My Newbie W&B Ghetto Restore - PICS!

[myuserid]

Here is my first restore. Admittedly I have never done this before. Nor was I ever planning to do one. But this weekend I stumbled upon a few Sheffield straights [2] from Wade & Butcher & [1] from Joseph Rodgers & Sons.


1. Joseph & Rodgers 2. Wage & Butcher Spike 3. W&B Barbers Notch

They were pretty beat up but for $10 a pop I figured I could use them for something. In the car ride back home I was really growing fond of the two old W&B's specially the barbers notch. The more I thought about it the more I wanted to clean them up. Im on a tight budget at the moment so I didn't want to have to pay a lot to get them in nice working order. My thought was to de pin them and then clean the steel up as best I could.

So, I de pinned the two W&B's and started to go to town with the limited supplies I had. I started whacking away at it with 100 grit. And I got the barbers notch to this point...





That took about a little less than an hour to do. Then sadly, I made a BIG STUPID mistake... I broke the tip off the Barbers Notch!



Which really ****ed me off... I felt horrible. So, this morning I decided (with the help of some peeps in chat) to grind down the Barbers notch... I figured WTF? I already buggered it up...

[myuserid]

Continued...

I then went out to the depot and to the auto parts store and picked up some more sand paper... 120/150/220/320/400/600/1000/1500/2000

Now I must confess / warn you I didn't take a whole lot of time. I think I spent a total of five hours. During that time I broke out the dremel and mandrel grinder. Went over most of the razors knocking out all the rust and as much pitting as I could. I also took off a lot of patina and such.

Then I proceeded with the grits. One thing I did was on each grit I used Flitz metal polish as a slurry - so to speak. I just added a few drops to the sand paper and went at it. I think this really helped cut faster.

So here is where I stand right now. I did the barbers notch all the way to 2k and the spike to 320 or 400 I dont honestly remember.















Considering this should have taken a week (to do properly) I am still pretty impressed with the outcome. I know I really should have spent more time on the different grits, but I really didnt want to make this a long drawn out ordeal - remember I wasn't planning on even doing this. Nor have I ever done it before.

So, considering the rush job... how did I do? Any comments would be appreciated.

[SiRed8]

Inspite of it all, I really commend you for rectifying situation gone bad. At least you didn't just leave it be. :beer:

[BKratchmer]

Plans for scales?

[Maximilian]

I would double check the scales from the 1. Joseph Rodgers & Sons as I believe those to be real tortoise.

If they are not then they sure are the best imitation I have ever seen.

[0livia]

that or celluloid.

That head of the W&B is sure a nice save
and for a first the finish is really ok!

[myuserid]

Thanks, for the kind words everyone, your posts inspire me.

I will try and restore one of the sets of scales from the W&B. The other is cracked at the pivot pin. I may however attempt to fix this. Again, I have no clue as to what I am doing. Hopefully, it all works out in the end.

How, can one tell if its real tortoise shell?

[Maximilian]

How, can one tell if its real tortoise shell?

First check and see if the scales are thin. Second use a needle, heat it up with a lighter and hit it somewhere on the inside. If it's celluloid it will burn right through. If you smell a weird burned hair smell it's definitely not celluloid since tortoise shell is keratin (hair. horn, nails...)

or rub the scales on a piece of cloth until it becomes warm. If the warmth brings out an odor of camphor or celluloid, it is an imitation.

Here's a link on a set of real tortoise I ended up restoring for the owner. They sure do look extremely similar to yours.

Like I said, if they are not they sure are the best imitation I have ever come across.

[myuserid]

Thank you, they do look very much alike. Ill check them out this morning, and report back.

[myuserid]

Going to start work on the scale repair for the W&B tomorrow... Didnt mess with the tortoise shell yet.