Thread: Advice on W&B razor with chip in blade

I found this Wade and Butcher at an antique store. Was interested in restoring it and possible making it a usable razor. I have never restored a razor before, but have restored several firearms and have done alot of metal sanding and polishing. Question is: Is this blade able to be restored and shaved with, or should it just get polished and be a neat piece of history? I would rather be able to use it. Blade profile is looks like a wedge and measures 27/32" on a steel rule. Scales are pretty much trashed.
Thanks for any advice.-Ron

Originally Posted by rgould85

I found this Wade and Butcher at an antique store. Was interested in restoring it and possible making it a usable razor. I have never restored a razor before, but have restored several firearms and have done alot of metal sanding and polishing. Question is: Is this blade able to be restored and shaved with, or should it just get polished and be a neat piece of history? I would rather be able to use it. Blade profile is looks like a wedge and measures 27/32" on a steel rule. Scales are pretty much trashed.
Thanks for any advice.-Ron

Looks like it can.
Im at work, so maybe others will chime in with advice for ya

General rule of thumb

If the Chip/Nick is contained within the size of the bevel then it is a pretty safe bet

Larger then the bevel becomes a Maybe Baby

That should be able to be saved, you will have to spend some time on it though! It looks like it has some heavy hone wear and a wide bevil but since it is a wedge there is more steel to work with. You will lose the etch if you go the restoration route, but it will probably end up being a nice shaver

Those scales look like horn which is pretty common on W&B razors. As long as they aren't badly warped or have any bites out of them you can soak them in neatsfoot oil to bring them back to life. As far as the chip in the edge goes that can be honed out without loosing very much that much blade metal. I would try to clean it up with metal polish (Mother's Mag & Aluminum, Flitz, etc.) before resorting to sanding.

It does look like a wedge and W&B wedges make excellent shavers, have one myself and love it.

I have been successful by breadknifing the edge to remove the chip and resetting the bevel. Check first with a magnifier to make sure there are no cracks radiating from the Nick.

Thankyou for all of the advice. Are there any good walk-throughs on repairing and regrinding by hand? I did read the breadknife link.

Go to youtube and watch gssixgun go through the steps of breadknifing a blade. Very interesting video.

being a wedge with hone wear also,
may be a good option to go the extra couple of layers of tape when honing
this will allow for the hone wear & bring the bevel angle up also to help reduce the bevel size & hopefully not lose to much etch when the bevel is reset to suit the reworked chip if no cracks are present
just an option

Here is a thread on making a smiling edge, (Make me Smile). While all does not apply to your razor, you should make a plan and a template then trace the template on to your razor. Experiment with the blade shape until you are happy with the shape, with ink, before you start removing steel.

You don't want to just bread knife the chip out, the blade will look weird with a straight edge.

Ink is cheap and if you are not happy with the design, WD40 will easily remove it and start again. Black Sharpie ink will give you a real good idea what the new edge will look like.

If you just jump in and start grinding, it is very easily to remove too much metal, it is thin at the edge and cannot be put back on.

Should be a nice razor, when you’re done. Make a plan, work your plan.