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Thought I'd clean up this old J. Allen & Sons hand forged wedge.
Didn't look like a big job but after initial sanding the pitting seems out of all proportion to it's original state.
Never had a hand forged blade before & I'm wondering if the 'texture' is not just pitting.
Any experience or ideas on this.
Thanx .
Os:
That almost looks like some sort of scale and not pitting.. Hard to tell from the pics, is it flaking away at all when your sanding???
Lots of sanding. 120-220-400-600 and then either.
or
Glen ~ It's not flaking. Hard as hell actually. It's the texture of the steel. The little shiny dots are obvious pitting but the short lines parallel to the spine look like an open grain. I'll keep sanding and see what comes of it.
Mark ~ Thanx. I like how you think. Less work is good. I use a 6" buff & various compounds which work great for the final stages. Just hate all that low grit work.
Well, 5 hours of hand sanding with 120 grit and numerous passes on the wet grinder shows the 'texture' was all a bunch of pitting.
Seems I have some more work ahead of me. :(
does the tang have hammer marks? i think that looks kinda cool.
bummer on the pits
No man - Just pits on the tang but easier to clean up. Nowhere near as hard as the blade.Quote:
Originally Posted by kevint
Ah well, back to it.
I may have jumped the gun in the previous post about the texture on this blade.
Pitting is now yielding but the grainy surface is back again.
120 Grit was like watching grass grow. Way too slow on this critter.
Dropped to 80 grit for a couple of hours but this time smoothed things up at the end with a hard Scotchbrite buff.
Keen to see what it looks like when I call it finished. Almost tempted to stop here and patinate it.
I'm gonna call this done as far as pit removal & polish goes.
Still pitted but much improved. The orange peel texture is still there but more subdued after the 2000 grit.
Sorry the pic is not so great but daylight's gone.
Patina & honing tomorrow. Fingers X'd.
thanks for the progressive pictures of your work. very interesting.
I have an old Hunter & Son wedge that has responded the same way yours has, the orange peel texture, the hardness, the whole nine yards. The funny thing is, other than the maker's stamp, it looks just like yours. Heck, the maker's stamp is even angled downward slightly like yours!
I have it in my "when I get around to it" box right now, I may have to bust it out again. I wonder if they are "family"?:shrug:
Could be same maker, Allen & Sons made the John Barber razors too, or so I've read on SRP.Quote:
Originally Posted by joke1176
Have fun with it. Mine took some rubbing & still no Genie.
I was trying to find out if the 'orange peel' was due the hammering at the forge. Seems likely. :shrug:
Oh well, now to make it rusty again :eek: :D
Patina all done & Bevel's set.
Just have to finish honing & pin it back in it's scales.
Final pics to come in a coupla days.
Grey background is pretty sucky for pics. Won't do that again.
Finally re-assembled with the original scales post repairing them. I don't know how to link threads but it was called
'Horn scale repair'
An eternity of grinding & sanding & 6 hours of honing later, it's still close enough to a 6/8 wedge.
The shave was well worth all the time & effort and I can see this one fast becoming a favourite.
I'm happy with the patina. It was a gentle process alternating Vinegar baths with Blueing paste and a cleanup with Mother's Mag polish.
I also like how the honing resulted in a hamon like illusion.
$20 in a junk shop buys you a world of experiences. :)