Thread: eBay restore

Vintage Wade & Butcher Straight Razor Sheffield England - eBay (item 190275598495 end time Dec-28-08 18:23:19 PST)

well i'm happy with it, its a decent price for a blade with chips, smiles, and other uglies and a great price for a blade with no chips or smiles, like this one.

First of all, i'm going to be using probably a coticules to fix this, perhaps a slurried 8000 grit to establish bevel or even a slurried 4000 blue to establish. The reason? I'd much rather spend less money and work longer then spend more money and work less. I dont plan to do much of this and am unlikely to get "hooked" to working blades myself, so there is no point in buying "restoring stones" when in eventually i can resharpen the bevel with the 8000 as it needs it. Thus, the only stone worth investing for me is the 8000 grit which i know can be slurried to do anything, and hell, a coticule always cuts, it will only take longer.

Now, i know I will be hand sanding but due to the over all shape of the blade, i was thinking about trying a medium sandpaper as opposed to something that is very course because i dont need to remove more then hone wear and the like. The rust will probably be removed prior to handsanding but i havent decided which rust removeal will be the most effective. My sandpaper plan of attack may change if there is pitting is undeneath the rust, as it could very well be.
I am wondering whether i should give the scales some kind of treatment to make sure they dont rot on me. I see a good amount of rust on the spine near the hinge but that will hopefully be removed with the rest of the rust.

For the rust, I think steel wool and then maybe coca-cola (unclear on effectiveness), vinegar, or naval jelly would do the trick.

Since i am not rescaling, i imagine that the scale straighting boiling water jig trick will work nicely on the slight warping the scales have then repin. I just do not have the tools to make my own scales and cannot afford custom scales.

Anyway, thoughts are appreciated. I know this wont be easier but worse blades have turned out better then new before so there is no reason why i cant suceed. It's not for resale so i only have myself to please with this one.

thanks,
-alex

Well, the edge looks in good shape, so you won't be needing coarse stones to hone it. The norton 4/8 or the coticule should be just fine. with the coticule you need to start off with a slurry, but it should work just foine. I once did a major edge repair with just the coticule when it was all I had
http://straightrazorpalace.com/basic...challenge.html

Do you have a dremel? If so, with a felt wheel and some polishing compound you can remove all staining and small scratches without having to use sandpaper. If you don't have a dremel, then something like MAAS on a cloth will work fine (though I've never tried it myself).

If you do plan on sanding, then my hand-sanding howto is probabl a good place to get started
Hand sanding a blade - Straight Razor Place Wiki

thanks bruno, i do have a dremel actually. should i use a specific compound to polish? i got the hand sanding thing from the wiki actually, you are very informative, and "inexpensive restore" friendly!

Maas would probably be your best bet. For a compound, but ...

... I'd start hand sanding first. Try 400 grit and see what (if) a difference it makes. If it isn't moving enough material fast enough, try a lower grit.

Maas is great stuff. It'll buff things into a mirror polish with just a cloth.

+1 with Bruno, it wont take much to bring that sweetheart up to snuff! Good snag! Use Maas or Simichrome, my two favorites for that mirror shine, I also here that Mothers Mag Polish does well, but I have never tried it!