Thread: Wade and Butcher Bow Razor Restore

I've always been a W&B fan, so, when I found this one in my "rainy day stash", I thought it would be a good one to restore. On first glance, just some surface rust and patina so it should be a relatively simple "clean/polish and scale" project. Preserving the etching on the blade may be tricky, but it looks deep enough to survive a careful process. I intend to leave a little patina on the blade. I just like a razor that can show its age with dignity.



Specs: 5/8 Wade and Butcher Bow Razor
Scale material: TBD
Wedge Material: TBD

Starting with 400g wet/dry. Looking good so far, the etching remains intact. The rust is gone and only the patina remains. I think just a little Mother's should be enough from here.

Now that she's all cleaned up, it's time to get her dressed. The Koa would be great, but, since this will be my first time making scales, I think I'll try out some of the white oak.

I really like the grain of that koa. I have a Bow Razor just like that in the middle of restoration and my band saw blade broke before I got the scales cut so I got stalled. Really need to get back to that.

Originally Posted by PaulFLUS

I really like the grain of that koa. I have a Bow Razor just like that in the middle of restoration and my band saw blade broke before I got the scales cut so I got stalled. Really need to get back to that.

The koa is beautiful, but since I haven't actually made any scales yet, I thought I would practice with some white oak I have lying around. It's still a good looking wood and I have a lot of it.

Good plan. If you have never made any one thing to keep in mind is at first most people tend to make them too thick. I know I did. I have sets I made that I sanded down thinner more than once.