Second Restoration Attempt - Joseph Rodgers wedge

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08-31-2009, 10:45 AM
Bagman

6 Attachment(s)

Second Restoration Attempt - Joseph Rodgers wedge

Well, this is the second attempt at restoration for me, and I've got to say it was much harder than the first.

The scales are ivory, and unfortunately one cracked when I unpinned the scales. :banghead:

Not knowing enough about ivory, I stupidly decided to un-pin on a day where the humidity was a very dry 26%. Result...crack. Anyway, after tidying up the scales I used a clear epoxy to fill the crack.

I had real trouble cleaning this blade up. I went down to 120 grit to remove the light pitting (there is still a little on the blade). After about 400 grit, I did alternate sands with the blade and across the blade but I just couldn't seem to polish it up again no matter how hard I tried.

After a while, I realised that unless I sanded the blade in a lateral (with the blade) direction only, the scratches were almost impossible to remove. So I ended up sanding the blade uni-directionally from 800 grit up. Anyone else struck this? I'm new to this so no idea what was going on there.

Nevertheless, I was as nervous as anything repinning the scales. I had the scales in a humid container for half the day before I attempted to put them back on and it seemed to have helped - it was another super-dry Sydney winter day.

Anyway, pictures attached...
08-31-2009, 12:32 PM
ben.mid

Despite the crack, that really has come out beautifully! A great looking razor & looks like it was worth the hard work. Well done!
08-31-2009, 12:49 PM
BeBerlin

Oh. I have one of these. It is one of my favourite razors, both aesthetically and functionally. You did well!

Nice cufflinks, by the way. :)
08-31-2009, 02:44 PM
Del1r1um

Very nice job... looks great
08-31-2009, 02:49 PM
gssixgun

Very nice work !!! and for the record sometimes scales crack period end of story sometimes it doesn't matter how careful you are they just crack... Let loose with a few choice cuss words :rant: and figure out a work around just like you did :)
08-31-2009, 02:50 PM
rayman

Very nice! Looks like you are really getting the hang of it.

Keep it up,

Ray
08-31-2009, 09:21 PM
Bagman

Quote:

Originally Posted by gssixgun

Very nice work !!! and for the record sometimes scales crack period end of story sometimes it doesn't matter how careful you are they just crack... Let loose with a few choice cuss words :rant: and figure out a work around just like you did :)

Thanks Glen - that makes me feel better! Yeah, I let out some choice cuss words alright - I was trying to be so careful. On the same day I unpinned the Bengall and the scales just crumbled - and then I discovered the pin was really bent. So I'm guessing that unpinning is one of the trickiest parts to this, or else I was just having a really bad day.

As for the Joseph Rodgers, the next job is honing - and I'm having trouble with this one. There is a slight smile in the blade. The toe is shave sharp but I'm having trouble with the heel. I don't want to do any more without some help.

Any honemeisters that could help me out? Any Ossie honemeisters out there? Please PM me if you can help me out in any way.

Cheers,

Karsten.
08-31-2009, 09:28 PM
Maximilian

Beautiful job considering you did everything by hand
Love the finished look
Keep up the good work
08-31-2009, 09:57 PM
MykelDR

Another one for the bagman! Looks nice mate. Great job:nj
BTW.. How did your first end up shaving?.. last I heard you were halfway through honing?

Mykel
08-31-2009, 10:01 PM
ChrisL

Looking good! I look forward to seeing pictures of many more from you.

Chris L
08-31-2009, 10:42 PM
Bagman

Quote:

Originally Posted by MykelDR

Another one for the bagman! Looks nice mate. Great job:nj
BTW.. How did your first end up shaving?.. last I heard you were halfway through honing?

