Greves & Sons 8/8

Here's a new one I just finished up for a friend here at SRP...So, this one's for you Tom!

It's an 8/8 Greaves finished with a polished crocus finish. The first two pics show what the razor looked like before anything was done.

This shows clearly what some refer to and label as a nice 'aged Patina look'. You might think that the razor doesn't look too bad and that you could just hone it and it would be good to go. In fact Lot's of folks prefer their vintage razors to remain this way...they say it adds character to the look of a razor. I however am not in that crowd...

Attachment 181287Attachment 181288



These next pictures shows what the blade really looks like underneath all the "Patina". After just a little clean up, you can really see the true 'Character' of the blade...:dropjaw:

Attachment 181289Attachment 181290Attachment 181291



And these next pictures show the finished blade after a good deal of work. This is how I prefer to see my razors in the mirror when I have a face full of lather. Now, don't get me wrong. I am a firm believer in different looks for different folks...diversity is a good thing and it's a big part of what makes this hobby of ours what it is. I just like the character of my 100-200 year old blades to be reflected in a nice clean profile and to look as vintage as possible without an abundance of 'liver' spots if you will... :D

Anyhow...here's the finished razor. Hope you like it!

Attachment 181292Attachment 181293Attachment 181294Attachment 181295Attachment 181296


WP34 ...;)

And here are a few more pics:

Attachment 181297Attachment 181298Attachment 181299Attachment 181300Attachment 181301

Here's his big brudder minus the patina and with a fancy etch. ;)
http://i658.photobucket.com/albums/u...Masonic010.jpg

Smooth shaving big handful of steel.

That the same razor? What can I say man that's looking fantastic. Great job.
Honed it up yet?

Hey Shane! I set the bevel 'profile' (you know how I did it!) so it's got a good start for a nice small an tight bevel, but the honing will be done by the man that will shave with it.

Wow!
I liked the way it looked originally but seeing what was under it, and how it looks now....I LOVE it! :tu :tu

I'm a huge fan of Greaves & sons!
thats a great restore work you've done!

Beautiful job. Are those the origonal scales?

Amazing job! Turned into a Beauty!

It was a nice blade ot start with but looks great after the resto, an incredible job youv done on it.

Great job, love the look of the crocus finish.

Bob

Looks great, Mike! :tu I would have never thought it was so bad under all that swell 'patina' ! I had reservations about messing with it, but it just sat in a drawer anyway! Came up a treat! Now to get the original scales fixed up!
My thanks! :bow

Thanks guys! I appreciate the comments...

This one took some time and effort but it's a great old blade at least 160-180 years old. Once Tom puts the original horn scales with the bulls-eye washers on it it should look real close to what it was meant to look like. To me there's nothing like the look and the sweet and smooth shave of an old near-wedge Sheffield! :D

Looks fantastic, I too am not a fan of the old dirt, coagulated shaving soap and hair....sorry, the "aged patina look" either....fantastic job...sheesh...I think I even saw my nose hairs on the face of that blade!

Superb as always! ;)

edited to add: "liver spots" - excellent, a new phrase for the razor lexicon.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Phrank

Looks fantastic, I too am not a fan of the old dirt, coagulated shaving soap and hair....sorry, the "aged patina look" either....fantastic job...sheesh...I think I even saw my nose hairs on the face of that blade!

Superb as always! ;)

edited to add: "liver spots" - excellent, a new phrase for the razor lexicon.

---

:D ...Thank you Phrank! From an 'old Sheffie' lover like myself I appreciate your thumbs up. Although not as highly polished as a 'mirror finish' would be...the crocus finish is more of a highly mirrored shine that has been lightly sand blasted or 'muted' if you will. Sort of 'dulled backwards' just slightly...

Anyway...I thank you both: you and your nose hairs! :rofl2:

+1 on the quality work. Very nice finish.
Cheers.

Wow, that was a lot of work....Thumbs up! Beautiful razor!
Did you hand sand this or use a dremel?
Kind regards, Stick

I have seen a lot of Mike's work and this crocus finish is the cat's meow. I am going to have to try this soon.

Another fine piece of work Mike.

