Thread: Restoring an occupied Japan straight razor

I started cleaning up this baby last night, the picture doesn't do the corrosion any justice... it was far worse than shown:




I will post new pictures tonight showing the current state. Right now the rust on the blade itself is gone and there is just etching-like marks where the spiderweb oxidation was.

Did you remove the blade from the scales before starting to remove the rust?

I didn't disassemble it yet, but my jig is quite flexible and the blade was securely held during the sanding. My biggest problem with removing the scales is that I currently lack the hardware to repin it down the line.

The rust close to the pivot might have to remain until I order a pack of micro-fasteners. Then I'll need to make new scales, too, as the current ones aren't very good.

Best of luck making scales. I finished up my first real set last night, and they look great. It is definitely not as hard as I imagined. All I used was sandpaper, a pocket knife, and a little pen drill thing and I didn't have any real trouble.

Good luck
Drew

It has since been sanded some more at 280 grit and the stains are almost gone.

I would unpin it. I guarantee there is rust at the pivot pin.