Thread: Starting My First Two Restorations

Decided to try my hand at restoration, so I went to Larry at Whipped dog, thinking I would get a couple of razors I knew could take an edge, but were faces only a mother could love.

Since I shave only with shorties these days, I asked him what he had... of the 5 he showed me, I went with these two... a Dubl Duck Goldedge, and an Electric Cultlery.

The Duck, I am wondering, may be old school as it looks like gold paint around the pin. Because of this, I think I will end up painting it the gold and blue again that it may have been when it was born.

One side of the Duck looks very workable... the other.. .oy! Tons of live rust. It didnt come out in the pictures, but it looks like a blob of gooey red-brown. I suspect much pitting, and many hours of hand sanding... but I am hoping I get lucky!

The Electric Cutlery is in much better nick, and looks like it was just a botched restore. Hopefully with not much sanding, I can get rid of the previous sanding marks, and she will be back to being a fine shaver, and looker!

Both will need scales, and I will lilkely send them out to be rescaled, as I dont have the tools or skill to make them. But the scales on them now are nasty plastic, way too big for the blades!

Anyway, hoping to get started on them this weekend... so here are some "before" shots of how I received them:

The Duck...






And the EC...

The first is a good one to practice upon. The oddest Duck I've seen so far!
The second will probably repay your efforts with some nice shaves.
~Richard

Yeah on that GoldEdge I would not bother to go past an orange peel finish on the back of that blade. You want to kill the active rust but it is not worth the trouble to go so deep as to get a smooth surface.

Then again, it's a practice blade, so if you wish, grind away!

Hey nothing wrong with a Duckling:

Originally Posted by Utopian

Yeah on that GoldEdge I would not bother to go past an orange peel finish on the back of that blade. You want to kill the active rust but it is not worth the trouble to go so deep as to get a smooth surface.

Then again, it's a practice blade, so if you wish, grind away!

Going to do this all with hand sanding, so, I may not want to spend the time. I am going to take off the rust and see what it looks like under there... if the pitting it shallow, I may spend some extra time getting it out. I will know tomorrow after I soak it in Evaporust.

Originally Posted by Geezer

The first is a good one to practice upon. The oddest Duck I've seen so far!
The second will probably repay your efforts with some nice shaves.
~Richard

Indeed! I have never seen a shorty Duck before! (not counting my DD Dwarf, complete with original plastic cover and instructions!)

Originally Posted by Chevhead

Hey nothing wrong with a Duckling:

Nice! And you have a shorty, to boot!

Yes Sir!
I like the shorties.
They are fun to work on for sure...

Take your time and remember to have fun doing it.
If you start to get frustrated put it down and come back later.
There is no rush to get it done if it is for YOUR OWN ENJOYMENT!

Good advice, Ed! Thanks!

Soaked both in Evaporust. The EC came clean, and the DD left behind some soft of hard, black material... its going to take a lot of sanding to get it off.

Soo.... started with the EC today, and sanded for a few hours until my fingers couldnt take it any more.

Its amazing how nice it looks just going though the low grit papers.

Started with 180 (though still left a little pitting, and a little patina) then 220, then 400, 600 and 800, and she's looking fantastic!

While sanding, though, I discovered the blade is warped (though the spine seems straight, so perhaps it can be fixed)... I am going to finish her anyway. She still may make a good shaver, despite the warp. And its not like I couldn't use the practice!

Originally Posted by Aldwyn

I have never seen a shorty Duck before! (not counting my DD Dwarf, complete with original plastic cover and instructions!)

They were not made like that - it was most likely damaged and somebody cut off about a quarter of the blade and rounded it probably as an alternative to throwing it away. And all goldedges came with gold plated tangs, but it rubs off very easy so it survives only on the ones that have seen very little use.

Originally Posted by Aldwyn

Soaked both in Evaporust. The EC came clean, and the DD left behind some soft of hard, black material... its going to take a lot of sanding to get it off.

Soo.... started with the EC today, and sanded for a few hours until my fingers couldnt take it any more.

Its amazing how nice it looks just going though the low grit papers.

Started with 180 (though still left a little pitting, and a little patina) then 220, then 400, 600 and 800, and she's looking fantastic!

While sanding, though, I discovered the blade is warped (though the spine seems straight, so perhaps it can be fixed)... I am going to finish her anyway. She still may make a good shaver, despite the warp. And its not like I couldn't use the practice!

The Evapo-Rust will turn dark/black when it's time to replace the liquid. If you got a lot of black off it, replenish the Evapo-Rust and give it another soak for a couple of hours....won't hurt it and could save you some sanding time.

Good luck!