Thread: Advice for first restoration

I just bought a terribly bad looking Mc Coy & Co wedge.With black horn handles with pearl inlay.
I will remove the handles and clean up the rusty blade.The problem is that someone have carved their ini. in the handles, is it possible to just sand the handles? I don't care of the amount of work thisone will take,I really like the look of it.Thanks

For scales, horn is a bit tricky because old horn is sometimes fibrous. I'd start by cleaning it up with Mass, and then maybe using some high grit sandpaper. You may need to shave the area off though (really sharp low angle block plane?).

Some pics would help, because it all really depends on how deep the carving is...at a point, it becomes structurally unsound to remove too much material.

I'll really be interested to see what the others day though, since horn is something I've only fooled around with very sparingly.

Mark

Here is some pictures,took them with my cell,so they are abit crappy....
I'm not to worried about the structural issue, the handles seem quite sturdy.thanks

that does not look bad at all. like milton man said, start with MAAS, then very high grit paper, and work your way down to lower grit to remove. then back up to bring back the shine.

vgod

Thanks, what do you think the most easy way to remove the scales would be?

The way I remove pins is to carefully drill out the pins (if you have a drill press) with a 1/16th drill bit, then use a 1/16th punch to drive out the brass rod.

Failing that, you could always look on the wiki for Gssixgun's illustrated guide on hoe to pin and un-pin: Illustrated Guide to Un-pinning and Re-pinning - Straight Razor Place Wiki

Good luck!

Mark

That carving will come out easily with 1K sandpaper; horn is soft so go easy. And before you un-pin you may want to soak it in some neatsfoot oil to bring back the “flex”… after so many years in storage it may have dried out and become brittle and may snap if you attempt to un-pin.