Thread: Removing pitting from blade

I recently bought a 1/4 hollow Joseph Elliot 11/16 silver-steel razor with barber's notch and nice bone scales. I have bleached and polished the scales, cleaned off all the rust and, finally, honed the edge to perfection. Today I had my first good shave with it and it is likely to become one of my favourites.

The honed edge, about 1 mm. wide is now like a mirror and completely free of pitting, but though the whole blade is now bright, I'd like to remove all trace of pitting. I've made some progress just using abrasive paper (3M Fre-cut) backed with a half-cork but it would take several hours to get rid of all the pitting that way.

Can anyone recommend the best way to bring the sides of the blade back to a glass finish?

Thanks.

sorry brother.. it is going to just take hours of sanding... you could get into the dremel or rotary tools, but you really need to know what you are doing... basically you will have to sand the blade evenly until the pits are gone, then work to finer and finer grits, then hit the buffing compounds and MAAS. Do you have any pictures?

Originally Posted by Del1r1um

... you could get into the dremel or rotary tools, but you really need to know what you are doing...

Perhaps I do! I wasn't born yesterday. I thought of fitting something to the die-grinder, which is more of a tool than a Dremel.

Originally Posted by Del1r1um

basically you will have to sand the blade evenly until the pits are gone, then work to finer and finer grits, then hit the buffing compounds and MAAS. Do you have any pictures?

I've left the camera at work, but I'll take some pictures of this one and my other two 1/4 hollows, which are practically free of pitting -- one is a 7/8 Cokkhill (for kk read ck) and the other a Thomas Turner with the special groove on one side. I must say I am far more comfortable with the near-wedges than the full hollows; I prefer to shave in silence!

Originally Posted by eremita

Perhaps I do! I wasn't born yesterday. I thought of fitting something to the die-grinder, which is more of a tool than a Dremel.

Yeah, if you are good with these tools then that would save time... and please don't take it as an insult if I say that plenty of people with experience have really screwed things up (blades, fingers, etc.) by trying to save some time with a power tool. Also, you may not want more of a tool...just my thoughts.

And I would really hope that you weren't born yesterday if you are on SRP, or you are probably going to be one hairy teenager

Originally Posted by Del1r1um

Yeah, if you are good with these tools then that would save time... and please don't take it as an insult if I say that plenty of people with experience have really screwed things up (blades, fingers, etc.) by trying to save some time with a power tool. Also, you may not want more of a tool...just my thoughts.

You're quite right, of course, and I generally dislike power tools anyway; but this Silver Steel is tough, and the fact that it probably contains silicon carbide makes work with silicon carbide paper or similar things rather slow.

Originally Posted by Del1r1um

And I would really hope that you weren't born yesterday if you are on SRP, or you are probably going to be one hairy teenager

Let's say I bought my first razor (a 6/8 Kropp) and a good Belgian stone in about 1962.

I guess you probably already know this but just in case, be really careful if you use any kind of power tool. That thin steel heats up incredibly rapidly, and it doesn't take a lot of heat to turn a nice razor into a useless nicknack
It can literally be a matter of seconds.

Just keep in mind that razors are really delicate instruments. You wouldn't want to use dynamite to dig a small hole in your yard and power tools except for small ones designed for precision work are best kept away from a straight.

I realize we don't want to spend a lot of time doing tedious sanding by hand or with a little dremel but sometimes that's just the way it is. Of course like with everything else if you can use a heavy duty power tool with a lot of precision and finesse then your a lucky guy and you can dismiss everything I said.

I have friends who do restores and they talk about ten hours of hand sanding on one blade. I clean them up with something like Maas and shave with the pits as is. If a razor is so important to me that I want it to shine like a new dime I send it out to someone who has more skill and patience then I do. Good luck with your project.

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

I have friends who do restores and they talk about ten hours of hand sanding on one blade. I clean them up with something like Maas and shave with the pits as is.

Well, I'm making progress with the Elliot. I find I make better progress but using a square-ended bamboo chopstick, slightly rounded on two faces, and sticking the Fre-cut 618 paper (P240 to start with) to the end. This allows great pressure at the friction interface without letting the paper follow down into the pits. I then use SiC paper wet, 320, 400, 600, 800 before polishing up with an 8" buffing wheel and a gentle soap.

Here are some pictures of the Elliot so far and of the Co'khill wedge and the Thomas Turner 'Everlasting'.

Man, that Turner is cool