Printable View
My weekend restoration project is this Joseph Rodgers and Sons wedge razor. The edge is a little rough...I will need to straighten the edge. I have never restored or honed a wedge razor before...any tips or suggestions?
Attachment 248594Attachment 248595
You picked a doozy to start with. My process is pretty much the same for most restores. WD-40 and 000 or 0000 steel wool to clean it up, I may or may not first take the top layer of gunk off with a razor blade, it depend what is above the surface and what is in the steel. Once the steel is cleaned and I can see what I am dealing with the likely next step is to get a clean bevel. I most often start that with a 1K, but that often takes far too long on such a job. At which point I will resort to a 600 grit. With nice clean bevel you can then kill the edge and remove the scales. Nice scales like those go into a bag with some neatsfoot oil. I then start on the blade with either 1K or 600 grit paper with a hard backer and use long strokes to get an even blade surface. And then progress up from there. Once the blade is clean and you have removed as many of the pits as you want you then begin to polish out the scratches. Once I start to remove the scratches I use WD-40 with my wet dry. That is the basics.
Multiple layers of tape on the spine and get ready to remove a lot of steel.
also when you say straighten the edge, do you mean it's got a bend/twist in the spine or the bringing the cutting edge in line by removing dings/chips?
There appears to be a frown in the center of the blade. If that is true my choice to remove that would be to breadknife the blade until it is straight and then set the bevel. I'd doesn't look too bad but it can be a long way back to a bevel for someone that has limited experience. Putting a few layers of tape on the spine and honing away until the edge is straight will take longer than I care to guess but it will work. GSSIXGUN has a great video out on the breadknifing process. Watch it a couple of times before your attempt to restore the bevel. Glen's process works great and I have used it countless times. Be warned. It's not a process for beginners.
That looks like a great project razor. You have had good advice so I won't say any more except good luck.
Bob
All great advice...thanks (as usual).. The one thing I will say is this is one heavy chunk of metal!! I can tell it will take some time. I am in no rush...and my life doesn't depend on the outcome...so I will just take my time and enjoy the process. I do all my restoration work by hand, so this may spread over into more than one weekend.
@TwistedOak regarding the edge -- it is not twisted...what I meant was it is not a nice clean even edge...there is some chipping (very minor). It may have been used for other purposes than shaving if you know what I mean. I think what happened (using my powers of observation and deduction) is the previous owner did not maintain this razor very well. Judging by the scraping across the face of the blade it leads me to believe it was sharpened using any old wetstone that was at hand and the edge was uneven. It was certainly not sharpened by someone who knew what to do.
Regarding taping the spine (when I get to that point)...how many layers of tape is appropriate?
Regarding the scales I can't tell what these are made of...some early form of plastic? Celluloid? Horn? @RezDog you think they are some natural material...hence the Neatsfoot oil? If you look at the non-pivot end of the scales you can see they are slightly translucent...so that leads me to think it is celluloid. But I am not really sure.
Anyway...I will proceed using your sage advice and keep you posted on my progress!
Breadknifing to eliminate the frown will also get rid of the chips. I would use at least 2 layers to start with, and replace the outer frequently as it wears. Watch Glenn's video and see the answers to your questions. The scales look like pressed horn, i.e. cut slabs boiled until soft (like pasta) and then clamped in a mold until cold. These were the most common scales for most of the 19th century. Also, the blade appears to originally have been a heavy hollow grind that has been made flat by excessive honing - note the smooth areas in the middle of each face. Take your time and have fun!
Interesting your comment on the scales. The scales are certainly different from my other razors. They have a different feel than any of the early plastics I am familiar with. Other than Neatsfoot oil...is there anything else I need to do to preserve the scales? Is WD-40 safe to use on the scales? Or just mild soapy water and a soft toothbrush?Quote:
Originally Posted by sqzbxr
Any idea on the date of this razor? You mentioned 19th century...?
Mild soapy water to clean them and then a soak in neatsfoot oil when they have dried. For date, I'd guess 1870's or 1880's from what I can see.