Mykel

Thanks Mykel. The George Wostenholm is great - I love it! My first blade was the Dovo 5/8 I bought and the Wosty is a 6/8. I think I prefer the 6/8. It sounds different and feels different and just gives a really nice comfortable shave. I'm alternating one each day at the moment.
09-01-2009, 02:27 AM
onimaru55

Nice Job Bagman. I'm very fond of the Rodgers make, especially the wedges.
If you can bring it over I'm happy to help you along with the honing. PM sent.
09-01-2009, 06:44 AM
Bagman

Quote:

Originally Posted by onimaru55

Nice Job Bagman. I'm very fond of the Rodgers make, especially the wedges.
If you can bring it over I'm happy to help you along with the honing. PM sent.

Thanks again Onimaru55. I'm looking forward to meeting up.
09-01-2009, 11:04 AM
baldy

Beautiful work mate.
I know what you mean, un-pinning allways makes me sweat too.
09-03-2009, 07:48 PM
Visibility

....

I like it, great job.

What did you do to the blade? It could just be the camera but it came out exceptionally nice.
09-04-2009, 01:24 AM
the wanderer

dang. that is one good-looking razor. nice work.
09-04-2009, 11:11 AM
Bagman

Quote:

Originally Posted by Visibility

I like it, great job.

What did you do to the blade? It could just be the camera but it came out exceptionally nice.

Thanks for that. 180 grit, 220, 300, 400, 600, 800, 1000, 1200, 1500, 2000 and then back to 800, 1000, 1200, 1500 & 2000. A few callouses. A few cuts on the blade edge despite trying to be uber careful. Then about 2 hours polishing with a metal polish while I was watching a DVD. So literally blood, sweat and tears. It did come up nicely (but not flawless like some of the examples I have seen here) but it was an effort.
09-07-2009, 06:12 PM
Scipio

I have a similar Rodgers wedge in ivory, found on the bay last year.

It came as a 6/8 near wedge (Henckel scale II perhaps) but had grind marks all over with a couple of black patches, which lead me to think that it may have been a regrind.

Im no expert at restoration by any means, but ive hand sanded to mirror polish a few other blades and the Rodgers was definately the most difficult. I started on 80 grit and had to drop to 40 just because it was so tough.

I reckon Rodgers just have harder steel than any other Sheffield ive restored so far including a Frederick's Celebrated and a Hall & Fielding, the latter which I still cant find any info on! (Anyone heard of Hall & Fielding btw)

But Im glad to know Rodgers tough steel is consistent!

And beautiful job on the resto. shame about that crack. I didnt have the balls to unpeen mine. what i do instead to get at the tang under the pivot part of the scales is to slide sandpaper underneath which seems to work. I place the razor in a vice and use two hands to slide the sandpaper across underneath. Takes alot more time though!
09-09-2009, 12:31 PM
Bagman

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scipio

I have a similar Rodgers wedge in ivory, found on the bay last year.

It came as a 6/8 near wedge (Henckel scale II perhaps) but had grind marks all over with a couple of black patches, which lead me to think that it may have been a regrind.

Im no expert at restoration by any means, but ive hand sanded to mirror polish a few other blades and the Rodgers was definately the most difficult. I started on 80 grit and had to drop to 40 just because it was so tough.

I reckon Rodgers just have harder steel than any other Sheffield ive restored so far including a Frederick's Celebrated and a Hall & Fielding, the latter which I still cant find any info on! (Anyone heard of Hall & Fielding btw)

But Im glad to know Rodgers tough steel is consistent!

And beautiful job on the resto. shame about that crack. I didnt have the balls to unpeen mine. what i do instead to get at the tang under the pivot part of the scales is to slide sandpaper underneath which seems to work. I place the razor in a vice and use two hands to slide the sandpaper across underneath. Takes alot more time though!

Thanks. Glad to know I'm not the only one who found it hard to sand one of these. The worst of the corrosion was actually on the spine of the tang directly above the pin and below the level of the scales, so almost impossible to sand out without unpinning, well, impossible with my basic level of skill that is. Anyway, this one is now honed up (thanks to Onimaru55) and I've had a few awesome shaves from it.