First Razor for Restoration!

Hello everyone! This is my first post so I apologize if I have the wrong format or am in the wrong section. I recently purchased a Manhattan Cutlery Co. Sheffield razor as a $10 eBay find. I would be happy to hear the input of any more experienced restorers out there. Is this a good 1st razor to try and restore? Also, are these scales salvageable? I like the idea of keeping the razor as close to how it would have been from the maker, but those scales look pretty shot to me at least. I already have wet/dry sandpaper from 220-2000 grit, a electric buffer with several wheels, 6 polishing compounds from black emery to blue plastic polish, and i also have a decent set of hones. Just hoping to hear advise from some seasoned restorers. Also any information about this razor would be appreciated as I know Sheffield is generally regarded as good, but I know nothing of Manhattan Cutlery Co. I'm guessing late 1800's early 1900's based on a little searching? Thanks for any and all information.

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That's a fine first razor. 1891 or earlier?

Scales are rough, but still have life in them if you get creative.

BUT! I would REALLY recommend sticking to the hand sanding and skipping the buffing machine. Practice buffing on a JUNK blade before trying your hand on a nice old razor like this one.
I think you will be really surprised and pleased at how well this one is going to turn out with the basic hand powered restoration. :gl:

That is a tough one for a first restore. There is a thread currently that is all work in progress post by guys that are restoring some less than perfect candidates. It is not a bad one to follow along and perhaps join in. Those scales are save-able but they need a lot of work. I see nothing wrong with that as a first choice. It will be a lot of work. Most people would start with the easy fix er uppers and work their way to the tougher ones. http://straightrazorpalace.com/works...ed-wb-fbu.html

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Originally Posted by RezDog

That is a tough one for a first restore. I see nothing wrong with that as a first choice. It will be a lot of work. Most people would start with the easy fix er uppers and work their way to the tougher ones. http://straightrazorpalace.com/works...ed-wb-fbu.html

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That all depends on what Level of restoration they are attempting. To make it pristine yes, a lot of work. To bring to a state of clean, good looking and useable? Not hard at all. (imho)

That is a very true observation. Clean and functional is simple. All you need is steel wool and polish, oh and elbow grease is the most important part of all restores.

First...that is a nice blade that you have there. Manhattan Cutlery are very nice shavers. As both Rezdog and Magpie have already indicated, the blade appears that it can be restored to pristine, and the scales can be repaired and restored as well...BUT, it would require a lot of patience and work, not to mention techniques that just have to be learned. Better to clean it quickly, hone it, shave with it, and pick up a much easier candidate to start your restoration learning process. You'll always have this razor as a shaver until you develop the skills necessary to bring it back to where you really want it.

Of course...I never listened to good advice when starting out, sooooo...it's just my opinion now as a much older and wiser version of yesterday's me...:D

Wolfpack has it right!

Clean it up and restore a couple to learn some techniques of what will work and what doesn't.
It is a nice razor for sure and I would also advise NOT to use the buffer! (for now at least)

I too NEVER listened and ALWAYS seemed to take the hard road when learning stuff, so you can take my opinion and do with it what you may.... :shrug:

Thanks for the replies everyone. Being the bullheaded young man that I am, I'm going to try and restore this razor. I may practice my sanding on a $5 gold dollar first though. lol So start out at a low grit and proceed through to the 2000? I'm going to scrap the scales and start fresh as I don't believe I have the skills yet to tackle repairing them. Looks like I get to make my first set of scales with my first restore! Thanks for all the good advice and info on the razor!

Well if you would like to make new scales, be sure to save those ones. When doing restoration work you need to remember a few things. Slow and steady wins the race is quite important. Rush a restore and ruin a blade is what Glen told me and I can't gel but believe it was sounds advice. The other thing to think about is what you remove from the blade you cannot put back. Feel free to PM people with questions. I am currently restoring old scales that I removed early on, and looking for old blades with broken scales to fit my old ones. It's funny how thing circle around sometimes. Everyone that responded in this thread has done some very nice work when it comes to restores and may be a good resource for you when you have questions. You can always post another thread too.

Biggest help for hand sanding that I found was to take a block of wood and set some magnets in it with epoxy, then cover them with tape and attach your intended restore to it. You can also make various sand paper backers out f large art erasers. I also suggest using some sort of lubricant for sanding, it clears swarf and makes the sand paper dull less quickly. I use mineral oil for lube, though really anything will work.

And for saving a buck, being careful, and learning a lot while restoring, Cheap tools!:

http://straightrazorpalace.com/works...storation.html

~Richard

Actually, I tend to go backwards in my hand sanding.

Start with nothing more course than 600 grit to get the top rust off. You truly can not assess the situation until you have it clean. Starting off with a course grit automatically sets deeper scratches that will need to be removed, and can be totally unnecessary. I typically start with 1000 grit. Rub clean, assess. Needs more? Drop a grit. Go again.
Save the original scales. You can use them to draw the patern you will need for the new ones. In the future when you have more experience you can opt to restore them, or use them to practice restorations.
Looking forward to seeing the progress.

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Originally Posted by Magpie

Actually, I tend to go backwards in my hand sanding.

Start with nothing more course than 600 grit to get the top rust off. You truly can not assess the situation until you have it clean. Starting off with a course grit automatically sets deeper scratches that will need to be removed, and can be totally unnecessary. I typically start with 1000 grit. Rub clean, assess. Needs more? Drop a grit. Go again.
Save the original scales. You can use them to draw the patern you will need for the new ones. In the future when you have more experience you can opt to restore them, or use them to practice restorations.
Looking forward to seeing the progress.

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I also like to start high, then slowly go lower then progress back up again.

I don't wish to hijack this thread. However here's an example of bringing a razor back from the dead but leaving some 'history' to it by starting
'high' and working back down then up.

http://straightrazorpalace.com/custo...n-cleanup.html

I do hope it's of some help. :shrug:

Well it looks like we are all on the same page. I try to get a good look first off too. I often start with coarse steel wool and WD-40, get the gross mess removed and look at it with a little magnification to try to decide where to go. I am more content to sand forever with 1000 grit than to spend forever try to get all of the 320 scratches out. I rarely drop below 600. I do most of my work by hand and use bottle corks for sandpaper backing. I also mask lines on the blades from time to time in an attempt to not erase them. It also works well when working around etchings. A little tape can go a long way.

Thanks everyone, I'm gonna take the advice I'm getting! I found a couple of 6$ Junkers at an antique store I'm gonna practice on before I try a nice razor! I really appreciate all the good info!

I would get lots of grits of wet/dry and sand wet by hand. I usually start with either 400 or 220 if there is only light damage to avoid taking too much metal off. Then I progress to 600, 800, 1000, 1200, 1500, and 2000. This will give you a nice mirror polish, but does take some time! Make sure you spend the time at each grit to get the scratches removed or you will have to start all over! :gaah:
And yes, start with a razor you don't really want to keep!