Thread: Robeson in black and red.

Nice Job. I like the shape of the scales and the double pins in the wedge end. Personally, I think I would have kept the hammered texture on the shank/tang. I think the contrast between the textures would have been fairly attractive. Still made a nice looking razor.

Ray

Originally Posted by RayCover

Nice Job. I like the shape of the scales and the double pins in the wedge end. Personally, I think I would have kept the hammered texture on the shank/tang. I think the contrast between the textures would have been fairly attractive. Still made a nice looking razor.

Ray

I really wanted to. I just couldn't figure out how to effectively sand in the divots and it was pitted. I love the texture and plan to use that in the future..

To keep that texture you can strip the rust chemically. You can use naval jelly or bluing stripper to remove the rust. I would leave the pits as part of the texture. Then dip it in baking soda solution to neutralize the acids. Then rinse it clean.

At that point the rust would be gone and you would be back to a neutral steel surface. It would probably be a good idea to coat it with WD-40 and let it set overnight to make sure and pull any moisture away from the surface of the steel. Should be ready to go at that point.

Sometimes the acids in the rust/bluing strippers can turn the rust black as it neutralizes it. If that happens you can dip it in paint prep acid to take it back to white. If you like the darker antiqued color you can dip it in ferric chloride and that will leave a darker finish. Then you an burnish or lightly sand off he surface and get an antiqued sort of look to the whole area and camouflage in the pits so they can't be noticed.

Ray

Originally Posted by RayCover

To keep that texture you can strip the rust chemically. You can use naval jelly or bluing stripper to remove the rust. I would leave the pits as part of the texture. Then dip it in baking soda solution to neutralize the acids. Then rinse it clean.

At that point the rust would be gone and you would be back to a neutral steel surface. It would probably be a good idea to coat it with WD-40 and let it set overnight to make sure and pull any moisture away from the surface of the steel. Should be ready to go at that point.

Sometimes the acids in the rust/bluing strippers can turn the rust black as it neutralizes it. If that happens you can dip it in paint prep acid to take it back to white. If you like the darker antiqued color you can dip it in ferric chloride and that will leave a darker finish. Then you an burnish or lightly sand off he surface and get an antiqued sort of look to the whole area and camouflage in the pits so they can't be noticed.

Ray

Thanks. I have naval jelly but wasnt sure how to get rid of the black that it leaves. Will the naval jelly harm an etching?

IF you talking about logos and names etched int eh shank, as long as you don't leave it on any longer than needed to remove the rust you should not see any appreciable deterioration of the original etch. That is, as long as the original etching is deep enough to be more than just changing the color on the surface.

Ray

Originally Posted by RayCover

IF you talking about logos and names etched int eh shank, as long as you don't leave it on any longer than needed to remove the rust you should not see any appreciable deterioration of the original etch. That is, as long as the original etching is deep enough to be more than just changing the color on the surface.

Ray

Not the logos on the shank, like the lettering on the blade of this razor. "The shave that fits your face" . I say etching since that's what it looks like to me. I have a large W&B with "Fine india steel" on the blade but it's light and sanding will take it right off. The blade has some aesthetic pitting that I'd like to clean up as much as possible but I wasnt' sure if the naval jelly would hurt that or if it only affects rust.

Medicevans and Mrsell63. Not much to tell really. I use a homeade jig that I made. 2 2x4s, some flat smooth fiber board, wax paper and 2 C clamps. I went through about 1/2 gallon of polyester resin first with ok results. I did not like how the colors got tinted by the resin. Also I seemed to have a lot of little bubbles that would show up when I final sanded and went to buff.

I got an envirotex kit and started playing. I like it much better. It's much easier to work with not quite as sticky, it's clear, it buffs up much nicer, not so much of a bubble issue. On the other hand it does not get quite as hard as the polyester. I'm going to do another few runs with the envirotex but I want to find something that will come out a bit harder next time.

I've done all construction paper micarta so far. I'm going to do some fabric based ones coming up here in the next month.

Thanks
Bruce

I wouldn't put the naval jelly on the blade just the rough area of the shank. Mask the blade off with nail polish while your doing the rough shank and the do the blade with paper and polish.

Ray