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!