Thread: First resto - Frederick Reynolds w/pics

This is my first full restoration. I know before posting that there's quite a few things that are less than perfect, and I would really love suggestions on how to do better next time.

The first shot is the before (obviously). The razor had been badly honed, many times over. It had a very slight frown, very uneven hone wear along the bevel, sanding marks along the blade, and a handle that was falling apart.

The new handle is lace wood; sealed with beeswax that was given a slight red tint. With the new scales, the razor balances on the tang.

The pins are replacement dovo pins from classicshaving.

The wedge was actually made by glueing three fender guitar picks together and sanding to shape.

The edge was slowly ground back into shape with some DMT type hones ranging from 200 - 600. The edge has not been properly honed yet, as I'm debating whether to send it out, or wait until I save the dough to buy some hones.

Nice clean tight work !!!!! Congrats on the first one...

BTW thanks for the balance pic, I keep telling everyone it isn't that hard to get them to balance out.. Just some time and talent..

Thanks Glen. What's funny, is that I have no real experience with knife or tool making so I never would have even thought about where the razor balanced if it weren't for your posts on the subject.

Having done it, I would say it doesn't even require much talent. Just patience.

Now that I have a razor this large witch does balance on the tang, I can tell you that it feels very good and natural in the hand. I'm glad I took the time.

Terrific work for some one that says they have no razor experience. Kudos as Glen said on showing it's balance.

Originally Posted by coachmike

Terrific work for some one that says they have no razor experience. Kudos as Glen said on showing it's balance.

I take that as quite a compliment. In addition to this one, I've purcheased 3 trash blades, one of which needed only minor cleanup, and two others that needed lot's of work, but didn't survive my clumsiness and my dremel.

The scales are my second. The first went on an Admirals I bought from Holli4pirating. That one just got a very slight clean-up, and new shoes. I didn't do a full resto there. Also, no matter what I tried, I just couldn't get the pivot pin the way I wanted. This one, as you can see, holds itself open very well, and holds itself closed just as well.

Awesome Job. Doesn't lacewood almost look cooler BEFORE the finish?

I noticed that while I was working with it.

I like your scales a lot!

I agree. That's actually part of why I went with a wax finish. Finishing with wax only really lets you see and feel the grain.


On a side note, the how-to on wax finishing in the wiki is missing a VERY important step.

For most woods, soaking the scales in hot wax will raise the grain, so if you stop at the end of the how-to, you'll be left with a very rough surface on many woods.

The solution is to either sand them very lightly with 600 grit or higher sandpaper, or hit them VERY lightly with 000 or 0000 steel wool after the scales cool, then another dip in the wax.

Originally Posted by VeeDubb65

On a side note, the how-to on wax finishing in the wiki is missing a VERY important step.

For most woods, soaking the scales in hot wax will raise the grain, so if you stop at the end of the how-to, you'll be left with a very rough surface on many woods.

The solution is to either sand them very lightly with 600 grit or higher sandpaper, or hit them VERY lightly with 000 or 0000 steel wool after the scales cool, then another dip in the wax.

We would all like to thank Steve after he finishes adding this important step to the Wiki as soon as he gets the chance....

Congrats on your first & nice job making your own celluloid wedge
Were the original scales toast ? The side you show looks ok. Maybe useful for another project.?

Originally Posted by gssixgun

We would all like to thank Steve after he finishes adding this important step to the Wiki as soon as he gets the chance....

lol, good call.

I've updated the Wiki here Finishing scales using wax - Straight Razor Place Wiki