Thread: My first attempt

I just finished my first restore on a straight blade. It is not perfect, there are some little signs of where the rust used to be, if you look at it the right way. But, considering what it was like to start with, and that I used no power tools at all, I think it came out OK. Certainly it should be quite usable when it is honed, anyway.

I picked this to be my first restore because it was such an ugly duckling that it would never sell as it was. But under all the mess the blade still seemed in good shape with little hone wear or chips or anything like that. And I figured, if I can make a silk purse out of this sows ear, I know what I am in for when I start on all the other razors I have lying around that are in better condition.

It all took about twice as long as it should have because I spent a night sanding at it with a grit that was way too high to remove the damage. Once I worked that out I had to start again. Oh well, I'll know better next time.

Before



After

Looks beautiful!

That is a pretty dramatic change between the before and after pictures. I think the blade looks great.

Charlie

Looks awesome! What's the plan for this sucker? Got some scales lined up?

Originally Posted by BingoBango

Looks awesome! What's the plan for this sucker? Got some scales lined up?

That's the next step, I guess. Also, I need to learn to hone. But, with the help of all the handy tutorials on this site, I think I can take care of it all eventually.

Can someone point me in the direction where I might be able to get hold of the small washers for when I am pinning it?

After examining your photos, I can say two things:

1. You've done very well so far! It looks like you've done a great job with your hand sanding.

2. I have the strangest compulsion to read Moby Dick. (I really need to read it one day)

Try looking in this sticky for ideas on where to score washers and such - just scroll down a bit to where it says "Sources of material." However, you should find a wealth of info in the whole post.

Keep going - looks like you will have a gem when you're done!

Nice work on that blade!!

Very nice job !!!!

You did a really fine job there.

Nice Job.

Looks good.
Lu