Thread: My First Restoration

Found two old rusted straight in my grandpa's stuff. Also had a manual beard trimmer (not really sure what else to call it) and a few brushes. Nothing I'd want to use, too stiff.

They're both pretty rusted, but figured they're be good to learn on.

The top is a Barbers Pet No. 421

The other is a Yankee Cutlery other marks are "Germany" under Yankee Cutlery and E82 on the inside of the scales. There is a building on the side of the blade. One large dome in the middle, a smaller dome on each side and outside of each dome, a tower with a flag, and then another set of flagged towers on the outside

Don't know how the pictures will turn out. On the full size screen I can make out the right half of the image on the blade because that's where the flash hit it.

All I have as of now are strop, paste, and steel wool. Always sent mine off to be honed. I'm thinking about a norton 4k/8k. Am I going to need something more coarse?

Looks like you have a nice project to work on....Can't wait to see the results

I know I should've asked before buying but here's what I ordered

Norton "Waterstone" 8000, 3" $64.99 1 $64.99 Norton "Waterstone" 1000/4000 3" $64.99 1 $64.99 Replacement Razor Handle Wedges, Synthetic Color Choices:: Black
$2.99 1 $2.99 DOVO Genuine Ebony Replacement Razor Handle $22.99 1 $22.99
anything else I might need later? This will be a long project because I don't have a lot of spare time, so I have plenty of time to order anything else I might need.


I wanted to get the 4k/8k but it was out of stock everywhere, so I figured if I got the 1k/4k I could use the one on a "FUBAR razor" the Yankee might fit that category.

amazon has a kit

Amazon.com: Norton Waterstone Starter Kit: 1) 220/1000 grit stone and 1) 4000/8000 grit stone, 1) SiC flattening stone: Home Improvement

Do those scales come with replacement pins? That's the only thing I can think of.

I spent about 2 hours last night reading through Gssixgun's thread on using a tumbler to polish up blades that are not too badly rusted. Great thread (LONG!)- and I suggest it to anyone looking at restoring a blade. These may be too rusted to go directly in the tumbler, but that process can save the etching on your blade face if you don't have too much rust to deal with.

Awesome to have a family blade. Even if you have to completely change the way they look to make them shaveable, it's cool to know you're using something with that family history.

Good luck with it! Look forward to seeing more pics.

One suggestion before you get really going,

Put one layer of plastic electrical tape on the spines, put the razor on the 1k stone, hone 5-10 strokes with a little pressure and get to bright shiny steel, look at that under a 40X or there abouts magnifier and make sure that that steel is not rust rotted... I have been starting here all the time now, before I go through a total restore only to find a swiss cheese edge that will not hold an shaving edge...

Steel wool isn't going to do anything besides get off the red rust. Sandpaper is the way to got. Do a couple searches on "hand sanding" or "rust removal".

Mark