Thread: Joseph Elliot, my first for restoration

Long story short, I found this at the local flea market for $.50. After looking at the pictures in this section I would say it's in quasi rough condition with some rust and pitting near the tip on the spine and some splotches on the body of the blade. I'm going to assume (although I don't know for sure) that the scales are celluloid as they look pitted and chewed and by the appearance of the dark splotches on the body. I don't see any cracks or chips though, so that's a good sign .

So after some reviewing of the threads I'm going to start out with the tin foil trick that some people recommended. I could never really find out the "why" or "how" that works, would anyone care to explain? The next step after that is to hand sand starting with some 400 grit and working my way up.. what better way to do a little work while listening to Radio Netherlands or Havana on the shortwave?

Pics follow.. anything you guys can recommend would be greatly appreciated . Oh, and excuse the quality of the pictures.. the iphone is great and all, but it's camera could use some work, lol.

Driador

The blade could be gorgeous, the scales are sh4gged!
Honestly, the blade is a beauty, well to me anyway. Square point, nice size blah, blah blah.............sort her out!
BTW has a bit of wear.............but, so do I!

When you make tin foil into a ball you get a lot of little ridges. Folded tin foil is harder than rust.

I use balled tin foil to clean out the inside of my Big Green Egg grill but I have never used it for a razor. Unless you have tremendous success with the foil, I would suggest that you use a lower grit sandpaper to start out. If you have any residual rust, it will take forever to get rid of it with 400. I usually start with 180 or 240 grit to remove all rust, then all subsequent grits are used to progressively remove the lower grit's scratch marks.

Not that it matters, but the scales are(were) either bone or horn, looks like bone from here. There is some kind of bug that likes to eat this type of material. They were nice at one time.

It's rather odd that the scales are chewed up on one side and untouched on the other. I wonder if the two sides are made of different material? Aside from their difference in condition, they look like they might be different.

Originally Posted by Utopian

It's rather odd that the scales are chewed up on one side and untouched on the other. I wonder if the two sides are made of different material? Aside from their difference in condition, they look like they might be different.

No, both sides of the scales are made of the same material. After removing the pin (via filing off its flattened point), I would have to say the material looks like bone or horn. I say this because it smells the same as when I did some engraving work on a horn some time back (if you've ever worked with antler it smells like that too... almost that lovely burnt hair smell, lol). Also after dismantling the razor, I found out that the spacer at the far tip of the scales is made of lead.

As far as the chewing goes, that's got me befuddled as well.

The only difference in the scales is there is a alphanumeric sequence roughly scratched into the end of one of the scales: 9197P50. What it is I'm sure I'll never know, but I thought to preserve its history I would use a woodburner (or fine engraver) to mark the new scales with the same sequence.

I think it was Joe who had some razors displayed that he had restored lately that had some absolutely beautifully veined wood scales. I'm not 100% sure what it was, it might have been Zebrawood, but it was nice. Light wood (like pear but more yellowish) with dark brown, almost black, veins. I was thinking of using some of that to make the new scales maybe. I have a big chunk of African Paduak here that I used for the inserts on my balisong some time ago, but I don't think it's large enough {length,width}wise to fashion some scales out of it. I was also thinking about some purple heartwood too. Ah well, we'll see when I head up to the hardwood store here this weekend.

Overall the razor itself is coming along nicely, although there's a couple of spots where the pitting is resisting my sanding efforts. Granted, it's going away.. eventually.. maybe... someday.. . I also noticed a slight bit of pitting where the grind ended on the blade, right before hitting the tang. There's just a little there in that hollow and I would leave it there (the rust is gone), but I think it might be noticeable once the final polishing is done. Anyone have some tips for that area?