My first restore W&B 7/8

Hi Guys

Well a while back I got this W&B 7/8 in horn and it was in a bit of a mess, however I wanted to keep it as was, as in the scales and pins all intact so I've been working on it over the past few months on and off and it has become my first restore. So I thought I would let you all see.

Please be kind and forgive my not so good photographic skills......

The first two images are the state it was in when I got it the second two are after my work.

I must admit it is not the prettiest restore job I have seen, but all done with my fair hand and the basic tools of sandpaper cloth and elbow grease, and I achieved what I had set out to everything on this razor is original, the blade the scales even the pins, and given that I am happy :)

Geek

Wow, looks good to me especially the scales hard to imagine that was hiding underneath the whole time.

You made a great improvements on that razor, you turned a dilapidated old thing into a great user. I would be happy to use that razor daily.

Charlie

Thank you kindly sir,

Yeah to be honest when I stripped back all that crap and realised that there was that lovely dark horn that was when I decided they were staying, there still are a couple of little nicks and slices in them but i'm calling it character :D

Geek

Very nice! I really do like keeping everything original if at all possible. I've got a bunch on my collection in that state. I prefer the patina over shiny and buffed if it doesn't look like the razor was abused. Your's looks well loved. Time to get 'er back in service.

Thanks for the nice words guys :)

Well I honed it up earlier, incidentally first razor I've brought back from no real edge as well, she shaved just fine, by no means a perfect shave, but where it did shave was good lol, hard to shave with such a big razor after 4/8 and 5/8 but it's definately now in my keepers collection and added to the rotation.

geek

Not far to go before she can shave, Now all you need to do is hone'er up and test shave! I've seen this razor in person, very nice, I might have to borrow it sometime... y'know just to make sure its shave ready :idea:

EDIT: looks like you learned pretty quick! honin! honin! honin! keep that baby honin! rawhide!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Originally Posted by gimpyalex

Not far to go before she can shave, Now all you need to do is hone'er up and test shave! I've seen this razor in person, very nice, I might have to borrow it sometime... y'know just to make sure its shave ready :idea:

EDIT: looks like you learned pretty quick! honin! honin! honin! keep that baby honin! rawhide!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Hah at you Mr Gimpyalex, you get your grubby paws on my razor???? I poke you in the eye good sir :p

Incidentally, I'll try to get yours done for the weekend :)

Geek

no big rush, but I will see how your honin's came along, well done on the restore again.

Great looking and awesome that she's all original. Thumbs up !!

That cleaned up nice. Great job!

Back from the dead. Nice work!

Definitely a fine piece.

That razor looks amazing, thumbs up to you for a job well done......btw, was that really your first restore??

Brock

Thamks for all the nice comments folks :)

Yep Cwood that was my very firt restoration, hopefully the first of many and hopefully they'll just keep getting better.

Geek

I was wondering if anyone could roughly date this razor?

Geek

Very nice!!

Ray

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Originally Posted by walleyeman

Very nice!!

Ray

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Thank you kindly :)

Geek

Great job and I am sure you learned a lot while conducting cleanup, polishing, and restoration. Keep up the great work and good luck in future restorations.

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Originally Posted by Gonzo4str8rzrs

Great job and I am sure you learned a lot while conducting cleanup, polishing, and restoration. Keep up the great work and good luck in future restorations.

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Thanks :)

This was done ages ago. Almost 4 years phew. Since then I've done quite a few cleanups and become proficient at honing.

Geek

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Originally Posted by TheGeek

Thanks :)

This was done ages ago. Almost 4 years phew. Since then I've done quite a few cleanups and become proficient at honing.

Geek

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Just curious - what were the biggest aspects of honing that you needed to refine in order to become proficient?

I went out and bought a honing block set and just couldn't get the hang of honing. I'm now back to using regular razors instead of the straight ones. :(

I wouldn't mind giving it another shot, but if I can focus my energy on some slightly different area's maybe I'll get better results.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by thorxes

Just curious - what were the biggest aspects of honing that you needed to refine in order to become proficient?

I went out and bought a honing block set and just couldn't get the hang of honing. I'm now back to using regular razors instead of the straight ones. :(

I wouldn't mind giving it another shot, but if I can focus my energy on some slightly different area's maybe I'll get better results.

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For me Ibwas often jumping too soon before bevel setting and between grits. It ended up ruining all tge work that went before. A good starting point is the pyramid here in the wiki.

Geek

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Originally Posted by TheGeek

For me Ibwas often jumping too soon before bevel setting and between grits. It ended up ruining all tge work that went before. A good starting point is the pyramid here in the wiki.

Geek

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Follow up: I went out and bought quite a few old straight razors to practice my honing skills. I found that most of them had a "bow" to them (I forget what the proper term is). But essentially if you mark the edge of the razor with a sharpie and run it over the honing stone - only the middle portion of the blade will hit the stone. You would then have to gently rock the blade as you move over the honing stone.

Did you encounter this a lot? How did you overcome it? Or was it just a nuance that required additional skill?

I ended up being able to develop a good edge on certain portions of a blade, but couldn't quite get a consistent edge over the entire length of the blade.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by thorxes

Follow up: I went out and bought quite a few old straight razors to practice my honing skills. I found that most of them had a "bow" to them (I forget what the proper term is). But essentially if you mark the edge of the razor with a sharpie and run it over the honing stone - only the middle portion of the blade will hit the stone. You would then have to gently rock the blade as you move over the honing stone.

Did you encounter this a lot? How did you overcome it? Or was it just a nuance that required additional skill?

I ended up being able to develop a good edge on certain portions of a blade, but couldn't quite get a consistent edge over the entire length of the blade.

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I think what you are referring to is a blade that has a "smile", curving downward from both the toe and heel.
Here is an example of a nice smile:

Attachment 162159

These can't be sharpened like a blade with a straight edge, you have to angle the razor on the hone to get all parts of the edge to properly make contact. To save a lot of explanation, here is a video by gssixgun showing his technique. I have used the same with great success. I tried to hone my first smiling edge like a straight edge with the same result that you got.

gssixgun Honing a Smiling Wedge part 1.wmv - YouTube