Thread: First completed restoration

Compared to most of the work showcased in this forum, this is a modest display--my first completed restoration. I have a few other razors in various stages of work. I started restoring only about a week ago and am still feeling my way around, trying different methods and materials.

Anyway, here it is, an Ern 9/16ths, soaked in CLR/Water (50/50), then hand sanded from 220 W&D through 3000, then polished with Maas.

Before:



After:






On this photo below, you can just make out the etched phrase "ECHT SOLLINGER STAHL" ("REAL SOLLINGEN STEEL"). To take off the corrosion, I had to dig some into the etching. The result is a compromise between getting all the pits and saving some of the etching. It's such a small blade that there wasn't a lot of room to remove steel. I bought this when I first started getting interested in straight razors. I wouldn't now buy such a small blade that needed rust removed.



The final picture is the back of the blade. There's an image of an eagle stamped on the tang:




The one thing that made me most nervous about this restoration was pinning and unpinning. I didn't want to damage those scales!

Nice Job! I would say that is a pretty old Ern. CLR and water, eh? How did it do on the scales, particularly in the recesses?

Originally Posted by sharptonn

Nice Job! I would say that is a pretty old Ern. CLR and water, eh? How did it do on the scales, particularly in the recesses?

I unpinned the scales and soaked only the blade. The CLR package says don't submit anything to CLR for more than 15 seconds. But I watched a tutorial by Keith Johnson. He does it for an hour with the water/CLR mix. I tried it with several blades. It gets the rust out. Produces a silty gray tarnish that disappears in a few seconds when sanded.

Here's the tutorial:

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthr...estore-a-razor

And a video adaptation of it:

Wade & Butcher Straight Razor Restoration - YouTube