Wade & Butcher - Celebrated Fine Indian Steel Razor - Part I

This is part one of 2 restores I was sent from one of our member 'Zethlent" all the way from Japan. I must admit I feel truly honored by Seth to have trusted me to restore his razors and to ship them from so far away.

In order to save Seth some money we decided he would sand down the W&B at least until the 400 grit and I would take it from there. The razor came nicely sanded all the way up to the 800 grit.

Seth decided for the faux tortoise scales. Classic but functional design.

For once I have some before pics as Seth had posted them in another thread.

http://www.theshaveden.com/forum/vbp...5&d=1230124816

http://www.theshaveden.com/forum/vbp...7&d=1230124832

http://www.theshaveden.com/forum/vbp...6&d=1230124822


I present to you the W&B Celebrated Fine Indian Steel Razor.

And Seth, I hope you like it :D

Specs
W&B Celebrated Fine Indian Steel Razor
Total weight: 2.5 oz
Total cutting edge: 2.6 inches
Grind: 6/8 Wedge with barbers notch and smiling edge and spine.
Scales: Faux Tortoise;
Wedge: Transparent Acrylic
Pins/Washers: Nickel silver
Finish: True mirror finish

Very nice max, these may be my favorites of the celluloid scales i've seen you do so far. Blade is perfect!

Wow, that is an absolutely fabulous blade. I hope to reach that level some day. I am curious as to what grit you went to beyond the 800 as I am still working to perfect a mirror finish like you have achieved there.
Great Job!

Damn... that is plain magic.

Very nice indeed Max. That razor has some serious shine to it. The choice of scales is awesome , complements the razor fantastically. GREAT WORK!!! And congrats to the proud owner.:cry:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by treydampier

Wow, that is an absolutely fabulous blade. I hope to reach that level some day. I am curious as to what grit you went to beyond the 800 as I am still working to perfect a mirror finish like you have achieved there.
Great Job!

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Trey,

it's called Voodoo Magic... :w

This consist of a buffer, wheels, compounds and lots of care not to lose a finger or two in the process.

:D

Oh, Yeah!!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ZethLent

Oh, Yeah!!

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now that sounds like one happy customer!

Beautiful razor.

I agree with the above posters. You must be magic.:bow

Mad Max Strikes again !!!!!!


Beautiful....

Your best yet I'd say! Nice!

Raising the dead again eh' Max ?!?!!?!?

Steller work.!

"New life" has a new meaning :bow

Stunning. I'm blown away :bow

I remember this W&B and those scales. I thought that the repair job was so interesting. I think I suggested keeping it original, but now, after seeing that it was Max's awesome work, you made the right choice. That razor looks phenomenal!! Congrats Seth, and congrats Max!

Magic Max

Can just imagine you singing " I put a spell on you" while buffing :D

Wow, Max! That's perfection! It's a great looking blade & it's only enhanced by those amazing scales!

That is an absolute BEAUTY!

What an amazing transformation! the before pics really show how much work went into it. execution as always is perfect, I can't believe how smooth the pins come out.

Red

I'm going to say about 25 hours of hand sanding went into this one. And that was only my part. Although I did go over and over and over it with a single grit until there were absolutly no sctratches left that opposed the direction I was sanding. Actually the worst of the pitting wasn't that big black spot under the stamped writing centered on the blade (there was very little underneath that blemish) it was a nondescript spot that took forever on the back of the blade. And not wanting to throw off the grind of the blade I had to sand the entire face to keep the blade balanced. Although I considered giving up several times telling myself that is good enough, I kept remembering Bruno's words that go something like this: If you are going to sand it, sand it to perfection. I hardly even touched the stamped words centered on the blade until I hit 400 grit. I really thought that keeping them as deep as possible was for the best. It turns out I was right. But all of my thanks goes to Max for this superb job of finishing the blade. Thanks again, and I can't wait to shave with it when it arrives.

Seth, mate, that is AWESOME. Congratulations. I'm so jealous!
And Max...Just gorgeous work.

What grit did you start with Seth?

Truckman, I started with 120 grit aluminum oxide abrasive cloth. It is just like sandpaper but the abrasive is mounted on a coarse weave fabric instead of paper and cuts steel like nobody's business. This product only goes up to 400 grit. So I used it at the 120, 180, 240, 320 and 400 stages of sanding.

Actually, I was planning on sanding higher than the 800 grit I stopped at, but I just got so sick of sanding using the wet/dry paper that I asked Max if he could finish it up in the state it was in. Appearantly it was all set for go.

People have mentioned that the Wade and Butcher steel is hard stuff and takes forever to sand, but I am going to have to say the Wostenholm that I am presently sanding is much harder and is maiking this W&B feel like cake walk.:thinking:

In the future, I am thinking about using lapping film instead of sandpaper and see if the work moves a little quicker. Obviously a little more expensive but in my case anything that will speed up the higher grits would be welcome.

A buffing wheel with a variant speed dial would also be nice, alas no space for it yet. Maybe after we buy a house and I can build a workshop/garage to house some more tools and such. But for now it is the sanding jig I made and away we go.:mace:

hmm...thanks Seth. Where do you find that cloth? I've picked up some wet/dry down to 320 at the local automotive store. I also have some emory cloth which is marked "coarse", "medium", and "fine". But the fine seems like it may be 200, 220 tops. When I went from the "fine" to the 320....well, it wasn't good. :shrug: I may be a bit impatient, too, though, and just didn't give the 320 enough time to work....

I wouldn't mind seeing pics of that sanding jig, either :hmmm::tu

Thanks Seth. Great job again, and Max, too of course. :rock:

Well, the brand is Sankyo Fuji Star and they make any number of abrasives. They have something new called mirror film and have lapping film all the way up to 20000. Take a look at their website and see for yourself. I am not sure where you will be able to purchaes it but it is found locally for me so that is what I use. I can post some pics of my sanding jig etc. later tonight.

Outstanding work Max !:bow

I have a 6" Delta Grinder/Buffer with a variable speed dial, it's nice. It goes down to 2000 RPM's....

Wow!!

What an awesome restore

I'm speechless. Wonderful restoration. Perfection.


Chris L

Super sensational !! :bow

Amazing as all your work!

Im curious as to where to get silver/nickel pinning material and washers?

super work...amazing

Here is an updated version of this one. Mammoth Ivory and red recon stone.

http://straightrazorpalace.com/membe...h-ivory-09.jpg


http://straightrazorpalace.com/membe...h-ivory-06.jpg


http://straightrazorpalace.com/membe...h-ivory-07.jpg

wow!! stunning! :bow:bow:bow

Hello, Max and Seth:

Such glorious workmanship.

Regards,

Obie