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Hey everyone,
I have an old j.a. Henckles straight razor from I believe, the early 1900's that I'm going to restore. Overall, it's in great shape. No pitting, chips, damage or anything. Just a little bit of tarnish/rust. Can anyone tell my the best product to use for removing this rust and make the steel shine like new and bring it back to original condition? (It's carbon steel by the way)
Thanks!
This link will send you in the right direction. Look under "Cleaning & Polishing:"
http://straightrazorpalace.com/works...wers-here.html
I have had very good luck with Mother's Mag & Aluminum Polish. There have been times it would require several applications and a lot of elbow grease but my results have been more than satisfactory. Just be careful working around the edge as that edge, even if it doesn't feel that sharp, will bit you.
In case you didn't know J.A. Henckels are probably the best German made razor out there, at least of the ones I've tried and I've honed and shaved with over 100 straight razors in the past 7 years. I have two Henckels and love 'em! If you are not experienced honing a straight razor send it to a pro, you'll be glad you did.
Good luck and show us some before and after pics, we love pics here on SRP!
I like Flitz and Maas.
Sometimes I'll use cr/ox (chromium Oxide), before I use metal polsh. Its more aggressive than polish, but works the same. [emoji6]
Hi and welcome. Another couple polishes not mentioned yet are blue magic and autosol.
If it's rust then you will probably need more than polish but the tarnish should come off fine. Be careful of and wash etc as you can take them off pretty easy
If it is not deep rust I use a brass brush and CLR and rinse thoroughly. Light sanding with 1500 wet/dry sand paper, then polish with Mothers.
You can also cut the rust off with a SE razor blade before you polish.
Attachment 224880
Before
Attachment 224881
After
Attachment 224882
After chromium oxide.
Attachment 224883
After polished
Do you have any pics for us to see? There are a few ways depending how bad it is. Outback's way is one of them. Thanks Mike.
This won't be your only razor, welcome to the addiction.
I also use polish but combine it with steel wool. 000 steel wool with WD-40 and it can really dig deep and get out some fairly deep black, but it does leave a bit of a scratchy finish, so 0000 with polish can really makes a nice semigloss finish. It does require quite a bit of elbow grease but is a low tech low risk way of getting all the black and red rust off and the blade shiny.
Thanks all! Your information and tips have been very helpful, and after reading through it all, online research, you tube, etc. this is What I think I wanna do:
Use CLR for initial rust/tarnish removing.
Then, if necessary, sand off any remaining imperfections using very high grit silicon carbide sandpaper by hand. (Or use micro mesh instead of sandpaper. Whichever will NOT leave scratch marks. What is the better option??) the last step would be to use flitz polish to make shine like new.
What do you guys think?
And again, which would be better for keeping the blade scratch free? sandpaper or micro mesh? It will be done by hand btw. No machines or wheels or anything.
Good luck on no scratching.
Whenever you are using an abrasive, the potential for scratches is there. Just be prepared to take your time (possibly plenty of it) and move gradually up through the grits to remove whatever scratches are left behind by the previous grit.Quote:
Originally Posted by Charliebrian24
Start with a higher grit than you expect to need. I.e. if you reckon 320 will do, try 600 or 800. You can always go back down to a coarser grit if needed, but starting higher may work, and it will reduce scratching, if not eliminate it.
As for micromesh vs sandpaper, I use both. Starting with quite high grit wet/dry sandpaper, then moving to micromesh at the end. I use these things:
Micro-Mesh® Pen-Sanding Pads - Lee Valley Tools
When I stock up, I'll usually get a selection rather than the whole range. It ends up being 1500 and 12000 for sure, with a couple in between. Seems to work well.
Also, remember that although not shave-ready, that thing will still do quite a bit of damage if you're not careful. Take your time for your own sake as well as for the razor. :)
It's a fantastic Boker blade, so probably best you don't try to clean it up at all. It's beyond repair. Best you send it to me to dispose of safely! :rofl2:
Seriously, the blade doesn't look like it needs too much attention. Start with low grit wet and dry, say, 440 grit on the tang. Then just go up the grits in steady stages up to maybe 2500 or higher. Start with the tang and you'll get an idea of which grit to use on the blade itself. Autosol polish is good. It's made in Solingen, so I suspect it's been used for razors before being used on cars. Be prepared to invest a lot of time into this project. Don't rush. It'll be worth it. It's a beauty.
What scales are you going to use?
Keep us updated with your progress and post photos. :gl:
I guess your talking about mine... Being I posted the only pics.
That was the progress....
Quick and easy!!
It was posted in SOTD today.
Wayne394 I'm using the original scales (I think) I believe they are Bakelite material because the black faded to a brownish color when I was cleaning the blade after bringing it home. Pshhh. Sucks. I did make them black again however by using magic marker... Doesn't look bad but fortunately I learned Bakelite scales can be sanded to bring back the original color, so that too is an additional job for this project :)
Just as a point of interest, that would be "Vulcanite" And yup, as you noticed, you can get the color back with some buffing/polishing. It CAN be brittle though, so try not to squeeze it hard in the center of the scales.Quote:
Originally Posted by Charliebrian24
Can I do this with the razor still attached? I would prefer to do it that way because taking it apart, I'd be worried I'd do irreversible damage... What do you think?
Oh, by the way, this is my razor.http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/2016...117addacc9.jpghttp://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/2016...624b99b040.jpghttp://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/2016...9461e790e2.jpg
Yes . but be careful
I second that & you can use Maas, Mothers or Flitz. I hand polish scales & it works great. One day I will get a soft wheel for my buffer & try it but my hand polishing works just fine for now.Quote:
Originally Posted by outback
I usually open my razor straight open where the tail is inside the scales. I then put some polish on a soft rag & go back & forth quite a few times & then I get a clean soft rag & polish it off. You will be amazed at how it looks. Wipe off any excess polish that might have gotten inside the scales & you're good to go.
I'll third that caution to be careful!
Good call not to unpin it if you don't have to IMHO. Plenty of potential for things to go sideways once you start adding additional steps. Also, since it has the original pins, why not keep them there, right?
Depending on how tightly they are pinned you might be able to get a piece of dental floss in between the blade and scales too. That, together with polish, can help clean up the difficult to reach bits. However, DON'T force it. Any undue pressure can easily crack/break your scales.
