Thread: First Project

I've bought a Crown and Sword straight from E-bay as a first project and it has some fairly heavy rust on the point end of the spine which looks to be from being in contact with a wet coffin?!? (You can see the curve in the metal in the picture?)

Apart from that the blade is mildly discoloured in places and I want to clean it up! so...a couple of questions for you helpful restoration gurus please?

1) How do I do I get rid of the dreaded rust without leaving a horrible scar??!?
2) How do I polish the blade without removing the etching from the blade which is in good condition?


All help very gratefully received!!!!!

I might not be the best to answer this...however, it really depends on how deep the rust goes. Your first option is to scrape off the rust on the blade (I use dental tool-like scrapers) and see how bad the pitting is. To save the etching is going to be difficult, however, one thing working in your advantage is that the rust is up off the etching. To completely remove the signs of rust you will have to sand down to the deepest pitting, and to do this with out making it obvious (to save the etching) is going to be extremely difficult. The discolorations might just be water stains which can be polished out (my personal preferance is maas, but there are other great brands out there...and I also use a dremel with small polishing wheels).

If you are thinking about restoration as more of a hobby in that you are planning on restoring a few blades, I recommend Bill Ellis's restoration CD/DVD. It covers everything you'll need to know.....

I hope some of this helps, and feel free to ask many questions here.
OH, and pictures do help!!

C utz

Lots of references on this formum to a Maas polish for cleaning up old razors... I don't think that's available here in the UK though?

I've bought my first straight from an antiques shop and want to tidy it up a bit. What products (available in the UK) might be good for that? I already own a Dremel tool with polishing wheels (haven't used it for that purpose yet, so they're new).

I've also ordered Bill's dvd on razor restoration, but it hasn't arrived yet and I'm itching to have a go...

BTW, I'm only really asking about removing marks from the blade. I've got the hone / strop combo sorted already.

Actually the etching on those blades is quite deep. (If I'm not misstaken.) If that is the case then you can safely polish/sand/maas over the stuff without fear of removal. Check first though if it really IS deep etching. You can do that by feel. Most etching can hardly be felt. The ERN crown and sword razors I've had in my hand you could really stick your nail into the etching and get caught a little.

Actually, I have managed to find Maas in the UK. If you have a branch of Lakeland near you, have a look there. Also available on the net. I was surprised at how much better it was than the other polishes I'd tried so highly recommend it.
My girlfriend couldn't believe that I spent more in that shop than she did!