functional guitar, but it wasn't pretty. So I painted it - in my parents basement. I made a spray booth out of a refrigerator box and hung the SG by a screw in the headstock from the rafters. I used truevalue hardware store spray paint - was nitrocellulose, figured I was in the ballpark there.
After about 15 coats of gloss black, and several sandings and buffings, I hit it with another 15 coats of clear with the requisite sandings and buffings.
The last polish was done with rottenstone (look it up) on a puff I got from a gunstock maker.

This was before the days of digital cameras, the internet and websites. I did take one photo, but I gave it to the guy that owned the SG.
So - there's no record of this event other than the words above.

That guitar was gorgeous when I was done. Visually perfect? Hell no - my sanding wasn't great because I did it all by hand and I never had to do that before; there were a few waves here/there. There was some overspray over the neck binding too. The faceplate on the headstock was rumpled and the crease showed a bit.
Was it functionally perfect? Hell yeah - I set it up with a new ivory nut and I tweaked that neck so it felt like my fingers were running over warm silk.
When the guy came to pick it up, well - I never saw anyone happier that he was that day. Not ever.
I plugged it into my JTM 45 and let him take it for a ride. He was happy. I was happy. He gave me back my LP and we parted ways.
There was a 100 bucks in the neck compartment of the case too.


Moral of the story -
Never say it can't be done. Never give up because it's 'too hard'.
Don't believe, not for a minute, that you can't do it. If you can 'see' it - you can do it.

But - the first time you do it, it might not work out how you want it to. The second time you may come closer.
The third time, you may fall flat on your face. Eventually though, if you keep working at it - you'll get better at it.

 

[Gamma]

Ok - back to the scales.
I got anxious and heated the epoxy with a lightbulb - 40W, about 1' away. Seems to have expedited the curing process well enough.

Here's the scales with the tape pulled off. The excess here might seem problematic, but it's not a problem.
You can see that the horn-dust settled within the epoxy as it cured. The edge is almost clear and you can see it darkening toward the scales.
Turns out I could have used more horn-dust. The fill is lighter than I'd like, next time I will make it darker & this will have to do for now.

Main thing is - the voids are filled and it looks good enough to work.
Here you can see that my initial sanding before was only to clear off the crud. Since I have to do a good bit of sanding now, there was no need to go too far earlier.

 

[Gamma]

Here - I've trimmed the excess epoxy a bit. I was careful, didn't want to nick the horn. I just wanted to get rid of the glue-fin.

After I took this pic I trimmed it a bit more - it's like shaving or whittleing more than cutting.

 

[Gamma]

These pix show the scales sanded a bit. I've removed the epoxy 'lump' and was able to keep the basic original shape.
There's a lot more work to do on these, so far as sanding goes.
You can see that the fill isn't 'perfect' but I can darken the inside with a sharpie and that might help.
Next time - I might try mixing some black pigment into the epoxy with the horn dust.
Why use the horn-dust at all at that point? I'd like to think the particles bond with the scales somehow and I think it adds some texture and flexyness to the epoxy.
Maybe I'm nuts - but my fingers really can't feel where the epoxy starts and the horn ends.

Now that I have an initial success, I'm going to fill the flaw/void on the inside of that one scale before I proceed.