Westor Bros Anchor Brand Restoration

I just finished this today. All I need to do is hone it and shave with it.
Anyway here it is. I realize that the camera never lies. The horizontal scratch lines look awful up close. I did this all by hand and realize I should have used my Greaseless compounds on the wheel. I can't believe how awful the pins look close up under the camera lens. I gotta fix that. The wedge was glued in place and when it opened the wedge split but thankfully nothing broke off the wedge and I was able to glue the toe back into it's original position.Also, the area around the right hand side pin is a mess. The scales look to me like they were dipped in a shiny lacquer or glaze for the final finish. I'm not sure how to fix that other than trying some gloss lacquer.
All comments and suggestions welcome.
Thank you all.

https://i.imgur.com/SqLUeau.jpg
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https://i.imgur.com/w7wcEYF.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/kIEfP0M.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/SqLUeau.jpg
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Nice work. Greaseless is a double edge sword. It is aggressive but can easily wash out crisp lines and sharp corners.

Better to hand sand out stria by alternating your sanding directions in the lower grits. Sand in one direction with a backer, until all the previous directional scratches are removed.

I use a synthetic wine cork, wrapped in a 3x3 piece of 6mm craft foam or yoga mat. Yoga mats come in a variety of thickness and durometer which can produce different finishes and more importantly hand grip that can aid tremendously in hand cramping comfort. I also cut my sandpaper to 3x3 pieces to use the entire piece, just rotate a quarter turn for a fresh side. Quality sandpaper is cheap and does make a difference.

If you remove all the scratches then switch directions, using quality paper and switch frequently to fresh cutting side, you will get a better finish in a shorter time.

Once you take it to 600 or 1k finish you can polish by hand or buffer with compounds, I like Green Stainless and White finishing on a loose wheel.

You can buff the pins smooth with Green Stainless compound and sewn wheel. Go slow with lite pressure, alternating directions.

Man relax. You apologize too much. I think it looks pretty good! The things you pointed out could improve a little but you're aware of it so just go till you're satisfied. What you've done so far looks good and I think if you take Marty's advice it will be outstanding. I love those Wester Brothers blades and yours looks in good shape. Look forward to the SOTD with it. :tu

I hope that came across the way I intended. I think you're doing fine. I too am my own worst critic sometimes but that is a good thing. We have all been a beginner. You have shown persistence and an eagerness to improve and that will pay off. In the end, unless you are selling razors or restoration services, you are the only one who has to be satisfied. It is good to strive for better but it sometimes sounds like you are beating yourself up over detail. If you don't have a deadline then just keep working at it until you're happy. I have razors I have gone back to multiple times to do modification or rework improvements. I think your work gets consistently better so I would suggest cutting yourself more slack. If it's a hobby then enjoy it. It defeats the purpose of having a hobby if you don't.
One word of recommendation. If you don't already have some get some 3M Marine Metal Polish. Especially for hollow ground blades where your room for sanding is limited it goes a long way to cleaning up and shining a blade without having to worry about scratches. It can be used on a wheel but I prefer rubbing by hand with a rag. That avoids rounding off the lines. It just keeps the angles clean and crisp.

There is a shop on ebay that has great collars for pinning with.
https://www.ebay.com/sch/ajkenne4xm3...88.m1543.l2654
There are a couple of others. These collars have great shipping prices to Canada and are great quality.

Hey Paul, I'm sorry man. I'll try to relax more!!:tu
Oops, dang. lol

Hey Marty, anyway you can take a picture of your wine cork rig and post it? I understand what you're saying but like the saying, 'a picture paints a thousand words'.
Hey Rez, are those to be used instead of washers? or do my washers go underneath the collars then peen away?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by RezDog

There is a shop on ebay that has great collars for pinning with.
https://www.ebay.com/sch/ajkenne4xm3...88.m1543.l2654
There are a couple of others. These collars have great shipping prices to Canada and are great quality.

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And he is a well respected member here.

Often tiny washers go under the collars. The washers you are using are too big to go under the collars.
Here is a collar and washer example.
Attachment 327952
And this is what it looks like peened
Attachment 327953
For more perfect peening of collars there are many examples by Sharpton, in the what are you working on thread and several others. He is pretty much a master on the subject.

