Thread: John Barber pair in piqued ivory

I did a partial restoration on the one I got, including a very light regrind to remove a previous very light regrind. (Thank you 10Pups!)







Heh. I'm so used to not polishing the jimps¹ out that I left a bit of crud there. Oh well! Easy to fix.

1. Traditionally the jimps were rarely ever polished, probably because most razors were polished on a lead lapping wheel and polishing the jimps would rake big grooves in the surface.

Splendide restoration !

Smaller parts, such as the tang and jimps, were often polished using small diameter wheels and wheels that were very thin. Longer flat surfaces were often dressed using plain hardwood wheels with 'deadened' (ie well used or pulverised) 'crocus' (hard iron oxide that accumulated against the bottom and sides of the baking pots - the softer type in the middle was sold to colourmen and jewellers) mixed with suet and beeswax, and small serrated surfaces like jimps were polished (mostly on the top) with a small wooden wheel dressed with very thick leather - this got into all the crevices, unlike the lead-lapped wheel which would be injured if brought up against a serrated surface.

Traditionally, walrus leather was used. It was/is so thick, that it was ideally suited for buffing wheels. Back in the day seal hide was substituted for walrus as it had the same sort of thickness and 'give' to it.

As more of a 'glaze' finish was required, the speed of the buffing wheel would go up from2,500 sfpm to over 7,000 sfpm and the wheel would change from soft walrus hide, to hard leather and then to plain hardwood.

Regards,
Neil

The terms used were 'black polishing' for the main part of the blade and 'glazing' for the shanks, tail, etc.

The work was carried out by women and small boys usually.

Great job on the Barber Zak! It really came out nice. Can't wait to see it!

Great post Neil! I've been experimenting with a 'soft' satin look using 800 grit Crocus cloth and I really like the way the finish looks. I wonder if a hard wheel (maybe Sisal?) that has been pasted or 'rubbed with' lead... similar to a lead pasted strop... would work like a lead lapping plate? I think I might give it a try to see what happens...

Originally Posted by Neil Miller

Smaller parts, such as the tang and jimps, were often polished using small diameter wheels and wheels that were very thin. Longer flat surfaces were often dressed using plain hardwood wheels with 'deadened' (ie well used or pulverised) 'crocus' (hard iron oxide that accumulated against the bottom and sides of the baking pots - the softer type in the middle was sold to colourmen and jewellers) mixed with suet and beeswax, and small serrated surfaces like jimps were polished (mostly on the top) with a small wooden wheel dressed with very thick leather - this got into all the crevices, unlike the lead-lapped wheel which would be injured if brought up against a serrated surface.

Traditionally, walrus leather was used. It was/is so thick, that it was ideally suited for buffing wheels. Back in the day seal hide was substituted for walrus as it had the same sort of thickness and 'give' to it.

As more of a 'glaze' finish was required, the speed of the buffing wheel would go up from2,500 sfpm to over 7,000 sfpm and the wheel would change from soft walrus hide, to hard leather and then to plain hardwood.

Regards,
Neil

The terms used were 'black polishing' for the main part of the blade and 'glazing' for the shanks, tail, etc.

The work was carried out by women and small boys usually.

Originally Posted by Wolfpack34

Great post Neil! I've been experimenting with a 'soft' satin look using 800 grit Crocus cloth and I really like the way the finish looks. I wonder if a hard wheel (maybe Sisal?) that has been pasted or 'rubbed with' lead... similar to a lead pasted strop... would work like a lead lapping plate? I think I might give it a try to see what happens...

Using a serious respirator!

Originally Posted by Voidmonster

Using a serious respirator!

...I was wondering who was going to be the first to mention that Zak.

Here's a quick shot of the Elliot Zak. Not a good pic but you get the idea...crocus finish:

Originally Posted by Voidmonster

Using a serious respirator!

You mean don't just pull your shirt up over your nose?
I'll stand outside the garage when wolfpack gets it going

By the way zak that razor looks fantastic.

wow that set is so nice! good clean up aswell!