Can etching be renewed/restored?

Having received little response to my posting on renewing old etching, I realized that the title of the posting was misleading, especially for the restoration forum, so I'll try again and be more to the point. In short, I have an old (pre-1890 wedge) Frederick Reynolds with some well-defined, but faded etching (see this link for details). Anyone know if this can be restored? I'm open to either being told how myself, or if there is someone you know of who can do this as a paid service. Thanks.

- Dale

Vlad did some awesome etching resto a couple of years back. He' a genius like that.

X

I would like to know if there is a way, to remove rust/stains/... from a blade without removing the etch also...

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Originally Posted by Desiderius

I would like to know if there is a way, to remove rust/stains/... from a blade without removing the etch also...

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Not really. You have to remove metal to get the pitting out.

As for re-etching, Joe Chandler might be able to help. I think he acid etches his blades. Also, I think Gary Alfonso knows of a laser etch outfit that can do what you are looking for.

AND then there is always good ol' Vlad, who does not swing by much any more, who always has a trick to redo something, while we all wish we could do the same...

C utz

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Originally Posted by Desiderius

I would like to know if there is a way, to remove rust/stains/... from a blade without removing the etch also...

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You can work around it, and a little on top of it. See this thread for an extreme example:

http://straightrazorpalace.com/showthread.php?t=13570

Best advice to work around it is to put scotch tape over it, then cut out around it with an x-acto knife. Leave tape over the etch, and just polish with your dremel the areas exposed. The tape should help protect the etch if your buffing wheel runs over it a bit, but try not to buff the tape.

If you really have major damage, you can redo all the work, but it takes effort. my train of thought on this would be to take some very good photos of the etching, then reproduce the picture/touchup-with-photoshop on the computer. You'd be going for a black & white image. This image can then be transferred to a stencil like for the etch-o-matic and etched back onto the blade. The etch-o-matic does about 1"x3" stencils, which should definitely cover all the work on the blade. If there's goldwash too, you could hand paint back on the gold with something like the plug-n-plate systems. You'd basically get it back to looking like new or better, but at significant effort and cost. The etch-o-matic starts at $50, and the plug-n-plate gold will be another $50. So ask yourself is it worth it to have that pretty design on there, or not?