Thread: Rusty eBay Heljestrand - look and comment please! (how to clean)

Restoration wizards and journeymen,

I bought this razor on eBay and it has arrived with a blanket of light rust-dust and two or three darker spots. I took these photos before I spent about 5 minutes accidentally breaking the scales off trying to remove the pivot pin and sanding the blade with 600 grit paper. The edge is straight and consistently jagged.

I have two questions:

Do you think a 1000 grit norton will be coarse enough to reset the bevel or would it be a waste of time (aside from the learning experience of course)

Do you think the rust can be banished from the blade for good, or do you think it's doomed to be rusty without permanently and drastically altering the blade?

I'll take another photo or two later of what it looks like since I destroyed the scales (which looked pretty scary) and sanded the blade. I like this thumbnail feature.

I think that can be brought back just fine, with some sandpaper and some work...
I also have never needed more than the 1k Norton to set a bevel "YET"
You might wanna tape the spine when you start honing...

I'm just taking my first steps in restoration so I can't comment on that, but I LOVE the Heljestrands!

Does it have a # on the back?

It doesn't look too bad to me. You might have to leave some pitting on the blade, but it should clean up fairly nicely with a little work. Helje's are awesome shavers, so you'll have a nice blade when you're done.

I've found that I can apply a decent amount of pressure when hand sanding out pitting on wedges prior to polishing them, but I found that recently I was hand sanding an extra hollow ground to remove some light rust (and I made a point to use what I thought was light to very light pressure on the hollows when sanding) and sakes alive did I warp the edge! The blade laid flat across the edge on both sides of the blade prior to my work (easy honing....nice! but after my sanding, it did not lay flat (spine does, edge was bent out of whack in the process).

Based on my personal experience then, I would just caution you to be extremely careful when you sand out the hollows of that razor.

Chris L

Originally Posted by gssixgun

You might wanna tape the spine when you start honing...

I made a few passes on the Norton, and even though it was premature to do so, I was happy to note that the blade laid quite flat, and being as straight as it is, was easier to keep flat than my other smiling razor. After three or four passes, I remembered to tape the razor. I just can't figure out though how the edge is going to get sharper with tape over it

Originally Posted by mastermute

I'm just taking my first steps in restoration so I can't comment on that, but I LOVE the Heljestrands!

Does it have a # on the back?

It does! It also has a message: "For a good time, call..." - pm me for the number. Seriously though, there's no number on the back.

Originally Posted by Chrisl

Based on my personal experience then, I would just caution you to be extremely careful when you sand out the hollows of that razor.

Thanks for sharing. I read Bruno's sticky and am now tossing around some solutions in my head for providing the razor a flat, stable sanding surface. Your advice influences me to not be careless and lazy with the blade, as I feel prone to be. I'll have to get some more sandpaper probably too, as I only have 300 and 600 grit leftover from some auto body work

Originally Posted by hoglahoo

I just can't figure out though how the edge is going to get sharper with tape over it

Oh.. Try tapeing the spine instead of the edge! It won't get "sharper" than without the tape. the tape is there to protect the spine from hone wear. Most Swedish razors are made from carbon steel, thus hone wear can be seen quickly if you don't protect the spine. The good side is that they hone up quickly, and very nicely!

Originally Posted by hoglahoo

It does! It also has a message: "For a good time, call..." - pm me for the number.

Hehe, I already know her, thanks anyway

I think I know her too...

That blade looks in fairly good shape to me already, but as the others have said a bit of elbow grease couldn't hurt it (if you're careful).

Maybe someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but as far as my experience goes it seems that going to a 1k grit to set a bevel is purely a time saving measure. I've never set a bevel with anything but the 4k side of my Norton, and I've had some nasty old razors in my time. Is that right, or am I missing something important?

James.

Just posting some update photos for anyone who is interested. I sanded the blade down for about 5 minutes with 600 grit, but it basically only served to clean the dirt off of the blade. I had some 400 grit handy and spent about 20 minutes on it, and here on some photos.

It's Sunday, so I might go get different grit paper today, or I might just sit around the house and act lazy. The last two photos are of the biggest rust spot on the upper toe of the front side of the blade before after 5 minutes of 600 grit, and then after 20 more minutes of 400 grit. You can see the spot clearly in the first photo in the original post of this thread.

Suggestions still welcome. The light rust between the jimps poses a difficulty I have yet to overcome.

Dr Fred, this razor came a long way, didn't it?