To buff, or not to buff?

So, I'll make this one quick... I found a new Torrey today, and I can't decide whether or not to buff it. It has "Our Beauty" in a sort of frosted-etch on the blade (if I buff it, the etch is history, most likely) However, it also has surface staining and water spots (that would be cleaned off almost as easily as the etch) that I really want to get rid of.

So, if it were your blade, would you want to keep the etch and have a semi-grubby looking blade (I know some of you prefer the aged look, so please take no offense to that term... Just my preference) Or would you rather have a fully polished blade that lost it's etch?

Cheers,
Jeremy

EDIT: Oh right... Pictures... Sorry for the low quality, these were hastily shot

The pictures don't show it well, but that black gunky stuff is also on the Our Beauty etch, but only a bit of it

Keep the etch.

Semichrome, Flitz, or Wenol on a paper towel and I'm done. I don't buff old razors to get them shining like a new dime. I'm with Oliver Cromwell, "Paint me as I am, warts and all." :)

Thank you both, I think I'll just hit the back of the blade and the spine with Maas, and keep the rest as is.

Gratzie!
Jeremy

I have one of those, and I'm not going to risk MAAS on the lettering. Mine doesn't appear to be an actual etch, but almost like a frost. Soapy water and maybe a light once over with a toothbrush is all mine's going to get.

I'd rather leave the etch if it were my blade

I really like the way it looks now! I wouldn't risk it.

Depends if you want a shaver or a looker. If it would compromise the etch or frosting, I would leave as is. Not that it doesn't already look like an awesome razor. Now the scales on the other hand deserve a nice buffing, and some neatsfoot oil as a treat. They, as you know, would come out beautifully. Would make all the difference.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by holli4pirating

I have one of those, and I'm not going to risk MAAS on the lettering. Mine doesn't appear to be an actual etch, but almost like a frost. Soapy water and maybe a light once over with a toothbrush is all mine's going to get.

---

I like this. Thing is..... it's gotta be with Dylan's toothbrush.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Scipio

Depends if you want a shaver or a looker. If it would compromise the etch or frosting, I would leave as is. Not that it doesn't already look like an awesome razor. Now the scales on the other hand deserve a nice buffing, and some neatsfoot oil as a treat. They, as you know, would come out beautifully. Would make all the difference.

---

I've just finished it on the 12k, with only general cleanup. Kept the etch (which, as Dylan noted, is really more a frost than an etch) and cleaned it up pretty well. However, the scales can't really do much... They look like horn, but they're actually Bakelite. The back scale is black, the front one is brown-ish (isn't that what happens when Bakelite gets heated? Turns brown? Can't recall)

I'll buff them, but that's about it.

If part of the scales are turning brown, could very well be vulcanite (rubber). It's tough, durable, decent-looking stuff ( I like my tires made of it) but exposure to some UV light band turns it brown. It's tough to get it black again, though scrubbing with Fantastic helps sometimes. It buffs pretty easy too, try a little tripoli and almost no pressure.

Oh God, I just Googled "vulcanite" ... the Amazon result is going to keep me awake nights.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by stimpy52

Oh God, I just Googled "vulcanite" ... the Amazon result is going to keep me awake nights.

---

OH GOD, WHY DID YOU SHARE THAT!?

:cry::cry::cry::cry:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ShavedZombie

OH GOD, WHY DID YOU SHARE THAT!?

:cry::cry::cry::cry:

---

If all your friends were jumping off a cliff, would you do it? You know you wanted to see. Now live with the grim consequences.

Well what happens when you say "Oh, and don't look behind this door!" ?

Everyone in the room wants to know what's behind it then!

I'm going to go wash that image out of my mind with bleach >.>

I feel like I accomplished something today.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by stimpy52

I feel like I accomplished something today.

---

Dude! You've just won the Straightrazorplace title of the day:

Derrier douche discovery dude! :dropjaw:

I just hope this never comes up again. Nobody really reads this stuff, right?

I have had some success with buffing discolored scales that I knew were supposed to be black but weren't. Not sure what the scale material was, but buffing worked. If you are going to try it, go slow, because there is no telling (unless you have lots of experience with identification and buffing scales) what they might do.

Also, I got the toothbrush idea from CarrieM.

For you Amazon people - at least it says it's comfortable.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by stimpy52

I just hope this never comes up again. Nobody really reads this stuff, right?

---

Ya never know! LOL

ShavedZombie;

If you feel up to some very fussy work, then here is a way to buff that blade while still retaining the etching on the side of the blade.

In short what you want to do is create a buffing mask to protect the lettering.

