My first WIP

This is nothing special compared to some of the fantastic restorations I have seen here, but I thought I would share my enthusiasm with you anyway.

A little background first. A co-worker found his grandfather's razors and offered them to me for very little. Knowing nothing of them I purchased them anyway. Come to find out they were in reasonable shape, but like many vintage attic finds....they needed some work.

I honed them first, and repaired the edge damage that was present on some of them, unfortunately I took very few photos of them prior to doing any work. Regardless, my photography skills are lacking lately, and there is little to no chance of me capturing an edge restoration in photos.

Another problem they had was the scales were loose...and in the process of attempting to tighten one, I broke both scales.

That brings us to the subject of this thread. Here is my meager attempt at making a set of slabs (and cleaning up the blade) on one of my attic finds.

These are from earlier tonight. The scales were broken and the blade still looked a bit rough...though it had a nice shave ready edge.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8015/7...061abbf411.jpg


So I traced out a pattern on some red G-10 I had laying around and started sanding...Ill spare you a bunch of progress photos, here are the scales after 600 grit sanding/polishing. I will probably leave them at this finish because I like the looks of it...and any finer polish might get a little slicker than I would like.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7107/7...318b78073e.jpg
This image shows a nice close up of the blade:
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8146/7...d613fc7e1e.jpg

So I headed back down to the basement and removed the pins and old scales. I cleaned up the blade, wire brushed it, and buffed it a bit. No real effort to put a brilliant polish on this one, I wanted to keep the etching and just remove some of the heavy spots. I then did a test fit, and reassembled it with the old wedge (which is too small) and pinned it together with some wood pins I carved (just for a few pictures).

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7122/7...68d61dbe27.jpg
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7117/7...a46181b90b.jpg
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8011/7...0929da3117.jpg

That is enough for tonight. I will probably work on a wedge (perhaps lead) this weekend, and relieve the interior of the scales a bit for better fit. At some point perhaps Ill get some photos of the slightly improved blade...I just wanted to show off the scales so far.

Nothing amazing, but I am pretty happy with them so far.

Thanks for reading (for those of you that made it this far):D

Dang respectable, Unit. 'Looks very good.

When it comes time to hone, put 80% of the effort into getting a really good bevel, and the other 80% into the finish. Should you wish a hand on the honing - pm me. 'Just the cost to mail it back to you.

'Hope this one brings many smiles to your face.

Thanks a lot. I have honed this one and shaved with it, but it's going to need to be redone;)

I'll keep that in mind...it's going to be a while though...I still have to source pins and washers and learn how to set them LOL.

I am starting to think a ghost jade G-11 wedge might look interesting...must...not...rush...this...one:D

Unit, you're doing some pretty good work there, buddy! You may have a future in razor restoration. :tu

The scales look nice, but you have the same problem I have... I can't quite master that inside curve.. About 1/3 othe way down from the fat end it is hard to get perfect like the old set, it bulges slightly... I don't know the secret to nailing that... I have been trying for over a year now now.. I want to make them more symeetrical like the originals... It seems like,the pros like Undream, glenn, and Max do it easily, but I don't know how they do it.. I have burned through a lot of G10 trying..

Great looking work.

Wintchase, thanks for your constructive comments. However, I am afraid you have exposed more of my ignorance regarding straights because I do not understand what bulge you are referring to. I'd enjoy dome education here.

Please go not misunderstand. I certainly do appreciate your comments and I do not expect that my work is great on my first attempt. I seriously just want to learn from more experienced members here:)

I inspected both of my new slabs and both old slabs and cannot see any bulges that are not similar between them. I do see that my slabs are more massive and wider, but I wanted that. Also the "grain" of the G-10 makes for some illusions that I'm not sure I love;)

Very nice. That's very nice work, especially to start off with. Looking forward to seeing more.

I am sure there will be more at some point...but I am in no hurry to damage the few razors I have :D

I think Wintchase may have been referring to the bow that the wedge puts on the scales. Ideally you would manipulate the wedge that causes the bow so the tang would be "square" when the razor closed I believe. Some of our more experienced restorers should chime in here.

Ohhhhhh! If that be the case, then I have yet to experience the problem;) I still need to make a wedge....

Good job!!! Nice work unit!

Thanks guys.

