Thread: Very Old Blade Restore

I’m hesitant to put this up here, since I’m not sure I can call it truly restored. The age and poor condition of the blade prohibits restoration beyond a point, without reforging it. I considered leaving it as a solid lump of rust per its arrived, due to its age but curiosity got in the way. I appreciate there may be some of the opinion that I should have left it as it was and I half agree with this sentiment. The blade was advertised as being from the Middle English period - I was unable to find an exact confirmation of this but it is certainly very old.

Rust was stripped by hand - not a task I wish to undertake again in a hurry.

Removed most of the chips, although it became clear that the huge chip near the middle would require too much material removed to make it feasible - the blade isn’t very large and it would have made it far smaller.

Polished the blade but some of the pitting is hellishly deep so they were left for the time being - I’m still not decided whether to clean them out properly. The blade took a nice polish on the areas not plagued by rust and pitting, although I tried to leave the discoloured metal where I felt it was appropriate.

Scales of black horn, a wedge made from turquoise and brass hardware surround the blade. I had to custom make the scales due to the very short length of the blade and decided I’d try a more unusual material for the wedge. It was my first time making both and the result wasn’t too shabby.

The blade was honed freehand at first and refined on stones with multiple layers of tape once the bevel was set. The steel is very delicate and honing it was an education in itself; although one that I’m glad I had the opportunity to experience. Hanging hair test passed and shaved with, producing a passable shave. Due to the lower carbon content of the blade, the edge does not hold as well as a more modern blade but this wasn’t entirely a surprise. It must be confessed, being able to shave with it had never crossed my mind when I first received the blade so the restoration, such as it is, surpassed my expectations.

Blade as received:



“Restored”:


With scales (Further polished, subsequently, than shown in the photographs):



Open, with gratuitous coticule shot:



I’m still not convinced about leaving the discolouration on the blade although I did hone out the other small chips that are visible, leaving only the large one. The blade is now at 4/8 after removing the remaining small chips, although I don’t plan to remove the huge chip, which would make the blade 2/8” at the very most, likely 1/8.

True wedge - 4/8” - Blade length: 2 7/8” (With tang: 3 7/8”)

Ah, Some of the photos aren’t pointing to the full sized images - I’m not sure how I can correct this… Grrr for being computer illiterate.

I couldn't edit it fully enough to sort the links so made a new thread with working links instead. Please delete the thread that this message belong to - I'd do it myself but the forum doesn't seem to allow it.

Better man than me man,I would have tossed that blade in the trash.
Your actually shaving with that big chip still presant??

Somewhere during hand sanding it, I did question my own sanity but pressed on. It's old and I felt sorry for the state it was in - although there was only so much that my skill allowed me to do.

I've shaved with it twice, mostly for the experience of having done it. I don't see it as a daily shaver as you could imagine. Yes, it does shave despite the chip of death - the chip has been blunted and shaving involves using the part of the blade after said chip.

Very nice job on the scales. Blade clean up must have been a real nightmare to do. The finished result is impressive considering it's initial condition. Must have been very satisfying to shave with it after all that work!

Originally Posted by Trimmy72

Very nice job on the scales. Blade clean up must have been a real nightmare to do. The finished result is impressive considering it's initial condition. Must have been very satisfying to shave with it after all that work!

By the way if you click on the pictures it'll show a larger picture in another window...

You shaved with the actual rusty bevels?
You did get recent tetanus shots, right ?

Originally Posted by Trimmy72

By the way if you click on the pictures it'll show a larger picture in another window...

Indeed, the small thumbnails do flatter the condition that it is in.

Shaving is satisfying in the sense that it is an achievement but if I'm honest, it's far from the best shave I've ever had!

Fear not, the blade was disinfected to the best of my ability and I do have an up-to-date tetanus immunization.

Originally Posted by Trimmy72

By the way if you click on the pictures it'll show a larger picture in another window...

Indeed, the small thumbnails do flatter the condition that it is in.

Shaving is satisfying in the sense that it is an achievement but if I'm honest, it's far from the best shave I've ever had!

Fear not, the blade was disinfected to the best of my ability and I do have an up-to-date tetanus immunization.

Originally Posted by Christel

Indeed, the small thumbnails do flatter the condition that it is in.

Shaving is satisfying in the sense that it is an achievement but if I'm honest, it's far from the best shave I've ever had!

Fear not, the blade was disinfected to the best of my ability and I do have an up-to-date tetanus immunization.

You do not get tetanus from rust folks,Tetanus is a soil bourne bacterium as such rusty nails buried in the dirt harbor the bacteria.