Thread: First Restoration - Puma "High Class"

Hello all. This is my first restoration project( please be gentle). I picked this razor up on eBay for 25 - 30 bucks. The blade had some pitting and staining and the scales were cracked. Being a "noob," I wasn't sure how to keep the gold wash while removing the rust. Well, as you can see the gold is gone. I guess it's a lesson learned. The blade doesn't have a mirror shine, I was afraid to go any further with the polishing for fear of losing the etching that was still left. The scales are black and white ebony with brass liners. When I finished sanding the scales to an 1/8" thick they just felt too light and breakable. So I put a 1/16" sheet of brass on the inside of each scale. Along with a brass wedge that seemed to balance the scales with the blade. I removed the inlay from the old scales and placed it on the new ones. I sealed the scales with CA, and polished. I ran the center pin through a 1/8" brass sleeve for the tang to lay against ( I'm sure there is a proper name for it but I don't know what it is). I've seen on some of the posts that the third pin is used because there was a problem with the wedge or the spacing, but I put it in because it was on the original scales.
I didn't realize the quality of this razor until I was way into the restoration. I hope no one is heartbroken if I totally screwed the razor up by trying to restore it. In hindsight, I would have done more research and started with a cheaper razor. Please let me know what you think, any comments, questions or feedback would be greatly appreciated. I must also thank the members of SRP for all the wonderful info that I found on the site. When I got into a jam, you all had great info that got me out of a few tight spots. Thanks again![ATTACH]100445[/ATTACH]