Very nice post, the before and after are quite impressive, once again very nice work!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by 10Pups

I have seen a lot of Mike's work and this crocus finish is the cat's meow. I am going to have to try this soon.

Another fine piece of work Mike.

---

Thank you Pups! Means a lot coming from you... :beer1:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Martin103

Very nice post, the before and after are quite impressive, once again very nice work!

---

Thanks Martin! I appreciate the Thumbs Up...

That is one suh-weeeet chopper. And I'm right there with ya on the crocus finish.

It's an absolute gem!

There sounds like some proprietary information here as to settiing the bevel 'profile.' I'm fine with keeping professional secrets but if it is not a secret, what are you saying? Also, I was probably, like many, stunned by the amount of pitting. I am not a fan of pitting. Finally, on first glance I thought you 'softened' up the makers mark on the shank but saw that it was just a little out of focus...in another pic it is still deep and has 'crispy edges.' It will be a terrific save once completed.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Wolfpack34

Hey Shane! I set the bevel 'profile' (you know how I did it!) so it's got a good start for a nice small an tight bevel, but the honing will be done by the man that will shave with it.

---

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by WW243

There sounds like some proprietary information here as to settiing the bevel 'profile.' i'm fine with keeping professional secrets but if it is not a secret, what are you saying? Also, I was probably like many stunned by the amount of pitting. I am not a fan of pitting. Finally, on first glance I thought you 'softened' up the makers mark on the shank but saw that it was just a little out of focus...in another pic it is still deep and has 'crispy edges.' It will be a terrific save once completed.

---

Yes, I was also intrigued by the 'set the bevel profile' and would like to know more.

Also, am I right in assuming that there was a re-grind involved or is it all down to hand sanding?

Hey gents - no secret in what wolfpack was referring to in setting the bevel. More of an inside joke cause we had both been using same thing lately.
Mike uses (and mentioned to me) a little carborundum sometimes to set the bevel.
I know there are differing opinions about whether a small stone is more beneficial to be able to reach specific areas of the edge, but in any case it goes to show how useful those stones can be. I believe they're intended to be barber hones for touch ups and what not, but with a little pressure they cut surprisingly fast.
We had been on a kick lately of setting the bevel with the carborundum, and then completely finishing with a frictionite by using both sides.
I'm really a believer now that if I were in a desert island, I could get away with just a carborundum and a frictionite.

Whoa! Going for less is more it sounds like. I hope it catches on so the prices of Eschers drop (like a stone) on Ebay. Wait, if it catches on, a large part of the Forum will dry up. You might have to start a new Forum: The Desert Island SRP, you can only be a member if you own a razor, a little carborundum hone and a Frictionite.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by RoyalCake

Hey gents - no secret in what wolfpack was referring to in setting the bevel. More of an inside joke cause we had both been using same thing lately.
Mike uses (and mentioned to me) a little carborundum sometimes to set the bevel.
I know there are differing opinions about whether a small stone is more beneficial to be able to reach specific areas of the edge, but in any case it goes to show how useful those stones can be. I believe they're intended to be barber hones for touch ups and what not, but with a little pressure they cut surprisingly fast.
We had been on a kick lately of setting the bevel with the carborundum, and then completely finishing with a frictionite by using both sides.
I'm really a believer now that if I were in a desert island, I could get away with just a carborundum and a frictionite.

---

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by RoyalCake

Hey gents - no secret in what wolfpack was referring to in setting the bevel. More of an inside joke cause we had both been using same thing lately.
Mike uses (and mentioned to me) a little carborundum sometimes to set the bevel.
I know there are differing opinions about whether a small stone is more beneficial to be able to reach specific areas of the edge, but in any case it goes to show how useful those stones can be. I believe they're intended to be barber hones for touch ups and what not, but with a little pressure they cut surprisingly fast.
We had been on a kick lately of setting the bevel with the carborundum, and then completely finishing with a frictionite by using both sides.
I'm really a believer now that if I were in a desert island, I could get away with just a carborundum and a frictionite.

