Restoration Failure. Advice Needed!

I'm relatively new to shaving with a straight (although I have been shaving with a DE for several years and have read a lot on straight razor shaving). I recently decided to try my hand at restoring a few old blades that I purchased at the local antique shop. The one I started with is a W.H. Morely & Sons. Unfortunately I forgot to take pictures of it when I started, but it had some active rust, and a lot of pitting (probably not the ideal restore, but for $11 I figured it might be a good one to try my hand at). I started hand sanding with 220 grit, and was noticing a lot of improvement. Tonight, disaster struck! I noticed a strange mark forming lengthwise about half way between the spine and the edge. Upon closer inspection, I realized that it was a crack! A fracture had formed and with a little flexing of the blade, I could tell it went all the way through. If I applied enough force, it would snap in half. I realize that this blade is lost, but I would like to use this as a learning experience. I have a few theories as to why this may have happened: 1) I sanded too much metal
off and wore through the blade (I had about 5 hours of sanding on the blade), 2) I was sanding on a piece of cardboard, and maybe it was too flexible. My applying pressure to the blade as I sanded put too much stress on the edge, 3) the blade was no good to begin with. I tend to think 2 is the reason.

I would love to hear your thoughts on:

1) Why the blade may have cracked like this.
2) How I can prevent this on future razors I restore (especially the Dubl Duck I bought at the same time as the Morely)
3) If the crack hadn't developed, should I have kept sanding? You can see in the pictures below that there is still some black pit marks. I was trying to get rid of all of them before moving up a grit (based on the reading I did on here before starting this project). Should I have kept going?

I appreciate any help/advice you can provide!



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IMHO I think you were trying too hard to get it PERFECT!
A couple little imperfections in the blade is not a bad thing.

Too much pressure on very thin blade. You have surely bent metal back and forth till it broke ? Same thing only more brittle metal so it takes less movement. Sometimes you won't see a crack until you start sanding but what can you do about that ?

I made a block out of 3/4 ply and covered it with rubber. This lets me hang the spine over the edge of the block and lets the blade lay flat with no hollow underneath and a firm backing. No flexing while sanding and the rubber helps hold it in place. I also made some sanding sticks ( I call them) and the leather gives it more and softer surface area that conforms to the shape of the blade some. This makes the sanding go much faster with less pressure because more paper is on the blade the whole time.It's like using your finger only it feels no pain. Safer for your digits when working next to the edge. I cut strips of paper to match the width of the stick and just move into new paper as I feel the old wear out. I am stingy when using paper and that is silly if you want to move along. You can really feel and see the difference in the amount of work fresh paper does.

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The stick with no leather I use for going over etch. It keeps the paper more out of it but is a lot less forgiving of pressure.
You can see how flat the blade sits on the board. No bending this way but a pain to keep in place. Notice also the pits in the center ? They have to stay because they are soooo deep. Sometimes you can't get them all and that is okay !
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A better view of the blade supported by the board/spine over the edge.
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This pic shows how to sand near the bevel without sanding the surface it's sitting on. This allows you to get real close to the edge but you have to remember the center of the blade has no support now. Also notice the tang hanging out. On this blade the tang is a lot thicker and keeps the blade from laying flat from that direction also. This blade is a thick wedge made around the mid 1700's. Not much chance of splitting it in half so more pressure can be used while sanding.

Another little note on sanding by hand. Go north to south in the first grit and east to west in the next grit. This allows you to see what needs to be done. If you stop with a grit and you don't have the last grits scratches out, I can pretty much guaranty they will be there when you do you final polish :<0)


Hope this helps !

Sometimes, depending on the razor, I do not even use sandpaper. A lot of times it just takes some polishing to get it to shine. I use two different types of polish, one, liquid, the other Mothers paste. If this doesnt get it to shine then I will use my dremal with a nylon brush and the polish. Always work with the brush spinning toward the edge so that it does not hook your edge. I have about 20 razors, most are ones I found cheep and restored and have only had to sand on 2 with this process.

I can't remember ever seeing that kind of issue from sanding.
I can think of 2 possibilities here:
#1 the crack was a result from defect in the metal when the razor was being made.
#2 weak metal in that area and when you sanded you produced some heat that was enough for the crack to form
IMO #1 is more like what happened.
For future restorations go lighter on the sanding, and with more experience you will develop a feel of how much pressure etc.

You might be applying too much pressure. I use a wine cork and wrap the sand paper around. It follows the contour of the blade and I don't apply too much pressure. Also, some stains or patina never come completely out and that is ok. Just my opinion. Good luck.

Thanks everyone for the great advice. I appreciate the help a lot.

bouschie, I actually was using a wine cork, but you are probably right that I was applying too much pressure. I was really trying to get all the marks out!