Beau Brummel 6/8

This is a Beau Brummel 6/8. the first of 3 eBay restos I'm tackling. Before pic is from eBay.
Gotta laugh, the seller called it light rust spots. :rofl2:
The rust on it was mirrored on the reverse side & I knew there'd at least be remaining pits if it survived the process so I'm just happy it held together. The red stuff was easy but the black stuff & pitting underneath, well...

The first few pics show the tang blackening. I used oxalic acid successfully this time but have created pitting with it in the past with too strong a solution & too long immersion. I like it better than blueing paste tho as it doesn't rub off & I prefer the colour.
It's a very thin blade & noisy to use but a smooth close shave so it's all good. Now for the others.

That is very fine looking work. I love what you've done with the tang,,,,gives the razor a great look. Keep up the good work.

Os, exellent work on that one I really like the look and I love the BB razors....
I'm sure you already knew, but for everyone else these are cousins to the Dubl Duck family and every bit as good on the shave.....

that's really slick man, what kind of tape it hat you are using? great look on that tang.

Red

Nice work! I am a big fan of black. That last picture makes the tang really look good. Congrats.

Looks great, especially the polished logo with black around it.

One thing that I keep coming back to is the original rust. Seems fishy to me that it was mirrored in the same spots on both sides which in my mind points to celluloid rot. Another thing that adds to that theory is how the rust spots coincide with only one of the two colors in the scales. Might be either white or black depending on the inside of the scales, but Bill Ellis did a study on this: how only some colors will rot and rust the blade in very specific spots. Then again he also said he thinks black scales rarely get it. Buuuut, lol DD scales are pretty prone... I wouldn't unpin it just yet maybe, but be very careful and keep an eye on it for further damage. Check it out: Bill's Straight Razor Info: Celluloid Rot

I don't know, maybe I'm completely wrong- let's hope so! lol

Wow, and I was sooo close to taking advantage of that 'buy it now'. I'm glad that you got it though. You really did that razor justice. Nice work !!!

That black tang is damn sexy! Can you do a whole blade? I have an 8/8" W&B FOR BARBERS USE sitting around waiting for an interesting restore...

Me =)

Like it a lot .... nice custom look as well.

:tu

anybody know what the little hammer looking marks are? I have a genco wedge (if I can find it, fell out of the broken razor box at some point between office and home and haven't located it) that has the same thing on its tang.

Red

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Originally Posted by Big Red

anybody know what the little hammer looking marks are?

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There's no real function to them more than looking a certain way. It's the 'hammered tang' look.

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Originally Posted by coachmike

That is very fine looking work. I love what you've done with the tang,,,,gives the razor a great look. Keep up the good work.

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Thanx Mike. Just tried to recreate the original look, minus rust of course :D

[QUOTE=Big Red;294683]that's really slick man, what kind of tape it hat you are using? great look on that tang.

Just plain old electrical tape. I like to protect the whole blade when I've finished polishing. I dropped this one on a tiled floor not long after taping. I was either lucky or the tape helped save it.

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Originally Posted by Philadelph

Looks great, especially the polished logo with black around it.

One thing that I keep coming back to is the original rust. Seems fishy to me that it was mirrored in the same spots on both sides which in my mind points to celluloid rot. Another thing that adds to that theory is how the rust spots coincide with only one of the two colors in the scales. Might be either white or black depending on the inside of the scales, but Bill Ellis did a study on this: how only some colors will rot and rust the blade in very specific spots. Then again he also said he thinks black scales rarely get it. Buuuut, lol DD scales are pretty prone... I wouldn't unpin it just yet maybe, but be very careful and keep an eye on it for further damage. Check it out: Bill's Straight Razor Info: Celluloid Rot

I don't know, maybe I'm completely wrong- let's hope so! lol

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[B]Unfortunately, completely right Alex. Only a matter of days after resto I see tarnish re-forming on the original rust sites. I have some nice timber earmarked for a re- scale. Damn I liked those scales too :mad:[/B]

[QUOTE=CJBianco;294842]That black tang is damn sexy! Can you do a whole blade? I have an 8/8" W&B FOR BARBERS USE sitting around waiting for an interesting restore...

It can be done depends on the look you're after.

Very nice work!
Now that it is 4 years later are you still using that acid? Have you changed anything?
I have a bunch of razors that would benefit from this treatment.

Thanks for posting this :tu

Thanx Randy. It's still my poison of choice for that sort of work but I tend to prefer the cold gun blues on the odd request to do the whole blade.
Haven't changed anything but the process is not real scientific. I just add a tiny bit (1/8 teaspoon or less) of the crystals to water & watch & wait 2-4 hours or so. Electrical tape seems to be an adequate mask so you can submerge the whole razor if you want to do the spine. The effect is greyish charcoal until you oil it then it darkens up.

Thanks for the details. But now another question....... some time ago I read in a blacksmithing article that multiple "dunkings" were being used. Between each treatment they would sand down the surface then repeat several times. The goal was to develop a finish that was literally rust proof because it was all black rust now. Have you heard of this?

Randy, can't say as I have heard of that. If your abrasive finish is even the coating should be even. If it's not it would make sense to sand off & repeat but I can only see a cosmetic benefit rather than rustproofing as a result. Any steel will rust given the right circumstances.

You've really come up trumps with that restore, I love the look of the whole combination the tang and the scales look top notch.

Jamie.

Great planning on your part and now a beautiful razor to enjoy.

Hate to say the scales were not such a success. As pretty as they were they were causing the blade to corrode due to cell rot even with the blade oiled. They of course got replaced. :(