Thread: Koch & Rau Restore, My First

My second attempt at a restore. The first attempt being polishing and pinning a blade with to many pits along the edge to salvage. This blade is a Koch & Rau 5/8s, silver steel from the 20's or 30's, thanks to Neil Miller for the ID. Some pitting on the spine that I left as I didn't want it to effect the honing. It was pretty clean to begin with but it really shone once it came out of the tumbler. I actually wanted to use a different blade that had been cleaned and polished only to discover that the pivot hole in the first would need a sleeve so I used the blade that was handy.

I'm limited to an apartment workshop so most of the work is done at the kitchen table or if it's dusty, in front of a window fan. I started with a piece of 3/8"x 2" red oak slat from Home Depot. No sense in messing up something expensive at this point. Jig sawed a pair of scales and them double sticked (stuck?) them together. Using an orbital palm sander I shaped, formed and thinned the scales to about 3/32". Hand sanded them up to 2000k and them broke them apart. I decided on a CA finish so I coated the inside first and after that coat dried, attached them to my little scale stand by putting a couple of pieces of gaffers tape on the finished side of the scale as I knew that would peel off without pulling the CA off. Then I put foam tape on the screw heads and lined the gaffers up to the foam.

15 coats of CA and a day and a half later, I started the sanding process which proved to be quite an exercise in frustration. Shiny hills and dull valleys for another half day. Gave up on getting a mirror polish until the next one, settled for what I got with this one.

The wedge was salvaged from a broken set of scales and glued and pinned in place. Sanded the scale to size and started with the CA in that area. It made a bit of a mess but now I just wanted to finish it.

Pinning was interesting. I got to a point where I had peened both ends of the brass rod but soon figured out that I had a bit to much rod. Not wanting to file off the pin and start over, I just tapped away until the blade got fairly tight in the scales. I'll probably redo that.

All in all, I'm pleased. I honed it and got a good shave with it this morning which is all that really matters.

It will never be Prom Queen but I'll always remember it as my first.



This is the stand for doing the CA. Foam tape stuck pretty well. Thanks to Glenn with the help on the drying time. I had a question about curing time for thin and medium coats. Glen suggested a 1/2 hour for thin and 1 hour for medium.

I think it looks great! You are to be congratulated on your efforts, Sir!

These are the type of restores I like. The blade still has character and looks great in the scales.

+1 on Theseus' comment.

I'm too much of a newby to be an expert on razors in any way. But...I know nice work when I see it and this is beautiful work. Congratulations! You should feel quite proud.

Nothing wrong with that work Bubba!! Nice job!! I'd be proud to have that in my collection!!

Let us know how it hones up and shaves!!

Honed up nicely and had a terrific shave. Went right into the rotation.
Thinking of doing more restores out of that piece of red oak. Cheap, plenty of it and it will match my paddle station.

I can't see anything wrong with the pivot pin - it looks great as does the rest of the razor.
Great job sir

It's not the look as much as the action. The blade stays in place up pretty well until it get to be about perpendicular to the scale. Then it flops around like a fish out of water. Adds a degree of difficulty to honing, stroping and shaving.

It a little bit like dating an actress. Great for posing for pictures but damn near useless for getting any real work out of her.