First Restoration: Imperial 6/8 Round Point

I thought I would create a resto/build thread for the Imperial that I've been working on. It's a 6/8 round point, that I picked up on ebay, as a lot of three razors for $12 and change.

I don't have any good before pics, so here's the ebay pics.

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j2.../Imperial2.jpg

So far, I've wet-sanded the sides up to 500 grit. You may notice there is no manufacturer's stamp; the corrosion and pitting was particularly bad right where the stamp was. I'm going to leave what's left of the pitting on the tang; I think it looks interesting.


http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j2...g/IMG_0514.jpg

More to follow...

Pics with the Bocote scales I cut out yesterday.

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j2...g/IMG_0517.jpg

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j2...g/IMG_0518.jpg

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j2...g/IMG_0519.jpg

The scales are currently just over 1/10" thick, and are sanded to a 220 grit finish.

I'm not sure if I like the shape of the scales for this razor or not. I will at least drill the pivot pin hole today, and possible work on the wedge and its pin holes. I'm still thinking about the wedge. My original plan was to use a quarter ($.25) ground into shape; but, it looks like that will be too thin. Also, the wood doesn't flex, so I may end up doing a non-wedge shaped wedge.

Update: Not much done. I drilled the pivot hole. I started wet-sanding the face of the blade w/ 1000 grit paper. I'm trying to remove the tarnish and not damage the etching. I also wet-sanded the sides of the blade w/ 1000 grit paper a little bit, just to see what it was going to look like. My goal this weekend is to get the wedge built, the holes drilled, and the "third pin" installed. I know, my pics are pretty terrible...

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j2...g/IMG_0520.jpg
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j2...g/IMG_0522.jpg
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j2...g/IMG_0523.jpg
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j2...g/IMG_0525.jpg
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j2...g/IMG_0527.jpg
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j2...g/IMG_0528.jpg

I made a few washers last night. I purchased a strip of brass, drilled 1/16" holes down the center, then cut off little squares with the holed centers with a hack saw. Then, I fed some 1/16" brass rod through the soon to be washers and held it up to the belt grinder. The belt grinder spun the little squares down to little circles.

Congratulations on stepping out there and starting down the restoration path. I like those scales.

Thanks. I'm having fun, and most of the razors I have right now need some level of restoration. I'm not getting much free time to work on them, though. It's taking me forever to get the Imperial into decent shape.