Wade and Butcher - ouch - crack in blade

This one hurts the pride a bit. I had finished cleaning up a nice looking Wade & Butcher 6/8" blade and put it in some nice Maple wood scales.
Somehow I had missed seeing a crack in the blade, which may have happened when I accidentally dropped it while pinning it together. I am hoping it may be salvageable with some serious reshaping, but the crack seems to go about 1/3 of the way up from the edge about 1/2" from the shoulder - so maybe not :(

As they say pics tell the story so have included some here to show the damage. If it's not salvageable perhaps a collector will be interested in getting hold of it as it looks to be in good overall condition. All suggestions and comments welcome. Thanks in advance gents

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Ouch :( Hope you can make a thumb notch or something....

You probably could salvage it (only way to know is to try), but, personally, I'd just put it aside and move onto another razor. So many out there, so little time.

MattCB and Holli4pirating - Thanks for your input on this.
Decided to put this one aside to work out the problem some other day. Going to do some more reading up on these things and ask some of our restorers about the best way to proceed with this job. Whatever happens it will be a really unusual, and maybe even an ugly razor. Best case I could have a full length razor with a shorter blade. The fact the blade is 6/8"wide could make it look a bit weird. Worst case I will have a razor shaped parcel/box/letter opener. :)

Oh sh*%, I feel for you Rick, I had the same thing happen a couple of weeks ago when I bought a Kropp 6/8 at the Caloundra antiques fair. It was a bit crusty with dirt and rust and when I got it home.... At least I didn't get to the polishing stage so there wasn't much wasted labour.

My sympathies

Mike

BTW I doubt that crack was down to you dropping it; I think it was just there all along waiting to be uncovered by polishing

Rick , you may be able to do something like I had to on this Wosty.
It had lost a chunk out of the heel on the grinder. Brittle steel & wrong angle & snappo.

Mind you on 2nd look that crack seems to go up along way which is a worry.

@Oz

I had a really close look with my USB scope and it seems the crack goes about half way up the blade.
Tried get a clear pic to show it but just couldn't get it right. With this in mind would the blade be salvageable at all?
I only spent about an hour cleaning up the razor as it was in reasonably good condition, so time wise not a lot has been lost.
Thanks for your input and guidance.

Got a photo to show the crack better - not really clear but shows the problem.

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Basically if you can't grind the crack away you won't have success. Use a texta to mark a new profile & see if it's possible.
Ideally the crack should not extend past the tang but if its half way up the blade I'd say you're in trouble.

I'd say that blade was just waiting to snap off. Set it aside and use it for a pattern.

Checked the crack gain on both sides of the razor,and used a straight edge for guidance. Found it stopped (at least what I could see with the naked eye) about 1/8" below the level of the tang. Marked out a shape to grind out to and decided to give it a go grinding the blade carefully.
As they say nothing ventured nothing gained, so with heart in mouth clamped the blade into my vice grips touched it to the grinder at about 45 degrees angle a few seconds at a time, and very carefully cut away the damaged area.
Heeding the caution of so many here stopped and checked heat buildup each time I stopped, thankfully it did not go past being a little warm to the touch. After about 10 minutes the rough shaping bit was done. I saw no sign of the crack so decided to do more shaping work.
Clamped the blade in the bench vice and spent about 30 minutes shaping out the blade some more - used the dremel with a small drum sanding wheel and a light touch on the metal - it seemed to work out OK with the rougher parts now smoothed out.
Next will be the hand filing work to take the burrs of and finalize the new blade shape. That's a job for another day as the wife informs me it's time to stop playing with razor shaped objects and give her some help getting dinner sorted out. :(
Will post some pics later time permitting.

So far so good, may end up a nice razor - or a shiny box opener. Take my chances.

After grinder front side - marked line shows where to stop, went a bit deep at one point.
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Back view after grinder
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Front view after sanding drum work
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Back view after sanding drum
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Not bad. You a brave man.

Without the stabiliser will be more flexible now but a good learning tool for a light touch on the hone & a flat angle on the face.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by DVW

Not bad. You a brave man.

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Not sure about the brave thing mate.
I'm treating this as a new learning experience and expect that I can use knowledge gained for future repairs/restores.
Maybe I just got a bit lucky with this one, long way to go yet.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by onimaru55

Without the stabiliser will be more flexible now but a good learning tool for a light touch on the hone & a flat angle on the face.

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Thanks for the tip Oz, must make sure to mute those points at heel and toe of the razor.

I had to do that recently to one of my razors that I found at a flea market and got for the princely sum of $3.00, it's a Buerger Bro's of Denver CO made by J. A. Henckels. It had a chunk missing out of the heal and so I just said " to heck with it" and started grinding away at it until I had a nice transition that pretty much matched the French point. I honed it up and stropped it with no problems and have shaved with it several times since. I hadn't noticed a lot of flex but then again I don't hammer on a blade when honing. Not meaning to say anyone here does either.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by DVW

Not bad. You a brave man.

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Well, not really. That blade was a goner to begin with. At worst it could have broken and it would still be as unusable as it was to begin with. :) That's why restoring a blade that is essentially worthless is a good idea for beginning restorers. You get to learn new things and if it should go wrong, no need for tears.

Thanks Bruno.

This blade owes me very little which is a good thing. This is my first time trying this kind of fix - I am always willing to learn something new and this is no exception. The support and tips from the forum members always helps keep me focused on what needs to be done. It's always a pleasure to check in here, thanks everyone.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bruno

Well, not really. That blade was a goner to begin with. At worst it could have broken and it would still be as unusable as it was to begin with. :) That's why restoring a blade that is essentially worthless is a good idea for beginning restorers. You get to learn new things and if it should go wrong, no need for tears.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by RickyBeeroun222

Thanks for the tip Oz, must make sure to mute those points at heel and toe of the razor.

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Did that with my E.A. Berg, Rick.
Took too much steel off in the restore & ended up with a very floppy heel so ground it off.

Thanks Oz for the inspiration to finish this one off, my first ever modification of this type
Got it dressed in some blue patterned acrylic scales now.
Honing the edge seemed to go very well, no difficulty honing up to the 8K Naniwa hone.
Muted the points at each end so it will be a bit more user friendly now :)
Expect to shave test tomorrow morning.
And pics to show the final product.

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Good on you Rick.
My kamisori are only 2" long & work fine so that one should work equally well.

Very nice like the blue scales.

Got to shave test this razor this morning and came away with a nice smooth shave.
It felt a bit unusual with the shorter blade length and the near 6/8 width made it interesting.
Glad I muted those points - thanks for that tip Oz :)
Definitely worth the effort to save it from the scrapheap.

I really want to give thanks to all the members who post about their efforts here day in day out.
Whether it is good or bad these members are telling us about their experiences.
Trying new things and improving on what they already do so well.
These people make it possible for members like me to try new things and overcome some of the problems that come along.
Thanks guys - I salute you

Quote:

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Originally Posted by RickyBeeroun222

Got to shave test this razor this morning and came away with a nice smooth shave.
It felt a bit unusual with the shorter blade length and the near 6/8 width made it interesting.
Glad I muted those points - thanks for that tip Oz :)
Definitely worth the effort to save it from the scrapheap.

I really want to give thanks to all the members who post about their efforts here day in day out.
Whether it is good or bad these members are telling us about their experiences.
Trying new things and improving on what they already do so well.
These people make it possible for members like me to try new things and overcome some of the problems that come along.
Thanks guys - I salute you

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Your gonna make me cry:cry:

Great job on the razor.

Nice save, very nice save...looks great and will be an excellent razor.

Good on yea...:tu