Thread: The Butchered Blade

Originally Posted by MikeT

Okay cool, that's reassuring. I was planning on setting the pins in a bit and filing them flush, figure cut down on protrusion. It's good to know that its been done.
I know inlays are cooler, but I figure if I bevel the edges of the silver it will go well with the scales.

Drill the holes in the silver and make a small bevel at the top so it wedges in. Does not take much peening to attach. Grind smooth on the front and back.

Was looking but couldn't find a thread on how to do proper inlays.
I think there needs to be clarification:
Most the posts were about removing and re-attaching metallic embellishments. Most of the metallic scale additions of the 1900s do not seem to have been actual inlays. They were more often very thin metal decorations sitting on top of the scales. That to my knowledge is not an inlay. More of an embellishment? What's the word I'm looking for?
Anyway, "real" inlays were as we know put in with the help of a Roper Whitney Tool. We have a Dremel that should do as well if not better.. but I looked and can't find a good tutorial... something more than a few pics of old, and a basic description.
Removing metallic embellishments and re-attaching them is easy enough... but "real" inlays with no seem?
Anybody have the link? Knowledge and know how?
It would be real cool to see some of our razors with some proper inlays! You know, that extra little addition!!!

If you do the basic cut out with a really tiny bit in a Dremel and the clean up the corners a little with a small chisel it should look pretty sharp and not be crazy time consuming. Slow and steady wins the race!

I will let you fellows delve into that fancy stuff. Maybe I will get MikeT to make me some fancy scales someday??

So. Being a hammer and screwdriver guy, I am keeping it simple. Rubbed my scales with a Sharpie and let that dry overnite. Then, I scuffed them with the grain of the horn with some 100 a bit, smoothed that out with fine steel wool, and slathered them with neetsfoot.

Again, not going overboard, the toe of the blade was swooped upward a bit and breadboarded/high angle honed some without scales. I hit the blade with a Dremel and Scotchbrite buffs, the medium and then the fine, after which, some CroOx powder was rubbed with a scrap of 800 crocus and WD40. Then, out to the buffer sparingly with black compound. This gives the steel an 'old' look, sort of bluish-gray instead of super chrome shiny.
I will go in this circle a few more times to get it relatively uniform while my scales soak up the oil for a day or so.

Corian counters seem to be very popular in this thread.

Nice blade. I like the finish on it too.

Originally Posted by sharptonn

I will let you fellows delve into that fancy stuff. Maybe I will get MikeT to make me some fancy scales someday??

So. Being a hammer and screwdriver guy, I am keeping it simple. Rubbed my scales with a Sharpie and let that dry overnite. Then, I scuffed them with the grain of the horn with some 100 a bit, smoothed that out with fine steel wool, and slathered them with neetsfoot...

Man those scales look shiny! The finish on the blade looks great!
I need to work on my blade restoring skills more. All those fancy tricks you have, the process.. I am going to have to start working with. Different finishes and such. Until that celebrate W&B, my idea of a blade finish was "just get it as shiny as possible"... I'm expanding my understanding of blade finishes.
Thanks for the tutorials, it will sink in, takes a while but I'll figure it out.

HA! There is a millwork shop behind my business, Rez! You would be appalled at how much Corian they throw away. I have a half-ton of it behind the shed at home. Great for making all sorts of things. Cutting boards, inside and out on the grill, etc.
Here are some balsa strops I made from it!

Originally Posted by MikeT

Man those scales look shiny! The finish on the blade looks great!
I need to work on my blade restoring skills more. All those fancy tricks you have, the process.. I am going to have to start working with. Different finishes and such. Until that celebrate W&B, my idea of a blade finish was "just get it as shiny as possible"... I'm expanding my understanding of blade finishes.
Thanks for the tutorials, it will sink in, takes a while but I'll figure it out.

They look shiny as they are slathered with oil, MikeT! In actuality, the finish will be quite matte as-done.
Too-shiny blades look fake to me. I like to make them look 'correct' as much as I can.
My next project will be to 'tone down' a super polished turd. Should be fun!

So as we approach 100 pages in I just have to say,,awesome work on the beaten and bruised blades boys!
Keep it up.

There are a few different ways to go with blade finishes. Here is one I did some time ago with bluing and bleach. The blade was never going to hold up to a polish of any kind and the line on the blade were already blown so I thought it was a good piece for experimentation.

I have not figured out yet how to get the scales to look very old. In time and with more experimentation I may get closer.