Rodgers & Sons barber's notch restoration; before & after photos

Greetings everyone,

Here are some before and after images of my latest completed restoration. It’s a Joseph Rodgers & Sons barber’s notch with a horn handle. I think the wedge is either pewter or aluminum.

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f2...estored-01.jpg



http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f2...estored-02.jpg



http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f2...estored-03.jpg

I cleaned up all the rust and discoloration, added jimps and polished the horn. I used a 30 lines per inch checkering file. I think they look a bit nicer than the 20 lines per inch file I’ve used in the past. Once I cleaned and polished the horn, it became almost iridescent (unfortunately, you can’t really tell from the images). I was going to re-pin the blade pivot, but I realized that I didn’t have any small brass washers. For the moment I’m using gold plated screws. If I decide I don’t like them, I’ll get the washers I need.

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f2...estored-02.jpg



http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f2...estored-03.jpg



http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f2...estored-04.jpg



http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f2...estored-06.jpg

Hmm, I though I had a photo of the obverse side... I’ll add one when I get home.

What a difference, awesome job! :tu

Beautiful Restore!!!

Excellent Work.

Thanks guys. Here is the other photo I promised.

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f2...estored-08.jpg

Love the before and after photos. You can't really appreciate how great the job is unless you see the before pics. Great job and I love the jimps. :tu

Very nicely done. How did you do the blade? Did you sand it by hand, put it in a tumbler, how did you do it?

Great looking razor. Jimp-work looks nice, too.

Beautiful work. It looks like a totally different razor.

How do you cut the jimps without ruining your checkering file on hardened steel? Or do you just go through a lot of files as a cost of doing business?

Excellent work. The razor is so inviting I feel like having another shave tonight!

:tu

That a beautiful razor now. You've breathed new life into it!

We can appreciate all of you work with the before and after shots. Great job! :tu

What a beautiful transformation. The blade looks flawless. I really like the look of the scales.

Charlie

Thanks everyone!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by raghur

...Did you sand it by hand, put it in a tumbler, how did you do it?

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I did some with a Foredom tool and cratex wheels, but the vast majority of the work was done with abrasive papers. I couldn't figure out how to sand the slight hollows on the blade, but then I got Bill Ellis' Straight Razor Restoration CD and saw his tip on using a piece of tubing or hose to conform to the curves. I went to the hardware store and got 12 inches each of several different sized of hose, cut them to length at home, and was good to go. Bill's technique worked great and made all the difference in the world.

Very nice work.
What type of file did you use? Was it diamond or carbid coated?

Once again, that's a really really nice job! Well done.

Lovely job,Best Regards Gary

Wow, great job.

Not to thread-jack, but those scales look amazingly similar to the "family" blade I had passed down to me. Please take a look at the image and tell me what you think. Is there any cute ways to tell what the scale material is, or at least what it isn't?



http://img14.imageshack.us/img14/665...bestax3.th.jpg

It's Joseph Rodger's and Sons, etc etc.

Edit: that pic looks mighty small here on the forum, but if you click through you can get to a bigger one. *shrug* maybe I'm dumb.

Outstanding !!!!!!!

:tu:tu:tu

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bruno

What type of file did you use? Was it diamond or carbid coated?

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Bruno, I used this Grobet checkering file from MidwayUSA. I believe it's just carbon steel. Here is a link to it at MidwayUK. Grobet labels it a number 0.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by RazorRookie

Please take a look at the image and tell me what you think. Is there any cute ways to tell what the scale material is, or at least what it isn't?

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RazorRookie, Your picture is not very clear, but it looks like horn to me. Horn is actually a kind of hair, so you may be able to see that all of the fibers are going longitudinally.

What a beautiful razor, great work. I wonder how you revived the scales, did you sand them and then buffed them?

Al raz.

Beautiful restore. Back to its former glory. :rock:
The jimps & gold are a nice touch.

Wow.

Something for us rookies to aspire to. Thank you.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ChrisMeyer

RazorRookie, Your picture is not very clear, but it looks like horn to me. Horn is actually a kind of hair, so you may be able to see that all of the fibers are going longitudinally.

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Thanks for the reply. What exactly (compound/tool/etc) did you use to clean and polish the horn? I can see the grain that you describe in mine so I'm down for giving it a shot. I have no idea what to do (or what I want to do) with the blade. It definitely needs honing so I'm sure it will be sent off one day.

Thanks again,
D

RazorRookie,

I had originally hoped that I could clean the blade without taking it apart, so I soaked the Rodgers, and an Imperial that I'm also working on, over night in Evapo-Rust. It's supposed to chemically change the rust and get rid of it, without damaging the steel underneath.

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f2...Evapo-Rust.jpg

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f2...Evapo-Rust.jpg

The Evapo-Rust did next to nothing to the blades or the Imperial's plastic scales, but it bleached the crap out of the horn on the Rodgers and gave it that iridescent look.

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f2...po-Rust-03.jpg

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f2...po-Rust-02.jpg

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f2...po-Rust-04.jpg

At first I was afraid it had ruined the horn, but it seems okay. I'm not sure what the stuff did, perhaps it only removed trapped dirt and grime, but the horn scales ended up looking better. Time will tell if there are any ill effects down the road...

Oh, to finish cleaning up the horn I sanded it up to about 600 grit and buffed it lightly on an 8" buffing wheel charged with green chrome.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ChrisMeyer

RazorRookie,

I had originally hoped that I could clean the blade without taking it apart, so I soaked the Rodgers, and an Imperial that I'm also working on, over night in Evapo-Rust. It's supposed to chemically change the rust and get rid of it, without damaging the steel underneath.


The Evapo-Rust did next to nothing to the blades or the Imperial's plastic scales, but it bleached the crap out of the horn on the Rodgers and gave it that iridescent look.


At first I was afraid it had ruined the horn, but it seems okay. I'm not sure what the stuff did, perhaps it only removed trapped dirt and grime, but the horn scales ended up looking better. Time will tell if there are any ill effects down the road...

Oh, to finish cleaning up the horn I sanded it up to about 600 grit and buffed it lightly on an 8" buffing wheel charged with green chrome.

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For being a mistake, the scales are one of my favorite parts of the restoration :tu

I loved the look of that one!
It is so nice when people restore the entire razor instead of just popping out the blade and discard the scales.

Wow that is an outstanding looking razor, nice work with the notch.

Love the two tone on the scales. Really cool how the inside shows up almost yellow. Gives me an idea...

I am totally lusting after that razor...AWESOME! =)

Me

If anyone was wondering, the Rodgers was a bear to hone because the hollow it so slight. I ended up putting seven layers of electrical tape on the spine to get edge on my stones. However, it's a great shaver now that it's done.

:nj wow that is impressive, the degree of your metal polishing is fantastic.
a true inspiration to me, as i am a metal polisher but have still to restore a straight.
thanks again,
Brian

Wow that is amazing! I have an old Boker that is in similar before condition that I hope to restore soon. Your work has inspired me and given me hope!

What a great work on that old rodgers. Wow, the horn and the blade are both looking great, I'm glad the thread lives on :)

I really like the gold pins with the horn. I also think it looks amazing. It's always easier for me to appreciate the restoration when I see before pictures!!!!!! :tu