Please note: I have not yet tried this method, but in theory it should work. In any case, I cannot think of anything better just yet. :shrug:

My suggestion is as follows:

Take a thin sheet of tracing paper, tape it in position and using a thin pencil trace the outlines of the existing lettering.

Once that is done, arbitrarily add a bit of space around the lettering on your tracing. (see the attached image for example).

Now, sandwich the tracing paper with some slightly thicker paper and using either extremely fine scissors or a hobby knife cut out the form, being sure to follow the enlarged outline. Neatness counts here, since your cutout is going to be the buffing mask. I would actually suggest that you cut a number of identical masks if you have the time and patience, since you might need them.

Now comes yet another tricky bit:

Take the razor blade (hopefully removed from the scales) and clean it carefully with some acetone to remove all traces of skin oil and grunge around the lettering.

When the blade is dry, place your paper mask in position over the existing lettering and carefully apply super glue to it. The idea is to saturate the paper thoroughly so that it simultaneously holds to the razor blade and becomes very hard.

A few hints are in order here:

You have to saturate all of the paper, but do make sure you don't use so much super glue that it starts running all over the rest of the blade. It will help to use a then applicator tip for this purpose so that you can direct the super glue exactly where you want it, letting it flow in between paper and mask without having it bead up at the edges to form round droplets.

It might help to pierce the mask in a few places with a sewing needle in order to make holes for the super glue to more easily penetrate into the space between the paper mask and the blade.

Don't use your fingers to hold the paper mask in place. Not only are fingers kind of large and clumsy for this purpose, but you may end up stuck to your work. Try using toothpicks or else the points of some fine tweezers to hold the mask in place while it sets.

The super glue will not set up right away on its own in this situation. You can speed it up by either (a) using a commercial spray-on accelerator such as "Zip-Kicker ", or else (b) by sprinkling on a little bit of ordinary baking powder.

Make absolutely certain that there are no 'voids' between your paper mask and the blade (areas without glue). The buffing wheel would 'erase' these in seconds.

Once the glue has hardened, you should (in theory) be able to buff the blade while the mask protects the lettering.

Naturally, you will want to keep your eye on the progress of the buffing. Use light pressure in this area. If there is any sign that the mask is being buffed away or is loosening, then you will have stop the buffing process, clean the blade and reapply a fresh mask.

Once you have finished buffing, the mask can easily be removed with Acetone (which dissolves super glue).

Naturally, one will end up with a buffed blade having a slightly duller area just surrounding the lettering. This to me seems preferable to losing the lettering to the action of the buffing wheel.

Good Luck,

- Ignatz

That is a reallly cool theory... But that's also a little outside of my skill level... I'm happy with it as it is now. Thank you, though!

Best regards,
Jeremy

I'm intrigued by Ignatz' masking suggestion, even copied and saved it. That being said, I'm not sure I could ever come up with the required patience and dexterity to actually do it. Any chance, though, to play with superglue and multiple razor-sharp blades deserves some consideration.

Hey guys, I got around to testing my theory and it works a treat! :p

Follow the link to my write-up of same. http://straightrazorpalace.com/works...tml#post637914

I'm not a huge fan of the mirror fininshed razors that are buffed on a wheel to within an inch of their life, but that's just my personal taste. I don't like to see the crisp lines and edges of the steel rounded and blended. To me it's a dead giveaway that the blade had lots of problems that have been overcorrected by secere polishing.
Just my opinion, but I'd prefer to see a few warts and a finish closer to original.

The highly buffed mirror razors are beautiful... just not to my taste..

It's like the car salesman's analogy... There's an a** (butt) for every seat!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by BlacknTan

I'm not a huge fan of the mirror fininshed razors that are buffed on a wheel to within an inch of their life, but that's just my personal taste. I don't like to see the crisp lines and edges of the steel rounded and blended. To me it's a dead giveaway that the blade had lots of problems that have been overcorrected by secere polishing.
Just my opinion, but I'd prefer to see a few warts and a finish closer to original.

The highly buffed mirror razors are beautiful... just not to my taste..

It's like the car salesman's analogy... There's an a** (butt) for every seat!

---

I kind of think perhaps you haven't seen very good restores... a properly handled blade shouldn't be significantly altered in profile.

I'm with Ben on this one... sometimes a blade is terribly pitted and goes to greaseless, but, generally, when I buff, I keep with non-greaseless (Greased?) compounds, to keep the lines as original as I can.

I am, however, always partial to a nice shiny finish. Pitting doesn't bug me, but I like the shine where possible.

Cheers,
Jeremy