Thread: Newbie Restoration Experience...

I was thinking about a mistake I made and I would like to share my experience in case anyone is in a similar situation to me or is contemplating buying an old antique for their first straight with the idea of fixing it up. I realize I should have never done this in the first place! Here is the story!

I ended up acquiring 4 vintage blades from my grandfather. The blades were

1.) a Genco
2.) a new electric
3.) a Wade and Butcher hollow ground
4.) a Wade and Butcher wedge with a barber's notch

I ended up acquiring the Wade and Butcher blades around January of this year 2009, and the Genco and the New Electric this May. Now 6 months after being interested in straights and actually having 2 blades, I have had my first shave TODAY. The shave was great and I wish I could have done it sooner. So this was the mistake that I made and why I waited 6 months....

I got the 2 W&B blades in the winter with the usual dark grey tarnish, minor rust and pitting. The scales looked old compared to the pictures of the restored razors in the gallery. But now looking back and hanging around the forums the scales were totally acceptable. So I being a total NOOB said hmmm... I will take them off and make nice NEW scales like those in the gallery! BIG MISTAKE I broke both scales. now the W&B blades are just sitting on my desk scaleless! I know there are probably some pros out there that are thinking "what a dolt!" sorry I did not know...

I did the usual handsanding routine on the W&B hollow ground and it was VERY difficult since I had never restored a razor before. I read a lot of posts in the worskhop but it was harder than it seemed. The handsanding routine took forever and I bought a cheap dremel and tried it on my W&B hollow ground. The scratch marks are just UGLY! I have to start over and get those scratches out! The wedge was much better but the mirror finish is not there because I lack the proper buffing compounds and wheels.

After the bad experience with trying restoration myself, I was given the Genco and the New electric in May. Now here is what I was actually happy about what I did. I did not attempt to "restore" these blades at ALL! All that I did try to "CLEAN" the blades. All that was done was to take a cloth and clean the scales, and then a cloth and a little bit of steel wool (with a light touch) with MAAS and rubbed the blades to get the tarnish off. NOW I actually can use my Genco and New Electric!!! They are honed and ready to go!

If I were to do this over again I would have sent my razors to a professional!!! Or I would have just tried to get the tarnish off with a cloth and metal polish! Learned how to shave, then if I wanted to restore razors I would have gotten junk blades from ebay and PRACTICED!

PLEASE! if you have never attempted to restore a razor before and you get some vintage blades from an antique shop to save money, Go easy!!! Or send them to a PRO. Or better yet cruse the SRP classifieds and get a cheaper starter razor for 40-50 bucks! You will not risk injury and you will be able to shave with a straight way before I did. The anticipation was just too much!

Sorry for the long post...