how much rust is too much to salvage

I have to opportunity to pick up an old old old looking Boker. Can see the Boker stamp and tree, scales are surprisingly ok, but the only problem is it is loaded with rust. I can see that there was once something etched into the blade, but can not tell what it is. My question is - is a rust bucket like this a reasonable candidate for later restoration?

I am sorry that I can provide pics, but I'm just curious if someone could direct me to a thread that can show me the varying degrees of rust and how much can be done with them. Thanks for any advice.

The rust you see means nothing, it is what lies beneath that wrecks the razor, unfortunately you will never know until you start the work

If it is free, you might as well chance it. If money is involved leave the razor alone.

Thanks for the quick reply. Yeah... that's what I was afraid of. My (limited) understanding is that pitting is the real enemy and will need to be sanded out or otherwise removed. Just may take the plunge and see what happens. Won't set me back very much at all, and may be a great little starter project - because if I lose it - then I lose it... or I can send it out for professional help after I've had a good go at it. Just looking to get my feet wet with fixin' up an oldy-but-goody.

There are a few ways you can approach this, and it really depends on what you want. If you want a pretty razor, then this might not be a good candidate as it might not be able to survive pitting removal. On the other hand, if you just want a shaver, then you can either clean off surface rust and leave the pits, or you can even leave the rust and simply hone it and use it as is. Pits anywhere other than in the bevel have no impact on the quality of the shave, only the aesthetics.

This razor is a good indicator of what I mean, this Imp looked really bad on the surface, but underneath was a surprise... It also goes the other way too, I just did a Filarmonica #14 that looked to only have water spots until I buffed it and found pitting under there that had to be fixed...


http://straightrazorpalace.com/works...e-attempt.html

Is most of the rust on the part of the blade that is covered when closed?
If it is there may be the additional problem of celluloid rot witch would mean that the scales need to be disposed of.

It may not be the case on that razor but it just came to mind when you mentioned rusted blade

As an experiment I once took a razor and put it in water and left it for a couple of weeks. When I took it out it was covered in rust, totally. It looked like junk. About 1 minute on a dremel and it was brand new looking.

Thanks for the link Glen. I'm in about the same spot with the Boker - but more rust present on the tang on both sides of the pivot point and more hone wear :(. I do have a question for all the historians out there... there is etching on the blade that appears to read "Durrian" or "Dorrian" or "Purrian" or something. Does anyone know what this is, or is is potentially custom etching for the original owner?

For reference, the coffin/case/box says "H. Boker and Co./Unrivaled Razor" and the stamp appears to date from the 1900-1924 era or possibly earlier* as the mark is slightly worn, if that is of any help identifying the etching.

I'll hit up the hardware store tomorrow or Monday and get cracking. Fun times!

*age according to the following link - http://www.boker.de/pdf/knifeworld.pdf