Thread: Honing my first wedge!!!

So I finally got a wedge. Its a Fredrick Reynolds and it has horn scales which are in need of replacing and the etching is a picture of George Washsinton and says "Washington Champion of Liberty" on it. It has quite a bit of patina and pitting and some on the edge but it doesn't seem to go up to far maybe .5 mm that i need to take off but god is it going slow. Any tips will surely be appreciated. Also I think I will attempt to do my own scales on this one. Where can I get some brass rod to do the pinning?

Welcome to the world edge restoration.
Reynolds razors have hard steel. If you're removing metal you'll need an appropriate stone. For me that would be below 1k.
Brass rod is typically available at hobby stores.

Some hardware stores carry brass brazing rod in pin sizes.

Online is where i ordered my pins and washers (auction site initially, then i found duder's regular web site). Methinks the price of shipping far outweighs the hassle of getting the helpful store clerks to understand your needs.

Or industrial supply house like McMaster Carr...ohhh yeah, crap here i go again!

You could also try a hobby shop for brass pins and washers.

Bob

Well Oz, unfortunately the lowest stone I have is a 1200 grit diamond. It works fast but its no 600 or 800 which would work better.

I will probably go to a hobby store and get some pins. Theres tons of them around here. I ordered some "cola de pava" burl scales. I have never heard of that wood but it looked pretty good and was right in budget.

One other question. There is some devils spit or black rust and pitting on the spine near the toe and on the face of the blade but not near the edge. I would rather leave all the patina on the razor and not remove too much of it especially to preserve the very light engraving on the blade face but I don't won't the black rust to spread. Do you think that as long as I make sure it is dry after use and oil it will be enough to keep the rust from spreading or getting worse?

This is my first ever type of restore and although I do not plan on changing to much of the actually blade its still more than I have ever tried in the past.

Microfasteners.com has always been my mainstay for washers. You may think 100 washers are a lot till you realise how easily 500 fit in the palm of you hand.

So I have found some fasteners and what not. The real challenge is coming from restoring the edge. Its going quite slow since all I have is a 1200 grit stone as my lowest grit. I will say though that 75% of the edge has a nice bevel its just where a few chips remain in the middle of the edge that are taking a while to go. I would say maybe another .25 mm to go and I will be in good steel.

I thought that the smile would throw me for a few more loops being I only have one other smiling razor and it doesn't have that much of a smile, however this one seems like it is pretty straight forward on the way to hone it. I have just been doing a very heel forward swooping stroke. No wavy bevel or anything, nice and even.

Sounds like, to me, you are using the right stroke for honing that smile. The 1200 grit hone doesn't sound too bad, all I have is a 1000 grit hone as my lowest for bevel setting. If it is slow going I take frequent breaks to avoid being frustrated and try to rush things. Be sure and keep us posted on your progress.

Bob

Yeah I am taking breaks here and there mostly when my fingers hurt, haha. I have some pictures taken of before and when I get it altogether I will take some of the after. I don't know why but the site isn't letting post pictures for some reason. I don't know if it is the computer or the site but I am doing it the same way as before. I don't know what I want to do for the wedge though. I think maybe I will try some one piece scales. Might be tough for my first set of scales. I think the etching will just have to be sacrificed too which sucks because its pretty neat.

Can't really help with the photo posting other than to say I use Photobucket and just copy and paste the img tag into a post. Works as usual today. I don't know if a one piece would be any harder than a two piece scale as that eliminates doing a wadge and one pinning operation. OTH I found it a little difficult to put a finish on the insides of the only one piece I have done. Sorta what you make on the beer you loose on the peanuts proposition. Does the pitting/rust and or bevel intrude into the etching? If it does not then you can mask off the etching to protect it while you carefully polish around it.

Bob