Gracie straight razor restoration

Crossover from this thread: http://straightrazorpalace.com/showthread.php?t=12692

The razor is in pretty good condition I think. There really isn't anything majorly wrong with it, and I estimate that with a little work, I can get it looking gorgeous again. To save some bandwith, I made the pictures links:

The face: http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c2...e84/razor1.jpg

The face again: http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c2...e84/razor2.jpg

This side is pretty good. There is a little bit of rust on the end next to "Deutsche", but they are very little spots. The lines on the razor aren't cuts, as you can sort of see in a comparison between pic 1 and 2. There is a little grime on the end nearest the handle (on the very right in picture 1 you can see a little bit). The main concern with dealing with this side is not messing up any of the lettering.

The back side: http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c2...e84/razor3.jpg

back side again: http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c2...e84/razor4.jpg

This side has 2 trouble spots: the big one in the top right and the bottom left (first pic clearly shows them). The big spot was caused by me. There is a small rust spot in the middle there, and I wet my thumb a little with some spit and tried to see if it rubbed out. Instead it left behind that mess. The bottom left spot is a small dirt/could be rust spot. There is also a spot right against the blade in the middle (there is a light refraction on it in the first picture).

I'd really like some tips on what I should use to clean this up. It doesn't look like much of a job, but I'm hoping I can do it effectively so that I have a beautiful antique blade.

All in all it looks to be in good condition.

If you decide to use a metal polish, avoid putting any on that blade work. It will rub off with the dirt! What I find works best on cleaning up that sort of 'etching' is renaissance wax. It somewhat 'grabs' the dirt, and leaves the etch on the blade (it works great on gold platting too). The rest of the spots you could probably use maas and a QTip and rub them out...again, avoid the etching and watch the edge!!! (you might want to put a little tape along the edge).

As for the spot on the back....that can be polished out, but the rust will come back with time. If you really want to get that out, you'll need to sand down past the pitting. This takes a bit of work (hand sanding) and there are a bunch of postings here on how to do it (check the archives). Bill Ellis also sells a great DVD/CD on restoration, where he covers how to hand-sand these out.

ALSO, be carefull with that full hollow blade...it's paper thin!!

All in all, that blade is in great condition, especially for a first razor.

Don't be shy, and if you are not sure, ask questions!!! It is better than ruining the blade....
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C utz

Great advice, Chris!

I want to second the warning - I have cracked a couple of razors sanding out imperfections myself :cry: - it's not too hard

CHeers
Ivo