Wade & Butcher dating and restore questions

Some of you may have seen my post a couple days ago about picking up some new (to me that is) straights from an antique store. I have began the restore on the W&B and am at the point where I need to decide how much I want to sand it. As you will see from the following photo's, If I decide to continue sanding I will likely completely lose the "DiamondEdge" etching on the blade. At this point the etching is very faint and I am leaning toward sanding/polishing to a mirror finish. I have sanded with 500 grit W/D on the blade, and 320 grit on the tang so far. When I took off the scales I noticed the pivot hole appears to be oval and worn, probably will need a sleeve.

So my questions are:

Any idea the date on this W&B? I am not finding much on the Wiki that actually dates them.

How would you finish the razor? I am currently looking at new scales.

http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r...psfb704fd0.jpg
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r...psd59f9378.jpg
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r...psd311cc7f.jpg
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http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r...psfb7c0356.jpg

ID say some cocobolo for scales, always a nice looking wood.

What kind of polish are you headed towards? mirror or are you leaving this one satin?

nice looking WB though.

Can you get a edge on it?
Make SURE you can before all the sanding is done!

I myself think Horn scales would look good but then I am pretty happy with Koa wood too...

Personally i would stop sanding right now, the blade looks clean perhaps some polishing with MAAS or mothers to finish. Traditionally the scales would be horn, i would date this razor 1860-1880.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Chevhead

Can you get a edge on it?

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I took it by the guy who honed my last couple, he said it wouldn't take much.

Personally, I'd continue with the w&d especially on the tang so that there is no difference between blade and tang. You have already lost the etch on the blade so you might want to consider more work on erasing the flats on the spine - it will be a lot of work though.

Regarding the pivot hole - an easy fix it to cut through the stem of a cotton bud if it's the correct size. If not then fill with epoxy and re-drill 1/16"

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Martin103

Personally i would stop sanding right now, the blade looks clean perhaps some polishing with MAAS or mothers to finish. Traditionally the scales would be horn, i would date this razor 1860-1880.

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Awesome! Thanks for the approx date. I will eventually hit it with some maas.