Thanks Rez, I'm going to order some of those and look up the posts by Sharpton on peening of collars.
As an aside, you are correct, this is a hobby for me that I gain a lot of enjoyment out of and the learning of new things ads to that enjoyment.
I have no intention of selling or becoming a seller of restored razors. What I really enjoy is taking a piece of old history and watching it come alive again after a hundred years or more wondering who shaved with it, where they lived, what they did. And the ultimate satisfaction of honing it up and being able to say, "Oh ya, that was an awesome shave!

Here are several pieces of 6mm craft foam and Yoga mats cut to 3x3. I also cut my sandpaper to 3x3.

A synthetic wine cork is 1.5 inches, roll the paper around the cork and roll it a ¼ turn to sand on new grit.
Once you use up the grit on each side, you can rotate the 3-inch paper 4 times and use all the grit on each piece.

I work on a 9x11 sheet of 6mm craft foam covered with a blue paper shop towel. When you press a razor onto the foam the edge sinks into the foam and allows you to sand up to the edge. You can literally sand away the bevel safely to the edge and the razor will not move.

If you want to sand a razor without un-pinning it. Use 2 pieces of 6mm craft foam, supported by the blade and tang. The scales open at 90 degrees so the blade fits between the two 3-inch pieces of foam.

A synthetic wine cork is denser than a real cork and most importantly is cut flat on the ends, which allow you to sand up tight to a corner.

Wrapping the cork with 6mm foam makes a larger sanding backer that contours to the blade shape and is much more comfortable to hold for an extended period.

Attachment 327962Attachment 327963Attachment 327964Attachment 327965Attachment 327966Attachment 327967Attachment 327968Attachment 327969Attachment 327970Attachment 327971

Wow, that's awesome. Thank you so much for your explanation and the pictures, Marty.
After my 5k this morning I went right out and purchased a pack of synthetic wine corks and a 6mm Yoga mat. Shop rags I already have.
I'm going to make a coffee and then go right out into my shop.
Rez, I'm going to order some of those collars as soon as I finish here.
Here is the last of my 6/8" razors for restoration; all the rest are 5/8". I'll need to find a few more somewhere.
This is a Robeson ShurEdge
https://i.imgur.com/ftr4QWF.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/xlKFsQU.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/K5EULhf.jpg

A perfect candidate, for just metal polish and a rag. No need for sanding, on that sweet blade.!

If your planning on restoring often, you might want a tub of 3M metal restorer/polish. By far, the best I've ever used.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]328094[/ATTACH

These are the refinished collars and under collars, from a late 1700s razor, I restored.

Attachment 328095
Attachment 328096

No sanding on the blade, just 3M.

Thanks Mike. I’ve never heard of that brand of metal polish but I’ll have a look at Canadian Tire and Home Depot. I have been using Mothers metal polish.

I would not sand on that New Science Concave, Rare bird.
All that will be gone. The great transition of the double-grind will be gone. So will the razor.
Leave as it is and lightly polish. Light stuff. Maas or similar. Preserve the etch.

Thanks sharptonn,
Rez, I ordered some of those dome collars and under washers.

You will be happy that you did.

I always start with 0000 steel wool and WD40 to clean. You can also clean the scales with WD40 and a toothbrush. You can buy gun cleaning tooth brushes that have small thin bristles on the tapered end, they are not expensive on ebay. Some come in packs with nylon, stainless and brass bristles.

The nylon will get into tight spaces.

Once clean, if the blade has an etch you want to keep, use 0000 steel wool and any good metal polish. Then decide if you need more aggressive polish or sanding. You can always buff everything but the etch. Cover the etch with tape and buff around it.

A very lite polish with 1k paper and wine cork will make the etch pop without removing much steel. If you want to darken the etch with cold gun blue the steel must be super clean, a good degreaser and acetone. Heat with hot water or heat gun before bluing. Let dry well and sand lightly with 1k and a cork. Lapping film also works well for polishing an etch.

Nice razor, Robeson’s are some of my favorite shavers.

