Thread: Some advice please.. Blade etch... more trouble then they are worth?

I'm a big fan of Cape Cod Polishing Cloths. They work way better than any polish out there. They will remove any staining on the razor. it will take time but they work.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

I'm a big fan of Cape Cod Polishing Cloths. They work way better than any polish out there. They will remove any staining on the razor. it will take time but they work.

Thanks for the tip, I have never heard of this brand, do you know if it is for sale in UK? Or marketed as something else? Will give it a try if I can get hold of some,, I normally use pre-lim metal polish followed by ren wax or my own beeswax/walnut oil mix,, the waxes always work good, but I have always felt a bit let down by the pre-lim metal polish... its expensive and comes with a good reputation, but in my opinion it does absolutley NOTHING in the way of removing stains. NOTHING. Its almost at the stage where I just use it during restore/clean ups after sanding with mineral oil, just to 'go thru the motions' and because I paid soo much for it that I somehow feel I should use it even though I lately feel it is a complete waste of time and is nothing but a placebo t.b.h.
If there are any pre-lim fans out there, sorry, it just my opinion, maybe give me some tips to get better results from it.... but I personally have always felt very let down by it, even brasso does a better job, but I dont really like to use that stuff on razors, so I am stuck with the 'placebo pre- lim for now.
Cape cod polishing cloths? will google later today and see if I can get hold of some here in the UK

Sorry to hear that your current metal polish does not seem up to the task. A good metal polish such as is available for polishing car mag/chrome/aluminum wheels seems to work well when used with 0000 steel wool for me. That is followed up by a polish with cleaner and cloth, no steel wool.

Bob

You could try crumpled aluminium foil over the writing - it's much softer than steel but can remove some light oxidation - may be it would be better than that polish, if not it's still an extremely cheap experiment and wouldn't damage your writing.

What is your sanding progression? May be you could use only the finer abrasives, but let us know the numbers before you try that.
I've had that razor (may even still have it somewhere around) but I don't remember how deep the writing is.

Originally Posted by BobH

Sorry to here that your current metal polish does not seem up to the task. A good metal polish such as is available for polishing car mag/chrome/aluminum wheels seems to work well when used with 0000 steel wool for me. That is followed up by a polish with cleaner and cloth, no steel wool.

Bob

, yes I have heard that 'autosol' is quite good stuff, and not too expensive. I know a few wood carvers that use it after honing their gouges, to get a fine polish to the edge. Will try it out... anything has to be better then the polish I currently use.. I am sure pre-lim is good stuff in the right hands, and for the right job,, but yes it does not seem to give the results I would like on razors.
Thanks for the tip

Originally Posted by gugi

You could try crumpled aluminium foil over the writing - it's much softer than steel but can remove some light oxidation - may be it would be better than that polish, if not it's still an extremely cheap experiment and wouldn't damage your writing.

What is your sanding progression? May be you could use only the finer abrasives, but let us know the numbers before you try that.
I've had that razor (may even still have it somewhere around) but I don't remember how deep the writing is.

I see, yes I did not think of that,, and funny enough I have plenty of the stuff as I purchased a big roll of it the other day to cover a cottage pie I was making lol. So do you normally scrunch it up tight into a ball>? or just fold it loosely? I am interested to try because as you say, even if it does not work it wont cost me anything so....
with the sandpaper, I am quite well equipt, I have wet n dry ,, 90, 120, 150 180, 220 320, 400, 600, 800 , 1200, 1500, 2000,and 2500 but I am not too keen to go down that road with that razor yet. I was thinking to just sand the spine on high grits because that is where most of the water marks are, but I am worried it might make it not match the rest of the razor, so I will just try the foil for now, and a good polish and see what happens.
Oh, yes they are very nice razors, it was my first ever so it has sentimental value.. I only realised how much I liked it once I got a few more, and hence had other razors to compare it to.. its a 11/16" but quite a heavy blade because it is only maybe 1/4 ground or 1/2 ground>? I am not the best judge with that to be honest tho,, but it is quite heavy compared to my full hollow blades anyway. It came with the original box and I noticed months later that it has a sort of recipt/ticket thing inside which gives it a bit of character aswell I guess, like a little story to go with it.

gugi, what would you say was the age of this razor? I wonder sometimes because Joseph Rodgers where around for a long time

Toothpaste is a very mild abrasive which might work good for that. If it will polish our teeth, it should remove water stains. Try that! I also saw an article awhile back about chromium oxide to use to remove water stains. I heard it works really good. Someone was honing their blade with it & accidentally got some on the blade & so he wiped it off removing water stains with it.

The etch doesn't look very deep. There are ways to preserve an etch like that and get a mirror finish, but it would be a lot more work. There was a great thread a week or two ago where a guy was enhancing etchings, but I cant seem to find it right now. I personally have filled in etchings with nail polish and done light sanding over them with good results. I think that razor looks great as is though.

Thanks for all the suggestions I wud never have thaught of toothpaste or the nail polish but they both do seem to make sense in theory,,
I think what I will do is try some of these methods on another razor which I planned to restore, and try these methods on it, as it has less sentimental value,, and also has a blade etch of similar looking depth, and whichever works best I will try on the Rodgers blade pictured in this thread

It's a lost cause. You should send it to me for safe disposal.