Thread: Restoring: not for me anymore!

Originally Posted by Seraphim

My two cents-

Put down the dremel, and pick up the sandpaper.

240, 320, 400, 600, 1200....

Takes a while, but you will not ruin your razor!

What he said! Best advice I could give. That's what I do.

Originally Posted by Philadelph

What he said! Best advice I could give. That's what I do.

Hi guys,

I've just tried to keep sanding the last (ruined) razor for half an hour, but totally had it with the restoration. I don't have enough patience for that, i guess. I envisioned myself resurrecting (sp?) a bad razor, but the reality was different. I will buy a new or restored razor from you experts in the future and keep it in good nick.

Thanks for the support and replies guys! I appreciate it. I was feeling so bad today, but i remembered a good lesson from i believe Anthony Robbins: don't have doubts, because you can't turn back the time!

I've never attempted to restore a razor, but it seems like its reasonable to expect lots of time to be required to restore a non-stainless steel that spent decades being corroded by the elements.

I am sorry it isn't working out for you, there is still plenty of stuff to enjoy! I am not a proven restorer, but I have many hours of sanding under my belt, I know what to expect from the process and I have a method that works for me. If you want to, I will gladly sand down the blades that you have and mail them back to you free of charge, shipping included, so your losses are cut a bit. Just to be clear, we are talking about 2 razors I wlll sand to the best finish I can for you (not a baker's dozen). You would still need to get them honed after I was done. I will send you a PM too. If you opt not to, no big deal, I recognize the fact that you don't know me

Yup, Dremels are evil. They work good for polishing and other odds and ends but not sanding a blade. I use a dowel rod and wrap some sandpaper around it and then hand sand for several hours. Once that is finished I go to the buffing wheel for another hour and work down to white rogue and then MASS with a final polish with mass by hand. They are still not mirror perfect but they are darn shiny.

It is by no means a fast process, it takes time and patience.

Read the first post in this thread and the linked tutorials.

http://straightrazorpalace.com/showthread.php?t=8604

You obviously have to be careful with a dremel due to the high RPMs, but Satan's tool they are not. I tried out the technique from above and it works great. It took far, far less time to go from the medium abrasive buff (280 or so) to 400 grit than by hand, and I could still move my fingers afterwards. The scratch pattern will not look as uniform as handsanding, but 5 minutes of handsanding will straighten that right out. You can take the blade from start to as high a grit as you want to go, then do one quick handsand.

Originally Posted by Seraphim

My two cents-

Put down the dremel, and pick up the sandpaper.

240, 320, 400, 600, 1200....

Takes a while, but you will not ruin your razor!

+1 on that! And do not give up - just try some cheaper blades!

Poop happens, if you are learning to use new tools you will make mistakes and doing a really nice job takes time.

There are a few here who have efficient processes either from a time or effort perspective that get mirror like finishes. I am not one of those.
I put a lot of effort, a lot of time and get slightly less than average results

But I am improving quite quickly and most importantly I do enjoy it.
I find the small woodwork and the small metal work to be a great learning experience. You can make a lot of mistakes in a fairly short time on a small piece of work. I think that makes the learning faster.

I might recommend you restore wedges before hollows. They are even more work but the are also more forgiving of oopses.

-Bob

Originally Posted by gentleman

Hi guys,

I totally had it with the restoration. I don't have enough patience for that, i guess. I envisioned myself resurrecting (sp?) a bad razor, but the reality was different.

I know just how you feel, I must be one of the most impatient people around, and I must say, I am totally gutted I have to re-sand a razor that I did just a week ago. I must have put 9+ hrs into the sanding but didn't completely remove pitting and now rust has become active again. Oh yea, it was and is all by hand.

Originally Posted by Seraphim

My two cents-

Put down the dremel, and pick up the sandpaper.

240, 320, 400, 600, 1200....

Takes a while, but you will not ruin your razor!

+2 ..good advise..