I worked on a G-11 wedge tonight briefly and found some micro fasteners that I might incorporate (since these materials are far from traditional, I might utilize something outside the box for fasteners as well).

If it works out I'll post up some photos. I'll try and invest some time tomorrow;)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by unit

Wintchase, thanks for your constructive comments. However, I am afraid you have exposed more of my ignorance regarding straights because I do not understand what bulge you are referring to. I'd enjoy dome education here.

Please go not misunderstand. I certainly do appreciate your comments and I do not expect that my work is great on my first attempt. I seriously just want to learn from more experienced members here:)

I inspected both of my new slabs and both old slabs and cannot see any bulges that are not similar between them. I do see that my slabs are more massive and wider, but I wanted that. Also the "grain" of the G-10 makes for some illusions that I'm not sure I love;)

---

yep, and I don't think I can explain it correctly... I don't so much mean bulge, as i do the "insided curve" or "top curve" of the scales... Where the scales close down and the spine shows. If you look at the inside curve of Max's and Undreams scales it is perfectly symetrical... Like the use a coffee can to template it or something... When i put the scales on the belt sander there is a little sharpness in the curve that comes out.. i don't know what I am doing wrong? i just notice yours has it a little too... They are nice scales, just if you are striving for perfection you gotta figure out that one intricate sannding portion.. I haven't yet though, so i am more a nuisance than help. Sorry..

I finished up the wedge this morning and started setting the fasteners. I'm using tiny machine screws that are set flush on both sides (not 100% yet, I only have one done on the backside).

Anyway, it's coming along very well (as compared to my expectations for this user).

This allows for an adjustable pivot so I can keep it exactly the way I like.


http://img.tapatalk.com/d86a1bc2-2be2-2977.jpg

http://img.tapatalk.com/d86a1bc2-2c08-5f52.jpg

http://img.tapatalk.com/d86a1bc2-2c2b-32a0.jpg

http://img.tapatalk.com/d86a1bc2-2d9a-fa59.jpg

That's some nice work you've done there, especially for your first! Well done :)

I like those secrews! I haven't seen that done before, nice job.

I like them also. It took some TLC to get them nice and flush. I wanted something different...after an hour of searching around in parts bins, I found what I was looking for.

Counter sinking the nuts in the other side is really difficult, but I am learning some things....and I may not be the first, but I have never seen it before (not that it means it is WORTH doing...but that is not the point;))

I finished these scales last night (finally...sort of).

While I was finishing the backside fasteners I mucked up the scale a bit...but I think I am going to live with it for a while. I am pretty fired up to get this thing re-honed and have a shave with it. I will post some more photos tonight of the "finished" product for anyone interested.

I finished it up and honed it...then test shaved. I need help on honing I guess. This razor passes the HHT with ease, but is still quite harsh on the face. I think it must need to be mellowed out some how...anyone have suggestions?

Anyway the only thing worse than my honing seems to be my photography. Regardless, I think I have accomplished something different with these scale fasteners. Opinions?

http://img.tapatalk.com/4c001b39-c34d-b976.jpg
http://img.tapatalk.com/4c001b39-c369-27cd.jpg
http://img.tapatalk.com/4c001b39-c37b-3e06.jpg

I really like it! :tu

Thanks. Do you have any suggestions for mellowing the blade? It is very sharp (if I move the edge around my arm a few mm from the skin, all portions of the blade cut the hairs with the slightest pluck, but it is harsh on my face). I'm pretty well sold on HHT only being a component of "sharp" at this point;)

Thanks for any help you can offer.

OK, it is DONE for now. I honed it on my new Norton 4/8 and then stropped it and it is fan-@#$%ing-tastic. I would compare it to my Hart in terms of smooth performance...which is crazy considering the Hart weighs about 4x what this blade does and it was honed on a Escher.

The only thing I can figure is the G-10 offers more heft to this piece and I LIKE it.

I am hesitant to use my Naniwa 12K on it...I am not sure I can possibly improve on what I have here...its that good on my face!

I wish I could share photos...but any attempts at capturing this edge on film is folly.

Here is my best attempt:
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8290/7...2122944fe2.jpg

The blade centers nicely and the action is TIGHT (just the way I like it). These fasteners allow for adjustment of the action also...which is nice I suppose.