Wade and Butcher near wedge

Found this on the bay. Just looking for suggestions on what techniques to use on something with this level of rust. I would like to retain as much as the etch as possible. My intention for this straight is to restore it to shave ready but not a full restoration. Ideally I get rid of all rust and most of the tarnishing and leave whatever pitting that doesn't effect the usability of the blade. I plan on trying things on other straights first to get a good feel for what effects each technique will have as I don't want to cut my teeth on something like this. I have been reading the media tumbler thread and that looks appealing though it doesn't address the rust and pitting. I have also been reading a lot of the hand sanding stuff and was wondering it there was a good way to keep from dishing out or rounding off things. I figure good use of rubber or cork as a backer instead of a thumb or finger. I guess just mostly wondering what ways you more seasoned vets would use in order to bring it back without taking away from the character or its ability to shave.

thanks in advance,
John
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I don't think a media tumbler is going to remove that.

Hooofah. I'm going to wait on the more experienced blade restorer, but it looks doomed. Only metal removal will tell.

Welcome to SRP! All kinds of experts as you may have already seen.

Best I can say is to attack the active rust first. Soak the active rust in some sort of penetrating oil. Work the rust with a pencil-point occasionally. Wipe off and repeat. Then, penetrating oil and a light dremel wire brush run slowly and rotating toward the cutting edge while avoiding the etch. Wipe, soak, repeat. See what is under there.

there has been a couple of posts on re etching missing engraving. I don't think it is for the first time restorer. You could follow the instructions given thus far and be very careful to preserve what you can and then revisit some time later when you learn more or send it to someone to re etch later as well. First thing is first though, start the process of removing what rust you can and getting a better look at what is there. There is no telling how deep it runs until you get there. Good luck, and be patient and work it slowly.

I usually use CLR and a brass brush to get most of it off. Do NOT soak the blade in the CLR. Apply a small amount with a tooth brush and scrub with brass brush. Rinse with water occasionally to check progress.

So you don’t care about the etch?

Cut off the rust with a single edge Razor blade to see how deep it goes, clean with WD40 and steel wool.
Then hand sand. Start with 320 and go up or down from there.

Tumbler will round off all the edges and still not get the pitting. Buffing or sanding is the only way.

Make a backer by cutting a piece of wine cork flat wrap with Wet and sand.

Except for the rust, it looks in nice condition.

I would like to keep the etching intact as best as possible, and I am not so concerned with pitting, more interested in getting off the rust and seeing if it can take an edge. I just realized I didn't post a pic of the scales, they have pretty extensive parasite damage, is there a good resource for period scales?

Scrape the crusty rust with a knife or similar
Then I have found Evaporust to work very well and doesn't damage good steel
Then say hello to the sanding cramps using a cork or similar hard backer with as high low 600 maybe grit to start then work to a finer grit
With heavy pitting or rust you may need to go a lower grit also
Check out the how too's in the search for this info also

Note the CLR will eat your good steel on the blade also if left to long soaking

For scales
Trace the originals or search for the "scales PDF" then print the ones you want at 1:1
all good

Fooled around with some 400 grit sand paper and rubber contoured sanding blocks:
Attachment 190445Attachment 190446

It looks like there is still most of the etch there. Yoou might be getting lucky on this one. After you do six hundred do it again with WD-40 or similar. Then work your way up to 2000.

Yes, you did get lucky, I would have thought the rust much deeper.

If you want to remove all the pitting you will lose some etch, I would leave some pitting and keep the etch.

When you sand go from edge to spine and from heel to toe, it goes quicker and the scratches are not as deep.

You might think about a satin finish as opposed to a shiny finish, it will hide the pitting better.

Wolfpack34 has done some great satin finish razors recently that he finished with Croesus Cloth after 1k finish. You can buy it at Ace Hardware for about a dollar or two per sheet or in rolls. Buy the fine grit. You only need a small piece and it last a long time, so don’t throw it away when done.

I'm glad you brought up what sheen, I have been assuming a period finish would be satin but havent been able to find anything definitive regarding that. I was planning on taking it to a mirror finish then rubbing it back with pumice, the same way I would do with a finish on furniture or a cabinet, and if the pumice wasn't aggressive enough maybe a 1 or 3 micron diamond paste loaded on some t shirt. The scales are a little worm eaten as well but still plenty serviceable despite the way they look. Both are a little warped and have what I would describe as an integral wedge. Which brings me to my next question, what should I do for the wedge? During a quick search all I could seem to find were horn replacement kits and they came with ebony, though I wonder why not just use horn?

If any of this sounds off base let me know. I plan on steaming and pressing the scales in an attempt to flatten them back out, as well as flattening out the insides and adding a wedge (material undecided, but preferably period or otherwise understated as I believe it fits the look better on this particular piece). A question on washers for pins, the ones on it aren't flat, when I finally un pin the wedge side of the scales I'll try and get a good picture of them, though may be one of you can tell from the pics in my first post. I have done some searching on the internets but came up empty.

Btw, this is too much fun..., no really.

Yea, pumice works, as does Diamonds you just want uniform or wet and dry.
Look up Wolfpack34’s recent razor post, it is some of the nicest satin finishing I have seen, he is using Crocus.
Read the Library on razor restoration a lot of sources are listed there, most of us use Mico Fastners for collars.

Horn can be repaired by sanding the scales on the inside save the dust and mix with clear epoxie, there are several threads on that as well.

Horn was traditional and can be purchased from a number of sources, just bought some off EBay that looks real nice.

Lead wedges were also traditional and add a bit to the balance.

You are soooo hooked....

Welcome

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Euclid440

Tumbler will round off all the edges and still not get the pitting.

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I would like to disagree with the first part of this statement, the tumbler media is not going to remove metal, only polish. These things were made to polish brass casings which are much softer than hardened steel. Of the hundreds of thousands of brass casings I have reloaded, none have rounded edges. Of the dozen or so razors I've polished in the tumbler, none have rounded edges. The tumbler is a great tool to get a uniform final finish and to remove light rust and tarnish while leaving etchings in tact. You are correct as far as pitting, it does not do much for that.

A lot depends on the condition of the blade, the number of blades and how long you leave in the tumbler.

If the blade is not that rusty and you only put in one blade and not leave it for too long, it will probably be ok, but banging and vibrating against the sides of the tumbler will round off the edges of the razor, if left for a length of time.

A razor blade, steel wool and WD40 is much quicker then, hand sanding or buffing is quicker and gives you total control over the finish, etch and the edges.

Or you toss it in and hope, there is no control over the outcome. I have done both ways… I hand sand and buff, haven’t use the tumbler for razors for years…