---

They got them sharp and kept them that way long before Nortons, Naniwas and Shaptons. This combo was obviously one of the first man-made progressions. Pretty cool you guys have taken the time to rediscover it. Basically all I did/had as starting out! :tu

Now the lightbulb is lit up over my head: one of the first man made progressions..... agreed, pretty cool.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by sharptonn

They got them sharp and kept them that way long before Nortons, Naniwas and Shaptons. This combo was obviously one of the first man-made progressions. Pretty cool you guys have taken the time to rediscover it. Basically all I did/had as starting out! :tu

---

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by sharptonn

They got them sharp and kept them that way long before Nortons, Naniwas and Shaptons. This combo was obviously one of the first man-made progressions. Pretty cool you guys have taken the time to rediscover it. Basically all I did/had as starting out! :tu

---

No re-discovery here Tom...been using the 100 series of Carborundum's for years...Fricitonite as well. I've been showing this technique to Royal Cake, Pups and Voidmonster for the last few weeks, and they 'Get' the efficiency of these stones.

My standard progression is to 'set' the bevel profile and remove small chips with the Carbrundum razor hone (which is a finisher or refresher in it's own right as Royal Cake mentioned)...I prefer the #102 simply because it also doubles as my slurry stone for every finishing hone that I have, and it is always on my bench. With just a few 'swipes' using pressure I can create a very nice, small and tight bevel on both sides of the edge. Nice and even on both sides.

Then I will go to my 1000K bevel setter to finish setting the bevel and smooth the edge out...it only takes a few minutes for a complete bevel set. After that the progression is 'dealers choice' if you will, and the Frictionite '00' is a good choice for a very fine 12-15K edge. Using the coarse side of the Frictionite with pressure you can get a very fast progression starting out at about 5-6K and finishing with light strokes to about an 8K. After that the fine side of the Frictionite will take the blade to 12-15K. Easy-Peazy!

That's not to say that my Superstones or Coticules or Eschers don't get a workout as well...just all depends on my mood. ;)

Anyway...WW243...that is what I meant!

Just got the original scales fixed-up and pinned with the original collars. Some might have chucked them and made new ones, But I was intent upon saving them. Pretty much slathered CA inside them and fixed some delamination and cracks with epoxy. Like Wolfpack's crocus finish, I hid some remaining flaws with a satin, lightly-polished finish and slathered them with neetsfoot upon completion. Did some bevel work on the DMT using 2 layers of tape, so the honing went super-easy with a long finish on Escher. This heavy brute shaves like a demon. All you need is gravity! ;)

Attachment 183216Attachment 183217Attachment 183218Attachment 183219Attachment 183220
Back on the line! :y

NOW...that's the way this baby is supposed to look! Great job on the scales Tom...'original is always better'! Good for another 200 years... :tu

Beautiful work from both of you, sweet looking razor restored to original well done.

Beautiful transformation! Amazing work.

Beautiful work and razor... I am very, very, very jealous... I say this as a fellow with some nice razors myself, a few ivory 7 day sets and some rare Wade & Butchers but your razor is REALLY SOMETHING SPECIAL... I hope it shaves as well as it looks. If it were mine, I'd find a way or excuse* to post the pics into every damn thread on SRP :)

* Gentleman's set - I'd put it in a box with some random stuff and claim it was a custom set
* Thread for Greaves razor (Duh)
* What are you working on... Well, at the moment, Im working on making everyone else feel Jealous
* Movember... Im doing Movember this year and not letting this razor touch my 'stache
* Left hand vs Right hand... Id be telling everyone how it feels in each hand
* Uneven bevel, please help... well, on my huge beautiful Greaves, I did this to set a nice bevel.
* My Mastro Livi... For new razors I love the Mastros, but I keep returning to the Greaves...
* Alum blocks... After shaving with my Greaves, there really isn't a need for the Alum block, it's such a smooth shaver...
* Some irritation... Not when using a 8/8 Greaves
* November giveaway... Nobody is getting their stinking paws on my Greaves... But good luck to all, hope someone worthy wins the "non-8/8 Greaves"
...
...
...
Multiply by about 1000 threads :)

A beautiful restoration indeed. How do you obtain that flat finish on the blade?