Thread: What would you do?

A client gifted me this W&B Celebrated Fine India Steel Razor today. He said that it had just been laying around his house for years after he attempted and then decided not to St8 shave. He put it up years ago. The condition is NOS with serious pitting on one side and some spotting/minor pitting on the face side. There is also pitting on the top side of the spine.
I'd like to get some input about how to proceed with restore? - or- just stabilize, hone, and go on. The etched side looks great but the other is- you'll see. I've cleaned it up with MAAS and cleaned the scales with Harley Spray Cleaner and Polish (from Harley Davidson store).
I'd like to hear some good ideas. I am uncertain if sanding down one side will harm the geometry. The orange peel pitting seems fairly deep.
Thanks for the help.
Headdoc

That is quite the Jekyll and Hyde blade! I felt your pain once I scrolled down and saw the back side. I have no idea to what extent the "geometry" of the blade would be affected, but I certainly would start out with some low grit sanding of the back side to see how it goes and to get a better sense of how bad it is. If you don't feel you're up to the task, contact some of the folks who spend a lot of time doing restoration work. It might be a great candidate for some time in the vibrating tumbler.

Personally, I wouldn't mess with the scales at all till I got the blade sorted out.

Good luck with it.

So sad to see such neglect.
If keeping it original is important to you then I guess you should leave it alone but obviously that pitting bugs you.

I've got one of these which was pretty bad too and my choice was to do a full resto which meant losing the etch but I had it re- engraved later. Not quite the same... but for me customising was acceptable.

Grinding too deeply on side sounds a bad idea tho.
Maybe some more folks have other options for you.

What are the scales made of? I'm wondering why the bad pitting seems so localised.

James.

Originally Posted by Utopian

It might be a great candidate for some time in the vibrating tumbler.

Sadly, the tumbler would remove the frosting on the etch and do very little to help the backside.
The only way I see to "fix" the pitting it to remove it. Removing it requires removal of material and this must be done evenly and with extreme care. This kind of work will also be relatively costly.

My advice is to hone and use it as-is. It should still take a good edge, it's just ugly. If you want a nice looking razor, take the money you'd spend to restore this one and buy a new razor. Then, keep the new razor in an argon filled chamber and turn on the lights for 5 minutes a year to look at it. All things turn to dust eventually.

I agree with Dan.

You can hone the razor up and enjoy a great shave from that blade, but the ugly pitting can only be removed with days of slow patient sanding. Even then, the blade will remain scarred especially to your eyes.

Save your money and your time and buy another razor in good condition. It will be a cheaper way to go and more fulfilling.

I have a couple of razors that had similar problems to the one gifted to you. I have spent hours to make them presentable, but they are not something I would choose to use and so I don't feel inclined to sell them. I keep them to practice honing with.

Sorry to be negative.

[quote=English;248569]I agree with Dan.

You can hone the razor up and enjoy a great shave from that blade, but the ugly pitting can only be removed with days of slow patient sanding. Even then, the blade will remain scarred especially to your eyes.


I'v had a case of RAD since I started using Str8's in December and have accumulated @ 50 razors- new, old, NOS, japanese (both) and therefore have plenty to use. The scales are celluloid and feel smooth and cleaned up and polished very hell. However, they are warped. It seems that this has been exposed to being placed in the coffin and placed where it was hot and humid.

I sure would like to save the reversed etching and could leave that side alone with it's few spots. I am contemplating sanding down and polishing the pitted side but the blade would have had a lot of steel removed from that side. It might look a bit lopsided. I would not remove anything from the spine so that it shoule hone well althoug there would be some pits on the spine.

This razor looks like it had been honed only @ 1-2 times before being stored. There is a lot of metal on it.

I would work on the back realizing it won't be close to smooth and will have pitting. However, when it is shined it will have characteras long as you go for a satin not a chrome finish.
Al

What you have to ask yourself is how much time do I want to spend on this project? That will dictate your course of action.

thank god the rust is on the opposite side and not the side with the engraving, wow what a mess i thought when i scralled down, felt a little sick when i saw that i am sure you could sand it up it will take a while and you wont get it all out, but i should make a fine shaver nonetheless i have a couple of celebrated w&b that needed some tlc and they are the sharpest razors i have