Thread: First resto (practice) - HS&B OVB

Hi All,

I posted in the Razors general section as to how far to take this restoration... (Original pics of the razor are there too)
http://straightrazorpalace.com/razor...storation.html

Well, seeing as I only start work next week, I figured a day or two couldn't kill. Off I trekked to Canadian Tire and picked up the following :

-Aluminium Oxide (180 & 320 grit), Iron Oxide (800 grit emery cloth) and Silicon Carbide (1k & 2k grit)
-Blue Magic metal polish (Holy Ammonia, Batman! It doesn't matter what the chemical is, what matters is the shine! <- the mask needs work...)

I got busy. A few fingers fell foul of the end of the blade - 'not shave ready' does not mean 'will not wantonly remove bits of skin'. Lesson learned. I sanded the worst of the Devil's Spit off with the rotary tool, mainly on the shank and tang and a little on the blade. In retrospect, I will not do this again. Removing the 'dings' was a PITA.

Then, progressed from 180 -> 320 -> 800 -> more bandaids and Obligatory whisky pause -> 1K -> 2K -> Polish, first by hand and then dremel with felt wheel, checking temperature every 5 seconds or so.

Anyway - I'm going to leave it as-is, make some new scales and send it for honing. At worst, it was a very good practice run. At best, it'll look good and shave well!

Once the scales are done, I'll break out the 'proper' camera.

L

Looks awesome! I am just starting to get into polishing old razors, and I don't know what I'm doing yet, really.

I went online and bought some red & green jewellers Rouge to use with my cordless Dremel, as well as some Mother's Metal Polish. Do you think these will suffice, or are there other necessities I should procure?

Thx in advance!!

You're asking someone who hadn't ever touched a restoration before Friday. .
That said, I'll freely admit to having obsessive interest in hobbies and then acquiring a new one...

I saw Mother's, but passed, as apparently it STINKS to high heaven and leaves residue (they had the Mag & Aluminium cleaner). Stink verified.
That said, the Blue Magic was sealed...for a reason. It stinks to higher heaven than Mother's!
It smells like ten-day-old cat litter. AMMOOOOOOONIA.

Function-wise, though, I believe it's a toss-up...all much of a muchness.
You ought to be OK with what you have there, and do NOT turn the dremel up more than its lowest setting! Already ample fast.

If your razor is in good nick (fnarr fnarr), then just sand down with 1000 grit then 2000 grit (both will produce an almost mirror finish when sanded straight) and then hit it with the Mother's. Probably will be better than the Blue Magic, as the latter is pretty liquid in consistency and will get flung everywhere. I built a small shield out of shoptowels, which incidentally, are great for polishing with. Tough as nails. I sanded on one all day long.

No experience with rouges, someone'll be along presently to check that for you. I followed the hand-sanding guide in the sticky.

L

On a side note, I'm surprised it says Mother's (with apostrophe). Québec takes such things as being too 'English' (Schwarz's saga)...it should be <<le pâte à polir Mother>>

Looks great! My HSB is one of my better shavers, It looks like yours will be as well!

Originally Posted by jpcwon

Looks awesome! I am just starting to get into polishing old razors, and I don't know what I'm doing yet, really.

I went online and bought some red & green jewellers Rouge to use with my cordless Dremel, as well as some Mother's Metal Polish. Do you think these will suffice, or are there other necessities I should procure?

Thx in advance!!

I use mother's metal polish b/c I couldn't get MAAS where I live. A lot of the senior members recommend MAAS polishing compound, but I had good luck with mother's. I would look at the workshop sticky's for more info on polishing (if you haven't already). As you probably know, what you have to do to fix up a razor depends on it's condition. I'm still a major noob so hopefully some others can give you better advice.
Good luck!
D

Nice job! Looks great!

As far as Mother's vs MASS I use both and don't find the Mother's scent objectionable. I also find that both leave a residue but both wash off easily with liquid dish soap and hot tap water.

As far as scales go, give Glen (gssixgun) a PM as he is not only a fantastic honer, but probably has some vintage scales that won't cost you an arm and a leg!! My counsel is to save your money for custom scales on a razor that's sure to come your way that doesn't have any hone wear! I've got over 20 and none of them shows any hone wear. Ten or Eleven of those razors were given to me and of those/eight are heirlooms!!

Aye, it's pretty worn alright. I'm using it as a 'practise' for a proper restoration of something decent - I'd like to build the scales myself but it's not cardinal. I'll give Glen a shout then.

that turned out fantastic...great job!!!!!!! can't wait to see it with some scales to caress the blade

You did a great job with that blade. Congratulations on your first effort.

Impressive and I look forward to seeing the finish product too.