Thread: My first restoration!

Hey everyone,

I just got a razor in the mail today that I won from on ebay. It only cost me $6 plus shipping, and I knew based on the pictures that it wasn't in the best shape a razor could be in. It's a Wade & Butcher 5/8" with SPECIAL stamped into the one side. One of the first things I did was get those ugly and cheap scales off the razor, mostly because they were already broken, and there was a lot of rust inside. So after a lot of hand-sanding, then using a dremel to get a better finish on it, it turned out pretty well! Much better than I expected. So all the markings are clearly visible on the razor (it's a little hard to tell from the pictures), and the blade only has one TINY nick in it, which I plan on honing out in the future. Anyways, here are a couple of before-pics, and a couple after-pics. What kind of scales do you think would go with it?? I hope it turns out to be a nice shaver!

Dave

you just gotta love thosee cheap a** butchers. this looks like it cleaned up well. so far i have not found a set of scales that do not work. just use the old ones as a template and design from there.

post more porn when you get more.

vgod

Originally Posted by StraightRazorDave

Hey everyone,

I just got a razor in the mail today that I won from on ebay. It only cost me $6 plus shipping, and I knew based on the pictures that it wasn't in the best shape a razor could be in. It's a Wade & Butcher 5/8" with SPECIAL stamped into the one side. One of the first things I did was get those ugly and cheap scales off the razor, mostly because they were already broken, and there was a lot of rust inside. So after a lot of hand-sanding, then using a dremel to get a better finish on it, it turned out pretty well! Much better than I expected. So all the markings are clearly visible on the razor (it's a little hard to tell from the pictures), and the blade only has one TINY nick in it, which I plan on honing out in the future. Anyways, here are a couple of before-pics, and a couple after-pics. What kind of scales do you think would go with it?? I hope it turns out to be a nice shaver!

Dave

Looks good! Nice job! What grits or progression of grits did you use to sand that and what did you use in your Dremel to polish it? (any polishing compounds, etc.)

The black stuff came out of the pits nicely, but those indents left behind can cause a problem.

The divots collect moisture or focus tarnish somehow and you've got to be religious about drying it off or those pits will start to tarnish again.

It turns into an odd balance of aggressive grits and lots of sanding, amount of work and amount of material that can be removed before the metal thins out. Thats why the wedges and heavier grinds that other people do are without flaw (i.e. Traveller, Kenrup, FloppyShoes, Glen to name a few). Thinner blades need more consideration than grind away and make it shiny.

Other than that, it looks nice. Good first step.

Thanks for the replies

I just used a couple grits of sand paper: started out with something around 350, then went to a grit around 1000. After that I used the dremel tool. There's a little brush attachment that I tried out, and it worked like really fine sandpaper. I then tried some old metal polish that I found (called PEEK), and that worked out pretty well. But what I found worked the best for the final polish was some chromium oxide that I have in brick form, applied to one of the soft cloth wheels on the dremel. (It melts almost instantly when the spinning wheel touches the brick).

I'm thinking of working the razor a little more, cause it's not a flawless finish, and I am concerned with the slight indents (as 0o.Mark.o0 mentioned in the last post). That's why I have the razor covered in mineral oil to prevent ANY rusting or further wear!

Whether or not it turns into a decent shaver, it's fun turning something that looks old and rusty into something VERY shiny! I'm a sucker for shiny metal.....

Dave

Just be really careful. Those pits are mighty close to the edge, and along some really thin steel too.

I've used that stuff too (its from Lee Valley right?)

http://straightrazorpalace.com/works...ing-paste.html

Works like a charm and lets you jump the hand sanding progression a little bit.

Just be careful, it doesn't do pasted strops as well as the chromium oxide powder from ChrisL.

http://straightrazorpalace.com/basic...tml#post182492
http://straightrazorpalace.com/buy-s...mple-size.html

Mark