Thread: Restoration - not so much. Gold Bug, Germany.

It was at the flea market last weekend. About 10% rust, lots of stains and plenty of gummy grunge. Nevertheless it didn't look like anyone put it on a benchgrinder and the orginal scales looked nice. Seven bucks, not negotiated. Plenty of spine wear, bevel crapped out and a good start on half-a-smile.



Degrunged with an electric toothbrush and toothpaste, buffed with tripoli, polished up with MicroMesh. A couple of layers of tape, a King 1000, Norton 4/8K, CrOx on webbing, white paste on linen and a leather strop later... Not "restored" or a thing of beauty but it did shave a darn nice shave this morning.

The gold wash is 98% gone and the spine is corrupted but, still, the Bug is back in service. Since it honed up so nicely/predictably I may use the Bug for a proper down-to-bones clean and polish experiment. 18 months ago I wouldn't have considered shaving with a straight let alone restoring one but, thanks to so much generous help, encouragement and experience at SRP it's in the cards. Y'all are OK.

Its looking good, nice to hear you got it to shave well, enjoy the rest of the shaves.

From your before description, the old bug is looking pretty good! Hone wear notwithstanding, it would seem the previous owner treated it right. Great shavers, Gold Bugs! Enjoy!

Originally Posted by sharptonn

From your before description, the old bug is looking pretty good! Hone wear notwithstanding, it would seem the previous owner treated it right. Great shavers, Gold Bugs! Enjoy!

I always forget to take "before" pictures. I missed the bevel a bit on the heel - need to revisit that next time the stones come out. It's fine for now. Reputations aside, seems like worn (not abused) razors are similar to worn pipes. Well used usually means someone used them a lot. I'd guess a vintage razor with honest wear might not be a collectors item but it will almost certainly shave well and hone easily.

I am thinking about going after the last of the rust (at the pivot) with toothpaste or polishing powder and a wet pipecleaner. As much as I'd like to improve the blade I am nervous about damaging the scales if I remove them. What're the odds? Seems like people restore scales all the time but others say they're real easy to break.

You might try some of those dental 'flossies' smeared with polish to get in that pivot area. Works well for me!

Dan, i have no idea what the razor will/would turn out like but I take it from this post that you are feeling a lot better.
What do you think the scales are made of? If it is celluloid you could do something sympathetic with acrylic (i generally don't agree with rescales for the sake of it, and really avoid complimenting acrylics, but in some circumstances its ok). Chevhead has done some really nice stuff with ducks using acrylic.