Beckher-Otte Wedge

This is my first completed build. I'm not completely happy with it, but finishing the first one is surely something to be proud of. My own personal reflections tell me, use more sandpaper next time, don't pin it til I'm completely happy with it, and use more sandpaper...now use more sandpaper again. I did leave the horn scales a little rough on purpose, because I like it, and it's for me. But they're still way too thick. Poor little wedge looks like it's on a pair of skis. Anyhow, it's a Beckher-Otte Wedge, 5/8 made in Solingen. Which is telling you everything I know about both Beckher-Otte and the razor. I used brass hardware, and because I was so attached to the original (but broken) red celluloid scales, I made the wedge out of them. :) This was all done sans power tools, except for the pivot pin, which was done with my 18V Dewalt. Blade centers perfectly. Could be an effect of such thick scales though I'm thinking.

PS:Opinions and feedback are always appreciated. If you see some obvious glaring defect let me know, so I can add that to the list for next time. But if there's like ten obvious glaring defects, just list one or two please. haha

Well looks to me like you did well, i dont see obvious defects i do see on the last pic the scales look a little thick,
all that matters is if you like it who cares what others will say about it. But if your like me and something is bothering
you just fix it........... Good job!!

Looks good. You can always unpin it later and thin out the scales. I like the blade. It is a nice "modern grind" wedge. They shave fast and easy.
Enjoy! Tom

Yep, I'll take it apart in a few months when I just can't stand it anymore. I'm waiting on the stones now. Then of course, the ability to utililyze those stones. So maybe I'll get a good shave out of it by Thanksgiving. I might just leave it be til I've fixed the scales. Thanks again!

Hey Joe, From what I can tell from your pics you have everything mechanically correct. The aesthetic stuff can always be changed later like the other guys said.

You mentioned more sandpaper. What is it about the finish that you are unhappy with? The pics looks a little out of focus on my screen so I can't really see the finish well. Is it that you didn't get all the pits out or that the finish just isn't as fine and polished as you would like? What kind of sandpaper did you use and what grit?

Ray

Looks good, nice and tidy. I really like that you used the original scale material for the wedge, nice colour too. Sanding the blade through the full gambit of grits is important to making sure you get a good finish. The scales are little chunky, but if they work and its not too heavy why stress :).

If you wanted to reduce the appearance of the scale thickness, you can thin/taper the ends of the scales but leave the middle a little thicker.

Well done, excellent first restore.

Mainly the edges, and thickness of the scales. The blade was in terrible shape(IMO), so I was ok with what I got it to. But I should have spent more time on I'd say 220 grit all the way through 1500 grit. I got excited when the shine started coming on at 600, and then rushed it.lol. But alot of it is just not having a good handle on what I was doing. The next one I did turned out great, but it's not in scales yet. Sorry about the focus. I hadn't learned about the macro option yet when I took those, and I posted on a whim. My specific sandpaper routine was 80,180,220,320,400,600,1500,2000, then Mother's for the blade. The scales just went from 180 to 400 to 1500. I like them with some texture.

Str8Razor, I'll definitely be taking your suggestions under advisement. When it comes apart next time, the edges will probably get a bevel, and I'm gonna work a little more on the wedge end. It's not so visible in the pics, but that wedge end is kinda broken into 6 corners instead of a nice smooth radius. Thanks for your input!