Thread: Essential equipment for the restoration enthusiast

whats the most essential piece of equipment that a person thinking about restoring razors need?
a Dremel for rescaling and sanding?
and which method of sanding gives the best results? Dremel or sanding using sandpaper by hand?
but i guess it could be a combination of both.

i'm a resto noob... But i would say a file, sandpaper(various grits),polishing compound, ball pien hammer, i also find a vice handy..but probably not "necessary"

I do like my dremel....

It really depends what you want to do. Do you just want to clean up some rusty razors from ebay or your local antique shop? How much do you want to polish them? Mirror finish or just decently polished?

Do you want to make your own scales? How much room do you have for equipment? Do you have a workshop where you can fit power tools?

I think there are many levels of restorers here, and each has a different set of tools.

I fit into what I would consider the bottom most class of "restorers." I haven't yet made my own scales, but I'm comfortable taking a razor in just about any rusty/corroded but savable condition to a decent shine and nice overall shape. For this, all I need is sandpaper in various grits, and some metal polish (I use Maas brand).

Even if you get a dremel, I don't think anyone sands with them, because you can really damage your blade via the heat, etc. You would still want to hand sand for the most part. You can get a better final polish with a tool like this, though. Well, you can spend MUCH less time to get a great polish anyway.

If you want to make your own scales, that's a whole 'nother thing. I believe there are a few here who get by with just a dremel (and hammer/anvil for pins) to make great looking scales, but it's generally much more work than a full up workshop which includes a bandsaw and various sanding equipment.

Probably not the exact answer you want, but hopefully it will help you think about just what you want to do and then we can help to better guide you to some good tools for the job.

To answer your question more directly though, IMO the most important tool for restoring a razor would be sandpaper in various grits. If you want to make new scales, you can probably get by with a dremel.

my aim is to take ebay/vintage razors with minor rusting and pitting and restore them to a good sharp edge into a polished condition.
i'll want to change the scales on the finished razors as well.
don't and won't be having a workshop as such but a spare room just for working on razors.

is it possible to create/buy some type of jig to use with a vice to help keep freehand drilling straight?

well this is up for debate whether i'm gonna get a collapsible workbench and a small vice, it shouldn't cost too much but i'll be worth it when the restoration begins.

Honestly if I were going to only have one piece of power equipment I would chose my 4x36 belt/disc sander.... I can do more with that then anything else....


Having a way to drill absolutely straight holes in the scales is a priority also.... So if you were to take a Dremel and add the acessories to it, of course you would be getting many tools with one source......

that's what i was thinking to do.. dremel with the works.
so about sanding.. i guess it's a combination of both hand sanding from low grit depending to high grit and a bit of sanding using the dremel as well?