Thread: Another finished restoration

Today I finally finished a restoration for one of our members.
The blade is a 7/8 solingen blade. the makers stamp is too faint to make out the exact brand.

I proposed to restore the blade, reuse the original scales and then hone it.
Someone really molested that blade with a rotary tool and a drum wheel. The blade was covered in deep gauges, and despite that there was still a ot of pitting damage.

This is what it looked like (sorry, bad pic)


We agreed on a very fair price and I was given carte blanche. I could take as long as necessary.
The blade is really tough as ball bearings so my original plan of rough handsanding quickly evaporated after spending a hour without making any progress at all. Then I went to machine sanding with a 80 grit and 150 grit flapwheel that fit in my high speed drill.

After a good 6 hours (yes, 6) the blade looked like this.



I handsanded for an hour going up the grit scale, and then polished it with my dremel and chromium oxide.
It was OK but I didn't like the way the reflection still showed hidden lines so I handsanded each side again for 2 hours, going from 180 to 1000. An hour of polishing with the chromium oxide brought out the shine.

At this point I had spent so many hours that I didn't want to put that blade back in those fugly black scales. I had already started making a pair of scales in meranti wood for myself and they were the exact same size as the original scales of this razor so I decided to finish the scales and use them for this razor. (for free).

This is what it looks like now:



The butt spacer was shaped out of red brass. The insides of the scales are finished with 3 layers of CA to prevent moisture from creeping in.
The outsides are treated with transparent antiques wax. Once the wax got soaked in and buffed up the colors really came out.

I am very proud with how this one turned out.

That looks fantastic Bruno. I'll have what he's having!

James.

Originally Posted by Jimbo

That looks fantastic Bruno. I'll have what he's having!

James.

That can be arranged ....

Btw, congrats on your 999th post.

Simply amazing.
Keep up the nice work.

Viktor

Keep up the good work

Bruno,

Your patience and attention to detail are truly inspiring. Great work.

Josh

Are spacers glued into place or just held by the pin?

Originally Posted by Kyle76

Are spacers glued into place or just held by the pin?

The butt spacer is held just by the pin.
I thought of glueing them into place but I decided against it because
1) CA sets really fast.
2) I only tighten the butt pin completely once the blade has been pinned because that way I have a bit of leeway for centering the blade.

What can I say except thank you and wow! Are you sure that's the same blade I sent you? As for the scales... I'm speachless. I can't wait to get home from the French Riviera to try it! Which makes me realize that I might not be completely normal as the weather is just lovely and Antibes is a lovely little city. Again, thank you so much! You rock!

Fantastic Job Bruno - you set the bar so high for rehab razors! Just beautiful.