My New Playthings..

...I've started polishing up these two, inspired by a thread somewhere here. I used 400 wet and dry, then 600, then a bit of 800, 'till they were quite shiny and mostly free of rust; then soaked in grapefruit juice (seriously. stop laughing) mixed with vinegar for ten minutes Then polished a little bit again 'round the pivot and a little on the blade. The grapefruit juice (I didn't have any lemon) and vinegar were used to force a patina, but it also showed me really well where I still had active rust.


The idea here was to clean them up really well, but then add some signs of wear and tear. Now I've done it once, I think you could get some really interesting effects. I worked on them for only about 4 hours last night; WAY past my bedtime (I was up 'till ten THIRTY!); my wife asked me if I had 'Show and Tell' tomorrow. You know what I told her she should do. She then said I bet you wish you DID have show and tell, don't you? I concured.

Anyway, I'm quite happy with this process. I'm going to keep sanding and 'forcing a patina' and sanding again. It's already starting to make some really interesting markings on the blade. The trick will be removing any active rust (and pivots are always an issue) without unpinning.

..Oh, I'm using bees wax and good old Kiwi black and also natural boot polish on the scales of the Jernbolaget. I figure if the scales are leather (how cool is THAT?) then it makes sense to use shoe polish...

Attachment 105073

Attachment 105072

I expect to see a proper spit shine on that Jernoblaget! If we can't read the newspaper in the reflection, you better keep spit shining, son...

Oh god... The things those razors are in for! Your a real 'tutu' Carl! (a tūtū is someone who can't help but fiddle and tinker with everything ;)) - one of my fave Maori words lol.

Interesting idea the lemon and vinegar . Will the new 'patina' form a protective coating against new rust??

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Johnus

Interesting idea the lemon and vinegar . Will the new 'patina' form a protective coating against new rust??

---

Grapefruit actually, remember I had no lemons. Concentrate. I have no idea what I'm doing; no idea about patina protecting against rust. What I THINK I know is that the acids seem to stimulate the reaction...

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by EisenFaust

Oh god... The things those razors are in for! Your a real 'tutu' Carl! (a tūtū is someone who can't help but fiddle and tinker with everything ;)) - one of my fave Maori words lol.

---

Yes, I am, always have been. Every thing is broken...

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by LegalBeagle

I expect to see a proper spit shine on that Jernoblaget! If we can't read the newspaper in the reflection, you better keep spit shining, son...

---

Yeah, you're right, it needs more work. Funny how my RSM never appreciated patina, he should have relaxed a bit more. One day I'll tell you all about the daisy chains I made and hung around 'figure eleven' targets on exercise...That was an idyllic spring day on Puckapunyal artillery range...

BTW, I think Maori people are really cool, esp the tatts...
Are you Maori?

Would you mind showing and describing how the leather scales function? Are they hardened in some way or do they have a stiffener?

rolo

Looks pretty good, you've done a nice job :)

I would be a little careful conditioning the scales on the Jernbolaget though, if you overdo it the leather will get soft and loose it's shape.

Just a question....when using something acidic like lemon or grapefruit to force a patina...would the reaction against the blade stopped the moment you rinse it off...or it gonna keep on reacting? What other side effect would force patina give?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by carlmaloschneider

BTW, I think Maori people are really cool, esp the tatts...
Are you Maori?

---

Nope, lily white!

Was just thinking about those leather scales; I restored a rock hard leather bayonet scabbard a while ago - sanded it back and lashed it with 'elephant' wax - brought it right up to a nice soft sheen without compromising the stiffness. Im sure it's sold there somewhere. Great stuff for boots and jackets too.

Hi everyone, thanks for the interest!

The scales are very hard; initially I thought they may be some sort of 'fibre board' or even asbestos. I haven't had them 'tested' or anything, but I have it on good authority that they are leather and they do look as if they are. You can certainly tell this my looking at the edge of the scales. I have thought about the softening problem, esp when I soaked the razor. If I soak it again, to force more patina, I won't include the whole razor.

The forcing of patina seems to stop as soon as the solution is rinsed off; though on the Jernbolaget it seemed to continue for an hour afterwards; maybe I didn't rinse enough on that one? I need to reiterate I'm no expert on this, which is why this isn't in the restoration thread :-)

Rolo, the scales work just like any other scales, they are hard like very stiff cardboard.

Looking again at the razors last night I decided I'm pretty happy with the Hellberg, though I'll sand a little more, but across the blade rather than along the blade. The Jernbolaget needs quite a bit more work to get that really nice, but I think I can do it.

BTW, as I think I may have said, using the citrus juice and vinegar (I forgot to mention it was warmed in the microwave) allowed me to see very very clearly that I hadn't sanded around the pivot enough; it really 'shows up' the rust. Again, I'm no expert, but basically I think the process oxidises the metal...