Thread: 6/8 WB blond horn cleanup

Folks,
I do not do the level of workmanship most of you do so i rarely post here. Personally i like a razor that is free of nicks, chips and rust... everything above that level is eye candy.
Here are the before pictures, i really like the blond horn with the impression so i decide to live with the scales and did not un-pin the razor.

The Wade and Butcher name is virtually gone from the blade... only a the "W e d But" were there when i started. however the "Sheffield" and the "B arrow cross" logo are still visible.

The blade measures 6/8 from edge to where it rests on the hone... 13/16" from edge to top of spine. it is a square point with a "diamond" blade cross-section.

So here are the before pictures:

And these are the after pictures. You notice the leftover pitting and scale damage... anybody have a relatively simple horn scale repair guideline?

I'll be honing this one up later tonight... it will be my Easter shaver!

The finished pictures:

Great job! As for horn repair? I can't speak for actually repairing the horn so that it looks like new, but if you want to "stabilize" it so that it is waterproof and the cracks will not get worse, you can do a CA finish on it. I would sand it a little to try to minimize the visible damage (obviously un-pinned) and then do the CA. It turns out nicely if you take your time and do it well.

I agree with what Alex, I would use water thin CA and see if I could get it to wick into the cracks then sand the horn.

I like the look of the blade

Charlie

That is a wonderful job!
I'd be proud if I accomplished that.

I am a bit confused by the replies, fellas. Should the horn be lightly sanded (with what grit) BEFORE a water thin CA is applied? or AFTER?

Did you photoshop this?
Hahahahahaha
the horn is startlingly brighter and looks sooo much better
Regards

i only psed for cropping and image size. it looks nicer with lots of sunlight shining through them

the only thing i did to the scales was wipe them down good with maas... probably cleaned a century of grime out. i figure I'll have to deal with the "split look" in some areas none of the cracks are real bad... yes.

Originally Posted by TOB9595

I am a bit confused by the replies, fellas. Should the horn be lightly sanded (with what grit) BEFORE a water thin CA is applied? or AFTER?


Regards

I would fill voids and cracks as best I could then sand to clean up and level. If I were then going to give the scales an all over top coat, I would sand again before coating the scales. As to grit, it is hard to say it depends on the surface. I would guess the starting grit would be in the range from 220 to 600. You would have to try it and see what works.

Charlie

thanks gents for the suggestions i honed this razor up Saturday night and it is a sweet razor (I've only had one wb that i liked the shave better, wb's are not my favorites). i think i will try the thin CA and then sanding I'm mainly concerned about the one near the front toe when the razor is closed.. the blade used to smack the scale there before i adjusted the pin.

I was suggesting doing a CA finish like you would do on wood, but on the horn. Sand before you start the finish if you need to even out any extreme edges. You could obviously try to just fill crack voids and stabilize them, but it may be visible because of the sanding after you are done.

Can I ask what your process was on the blade? It looks great. I'm new to this and haven't had results that good yet.

-Matt