Quote Originally Posted by Hubris2 View Post
If you wouldn't mind my jumping in here (apologies if this is considered rude), I too just started work cleaning up my first, which happens to be a TR Cadman (and not as fancy as the OP). Does anyone have an idea whether there is a chemical that can be used to clean the stamped letters without having to sand down and lose the depth? When I was taking off the rust, I already went a little far on some of the letters. imgur: the simple image sharer Thanks.
Hubris2,

What grit sandpaper did you use? I never use anything lower than 220 when sanding a razor unless I need to clean up deep pitting. For the stamped letters (as well as the rest of the razor), I find that using 220 and then progressively going up (220, 320, 400, 600, 800, 1000, etc) cleans up the razor well. The trick is that on each higher grit of sandpaper, you "erase" most/all of the scratches that you had created on the previous grit. The higher grits scratch less. Once your work you way up, the stamped letters should be clean with the scratches mostly all removed. Also make sure that you use a combination of horizontal, vertical, and circular swirls when sanding. This makes the scratches blur together and be much less noticeable to the eye.

I used this technique on my own TR Cadman to good effect. However, I did sand up to the 12,000 grit (using micro mesh pads). The Bengall letters are clean but not scratched.

One trick I like to use for cleaning up grime is to use sandpaper with a dab of metal polish. I use Brasso. I am not sure what is available in New Zealand. The polish and sandpaper work together to get a slightly deeper clean of tarnish.