As sqzbxr mentioned they are in fact horn scales. They are also in very good shape for their age. A little cleaning and soaking and they will be amazing. If you use a pin vice and a spit point bit to remove the pins there is a high likelihood of being able to reuse the original collar when you put it back together.
I am not quite ready just yet to un-pin and re-pin scales. This will be a skill to learn down the road. For now I will restore this razor with the scales attached. Glad to hear you feel they are in good shape. The pins are tight and there are no cracks or breaks in the scales. I have to pick up some Neatsfoot Oil this weekend.Quote:
Originally Posted by RezDog
You will do no harm by dropping the whole shebang into a ziplock with a little neatsfoot oil.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Whizbang
Yup i'd put at least two layers, maybe start with three when you're getting the bevel started. Then drop it to two and continue setting the bevel.Quote:
Originally Posted by sqzbxr
I have a wedge im still trying to get into shape, 3 layers of tape has got me a nice small bevel and better edge but still not a smooth shaver so back to the stones for me. Thats a gorgeous razor though can not wait to see the end result.
Sent from my SM-G930R4 using Tapatalk
Two more questions...first, regarding the finish on the blade. In its original state would a blade like this have a buff/satin finish or a near mirror finish?
Second, would you recondition the scales before you work on the blade or after? When I restore newer SRs I generally do my blade restoration work first, then work on my scales last. This is my oldest restoration project... And I have not worked with horn scales before...I want to make sure I do it right.
Likely a glaze finish, which is kind of like a mirror finish but a little different. More burnished to a high sheen than polished if that makes any sense. There are a few threads that you could research to figure out what it looks like. Most of the time it is more about what the blade can get to. There are a few guys that do some really nice regrind work and can get just about any honed out, rusty beater to finish up pretty pretty. For the most part is is about how much metal you are willing to remove and still be able to hold the fine lines, and then looking at hat kind of a finish the razor will attain. If you have a blade with a fair bit of pits, you may want to consider a satin finish, but a blade that is easily taken to perfect flat and smooth will be a good candidate for a gloss or near mirror finish.
Its Sunday evening and I am about to pack it in for the day. I thought I would post some progress pictures. Still have some polishing and cleaning to do...I might get to it again one evening this week.
I cleaned the scales with warm soapy water and Q-Tips. And then soaked them in a zip-lock bag with Neatsfoot oil. Then buffed with a clean cloth. The blade was cleaned with steel wool, 800 grit, 1000 grit and then 2000 grit wet-dry sandpaper. Then polished with Mothers Mag and Aluminium polish. There is some deep pitting on the blade...and I didn't want to take off too much metal to achieve a perfect finish. For a blade that is 100+ years old I think it is in fairly good condition. I still have to clean up the edge and hone this chunk of metal. Here are the after pictures:
Attachment 248731Attachment 248732Attachment 248733
Nice progress. I think clean and in service is just fine. Especially in the beginning. Later on as your skill set changes if you decide you could do more then you can always go back to it. I have done that a few times. It is progress and in going that route you are much less likely to do something you cannot take back.
So true...Quote:
Originally Posted by RezDog
Re the finish:Quote:
Originally Posted by Whizbang
http://straightrazorpalace.com/razor...ck-polish.html
Scales always come last for me.
Boy that razor is shaping up nicely good work Whizbang! Hope your honing goes well :D
Nice job, cleaned up pretty darn nice! You were also able to keep the maker's mark nice and clear. Once you get 'er honed that will be a really nice shaver I think. Good job!
How many sheets of 800 did you go through to get it to that level???
About one quarter of one sheet. I cut that into smaller sections, wrap it around a wine cork and elbow grease. The shine clearly started to show after the 800 grit. I was surprised how the mirror finish was restored...and with relatively little effort. I expected a razor of this vintage to have more of a buff/satin finish.Quote:
Originally Posted by TwistedOak
yes I would've thought that level of shine would have come from many hours and many strips of sandpaper.
