Finishing ebony and repinning, washers or not?

Well, it's been a while since I posted and things have moved on quite a bit. I'm not quite at the 'treatment required' stage but it won't be long. After 6 months of shaving with a straight I'm now restoring them for my own use - my pride and joy being a Kropp I tidied up and honed, now in regular use. Not a major restoration by the standards here, but a first dip in the water.

You guys were right about starting with a shave ready razor from an expert to set a benchmark, that honing is tough...

My latest project is a Cadman and Sons 'Bengall'. It was pretty beaten up. Bent pins (what happened there!), ebony scales with bad scratching around the blade pins and a little yellowed ivory spacer. Blade intact, badly tarnished and pitted in places. Clearly a job for taking apart and re pinning. All that done the blade looks great (so much so that the Kropp might be the next one for a fully stripped down service) and the ebony scales although a little thinner toward the ends are silky smooth and sound, ivory has come up white. So I now have a couple of questions...

- What to finish the ebony with? I was considering Tung oil?

- The original set up had no washer spacers between scales and blade. I have the option to put these on now, although I'd prefer to keep the original set up. Is there any advantage/disadvantage to this? Old razors don't have them, but I've seen newly scaled razors with them on. Would there by any point here?

Any thoughts would be much appreciated. Thank you all.

Without those washers it seems a blade will ultimately (over decades) wear down the inside of the scales to some degree. Once that wear gets to a point, the blade can go off center when closing and the edge will contact the scales near the wedge area. That's just my assessment though. Another consideration is wear to the tang. Over time you see a bunch of scratch marks where the scales rub the tang. That doesn't affect it's function but looks badly to me. As a result I always add those 2 washers. It seems to stabilize things and keep the tang cleaner to my mind and has no down side.

I'm certainly no expert here but did the scales have wear on the insides from being opened and closed without extra washers for decades? Was the metal on the tang scratched from touching the ivory? Dont' think so at least.

Liberon Finishing Oil is good for wood - it has a hardener and polishes to a sheen. You will need 3 or 4 coats with minimum 6 hours in-between.

The inside washers are used for the reasons given above although I think it would take an awful lot of use to wear ebony to such an extent that the blade catches the scales. Another reason was to add a bit of padding to a tapered tang in order that the blade doesn't rub the scales when being closed. You can easily make some by using standard pinning washers and flattening them out with a hammer. Make sure they are thin enough not to be noticed.

They're called thrust washers -- the wafer-thin brass washers we find between the razor's tang and its scales -- and their purpose is to reduce the friction at, and prevent wear around, the junction of tang, scales, and pivot pin. Don't leave home without 'em.

One good thing I find with using washers other than mentioned reasons is that it seems to help the razor open and close more smoothly than without. Plus it adds alittle space so water has a harder time staying put. Ebony can be sanded to a fine grit and left alone. I've tried a light coating of tung oil and it didn't seem to do much that sanding alone wouldn't do. Maybe with more coats it would add more luster I don't know.

The finish depends on the look you want. tung oil is easy but offers little moisture resistance, plus it leaves an amber hue. You could use a wiping varnish like behelens or general finishes in satin semi gloss or gloss and it will be clear. or a few coats of shellac and wet sand with 2k for a nice satin finish. use the zenser bulls eye in the yellow can from lowes or home depot.

Ebony is incredibly close grained and it is naturally moisture resistant, so it does not take much to set it up - I only use Ren Wax and have never had a problem.

I have tried hardening-type oil finishes like tung on very dense hardwoods before, but they don't seem to work that well - not enough penetration I suppose, and tend to buff off. Maybe I just didn't expreriment enough though.

Regards,
Neil

like Neil mentioned ebony is tight grained and the oils dome penetrate as deep. shellac can be thinned with denatured alcohol 50/50 for the first coat, then wipe on with a rag for later coats. it melts into itself like laquer and you can usually apply additional coats in about 10 minutes til you have the look you want, it will cure overnight then finish the finish with a light high grit wet sand to knock of dust nibs then buff and seal with a furniture wax.

many guitar luthiers use the process above on ebony fretboards to keep oil and dirt out of them but it still looks like just wood that's been buff out. look at YouTube under obrien guitars and especially sixgun guitars, lots of good info on finishing exotic woods and domestics as well

oh I forgot another finish I just tried is general finishes wood turner finish. you can apply it with a paper towel, do a coat or two or build a film to gloss. it dries fast and comes in about2oz 8oz pints and quarts and is food safe when cured. awesome stuff it looks like .CA when you build it up and is water based you can use it as a sanding sealer too.

hey Neil I posted a thread in the workshop with some pics of the stuff and a set of curly bubinga scales I used it on if anyone is interested in seeing how the stuff looks. the scales aren't finish sanded and buffed, but should give a decent idea of what to expect.

I used CA on my scales for Ebony. WIPE with acetone, 3 Thin coats then sand down. A few more Medium thickness coats and buff... Looks like GLASS!

Ebony, being what ebony is,looks it's best with no finish IMO.highly polished and Ren-waxed.

As already stated above Ebony is fine grain wood and doesn't need much of anything..

I am quite taken with the Danish Oil for these types of woods then Ren-Wax,,, Probably not needed but it works pretty well, a thin oil designed for penetrating tight grain woods works easy, I use a Vacuum chamber with them now, but it works just as easy with a rag :)

I was given the tip about finishing oil on ebony from a brush maker - maybe it is more important when the wood is subject to immersion in very hot water but I worked on the principle that if it was good for a brush then it was OK for scales as well.

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Originally Posted by UKRob

I was given the tip about finishing oil on ebony from a brush maker - maybe it is more important when the wood is subject to immersion in very hot water but I worked on the principle that if it was good for a brush then it was OK for scales as well.

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Submerging the handle of any brush in hot water is not a good thing,no need to do so IMO.

Thanks to all for the tips, it sounds like my best bet is to keep it simple with either no finish or a simple waxing as my usual go to Tung oil isn't going to do much good!

I made some wax polish a while back from beeswax and natural turpentine and might give that a go to shine up the surface, but as some of you have said the natural buff from sanding down is really good enough and isn't going to go away or need much attention. It's remarkable wood, almost like plastic to sand down, amazingly tight grained.

True, jet black Ebony looks great with just Some fine Oil and wax.
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b3...one/clones.jpg

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Originally Posted by pixelfixed

True, jet black Ebony looks great with just Some fine Oil and wax.

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They look amazing, great Ebony and nice turning - your work? Particularly like the one on the right, I like a bit of a curve to rest on the scuttle!

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Originally Posted by Apis

They look amazing, great Ebony and nice turning - your work? Particularly like the one on the right, I like a bit of a curve to rest on the scuttle!

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Yes my work, those are only taken down to 600 grit than polished with rottenstone and oil than several coats of ren-wax.

They look really nice