Thanks Marty, yes and yes to all the things you mentioned I have in my shop. All of the nomenclature is crisp and readable so I’m not going to touch it. I cleaned and polished the blade yesterday and it looks great. I’m just waiting for the brass caps i ordered to arrive and then I will reassemble the razor.

Thanks all for the comments.
Rez, I was wondering if you could please direct me to some of the posts by sharpton on installing collars please? I've searched and searched and haven't been able to find anything at all using various search parameters.
I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong. I used his forum name, I used collars and I got no results.
If you're too busy don't worry about it. I'll keep trying.
Kind regards
Chris

If you go to the top of this page under the search bar is advanced search. You can specify a user name as well as search terms. I think sharptonn has two ns, but it will give you selections of users as you type.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by theoldguy53

Thanks all for the comments.
Rez, I was wondering if you could please direct me to some of the posts by sharpton on installing collars please? I've searched and searched and haven't been able to find anything at all using various search parameters.
I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong. I used his forum name, I used collars and I got no results.
If you're too busy don't worry about it. I'll keep trying.
Kind regards
Chris

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He's got a couple posts on it, in the workshop thread, "what are you working on". ( within the last two years )

But I can tell you how he taught me.

He said....just pin it, you sissy. U can always unpin it, if it isn't going right, and try again.

Practice, practice, practice.!

The more you do it, the better you'll get.

Pinning together popsicle sticks, is good practice

Thanks man! :tu

Quote:

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Originally Posted by outback

He's got a couple posts on it, in the workshop thread, "what are you working on". ( within the last two years )

But I can tell you how he taught me.

He said....just pin it, you sissy. U can always unpin it, if it isn't going right, and try again.

Practice, practice, practice.!

The more you do it, the better you'll get.

Pinning together popsicle sticks, is good practice

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LOL good advice!
:tu

Some guys tape it all together before pinning to hold it all straight. I like to be able to move and adjust the pieces while pinning. IMO, cutting off the final length is the hardest part. Too long and your filing it down too much and take a chance of nicking the scales. Too little and the peen looks bad and might not hold. Practice is the way to do it. Just do it over and over. It come to you.

I find it is better to cut it long. I peen the first side in a Jacobs chuck. I develop a nice peen, pretty much the size you are going for. Make sure to have the collar installed on this side, or the pin can bulge and you wont get it on. If you just lightly peen you do not need a collar yet.

Then put it in the razor with the collars and file the other side down leaving it a little long. As you peen you can adjust the size if the peen is too large or the pin too long, (file the head ) the peens will not come together.

Once you have a peen on both sides you can alternate sides to even the pins up. A divot in your anvil helps to hold the razor in place.

I buff the pins smooth and round on the buffer with Green Stainless compound, so if I nick the scale it will buff out. Pin the wedge side first, I leave the wedge long and trim when pinned tight with a file or sander, then buff smooth. This way you get a super tight seamless wedge fit.

Once you have a peen on both sides of the wedge side I wedge a rubber eraser between the scales to hold them in the proper angle, otherwise they flop down and get in the way.

Have taught a few guys to pin with popsicle sticks. Pint 3 sticks, the middle acts as the blade. Sticks are unforgiving and will crack if you miss or peen too tight.

It really is much easier than it looks.

Make a post if you need help. A polished ball on you hammer helps as does doming and polishing your hammer face. A Dremel drum and sand paper will make quick work of it.

I can't find it now but I posted about this somewhere. I put collar shaped divots in my pinning block various depths and sizes for different collars. I also put a 5/64 hole in my pinning block about 1/8 inch deep to put the pin in while pinning the first side and put it all together with the collars on and the pin in the hole in the block. I then cut the rod as close as possible and peen that one side then turn it over and put the peened side collars in the proper divot. Holding it tight against the block I cut the pin as close as possible to the collar with a side cutter, then pin the second side. It's important to leave as little pin as possible above the collars, especially on the second side. Otherwise the pin will bend.
I'll look some more because I had photos with it also and the visual helps.

One word of caution about the divots in the block. If it is too deep for the domed pin and collar you can damage the scale. If it is the right size though it helps keep it nice and domed.