Thread: Restoring a Otto Birkhofen

This was one of my first Antique Shop razor grabs! I managed to keep the original Scales so I'm pretty happy with the outcome.

Before:









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And.....the After!







Planning too give it a good buff and then I'm done!

Still learning and would welcome any criticism!


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Looks great.
Hone it up and let us know how it shaves.

Originally Posted by ajsaxs

Looks great.
Hone it up and let us know how it shaves.

Thanks ajsaxs! I am planning on honing it today. Keep you all posted!


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It looks good to me, you did a very nice job.

Job Well Done!!!!!!!!!!!! And I Didnt See Any Bandaids On Your Fingers,,,,,,Ha,,,,,,,,,,,,Ty

Originally Posted by Addison

Job Well Done!!!!!!!!!!!! And I Didnt See Any Bandaids On Your Fingers,,,,,,Ha,,,,,,,,,,,,Ty

Hahaha yea not from this one. I've been running all of my razors against a glass jar before starting a restoration. It definitely helps but I still tend to wrap the bevel in a thick terry cloth when I'm working on the tang.




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Anyone know an online store or place that I can find some other pinning materials? I've seen some unique looking pinning and pin "caps" lately.


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Brad Maggard has a lot of that kind of stuff; I have ordered from him several times, with good service: Maggard Razors - Straight Razor Restoration, Custom Scales and Wet Shaving Products

And there are some ebay sellers with the domed and beehive-style washer sets, pre-cut brass wedges, pin-stock, etc. I have ordered from a couple before with good results (though they tend towards the expensive side).

Lastly, some of the knife-making suppliers also have pin-stock (Jantz, Texas Knives, etc.), and microfasteners.com
has all of that stuff too. Again, I have ordered from all of the above with good results.

Here is the, Welcome to the Workshop: How do I / Where do I / What do I / answers are here post, first post in the Workshop forum

Most of us get washer from Micro Fastners and rod from any good knife supply, I use Texas Knife.

Nice work on the Otto. If you go to 1k on wet & dry, alternating spine to edge then heel to toe, you can get a shiny finish, then hand buff with a good metal polish. The 3m that Outback posted about is good stuff.

If you want a satin, after the 1k do one directional spine to edge with a new piece of 800 wet and dry, using a shot of WD40 or any thin oil. That will give you a nice satin. One direction only or you get swirs.

Do all your sanding and polishing before you hone or you will ruin the edge, you might be able to touch it up on the finish hone.

But when sanding I kill the edge with a 1k diamond file for safety.