Thread: Wade & Butcher 7/8 Restoration.

Here for your viewing pleasure is a 7/8 W&B I snagged off the bay some time ago. It's been waiting for me to find the inspiration needed to get it done!
Yesterday that inspiration arrived!
Here's how I received it.

I re-ground the blade to a satin finish, as it was fairly pitted & re-scaled it in horn. The idea was to keep faithful to the old scale material, but update it a little.
I'll be honest here. These scales were influenced very, very heavily by Maximilian's recent work! Hopefully he'll take it as a compliment.
It honed from re-grind to shave ready in half an hour, & delivered a shave as smooth as any I've had!

That's a close fitting blade! Really nice job on that, Ben. The scales suit the blade perfectly.

Thanks Danny. I went for close! I'm thinking about replacing that wedge, as it looks a little shabby now I've seen it on the screen!

Nice work Ben. Quite the transformation. I think you should leave the wedge as is, the hefty piece of metal you used matches well with the big blade.

Really nice job Ben. You guys that do these fine restores spur me to take a stab at it but then I know how much drudgery and time goes into the hand sanding. Where can I buy perseverance ? What did you use to do the regrinding and where did you find the material for the horn ? I've got a pitted Barber's Use that I would like to do something like that to and your work is inspiring me to overcome my inertia.

I hate hand sanding, hence the satin finish. To be honest though, I can take that to mirror by progressing through the grits on the wheel, then run it over buffers.
I've got a cheap set up. I make a wheel, the size being determined by the grind I want, then use double sided tape to stick on wet & dry of varying grits.
There's a photo of one below. I use a router on a circle jig to ensure they're perfect.
You are never restricted by the grits as they're obtainable easily!
The buffers are similar. They wind on to a spindle.
Both of these fit into a drill chuck which is clamped down, or held in a vice.
I keep iced water handy & dip the blade more often than needed to ensure it stays cool.

The horn came from here. There's enough for at least 4 sets of scales & the guy was great. Very fast shipping!

Give it a go Jimmy. Start on an easy one & progress.

I agree that's a tight fit. I like it. Looks almost original.
Great work as usual.

Very nicely done Ben. I agree with the others that the spacer is fine as is. If you wanted to do anything to it maybe just buff it with an Dremmel or other buffing wheel gut I think it is fine as is. Keep them coming, I like your work!

thanks for the link to the horn. I have been lookign at trying some and that is a splendid price

NICCCCCE!!!!! Thanks for the razor Porn!!!!