Thread: Restoration Revelation... Maybe

So I have a beautiful razor which needs restoration, but I have never tried doing a restoration before. So I set aside one of my less used vintage razor and decided to have at it. Keep in mind, I'm not going for a brand new finish. I like patina, and I think minor pitting gives the razor character. I simply want to clean up problematic areas.

I read the Wiki regarding various parts of the restoration process, focusing on blade clean up, as that's what this razor needs most. Now on the to the task of gathering my various supplies.

I'm in NYC, the home of a fashion boutique on every corner, but a severe lack of fully stocked hardware stores. So I started pondering where I could get all these fine grit sand papers, and polishing wheels, and various apparatus.

Well guess what NYC has aside from over priced clothing... a great jewelry district. I went to one of the local suppliers and picked up some rubber buffing wheels, as well as some rouge, felt wheels, and fine grit emery paper.

I also made a stop at Home Depot and got some 150, and 220 grit emery sponges for the really gunked up parts. I figured the sponges would flex well and accommodate the varying surface of the razor.

I gave the blade some test runs, and so far so good.

If anyone has tried this method and found it is a formula bound for disaster, please let me know. Otherwise, I think it should work nicely.

depending on the finish you are trying to achieve those are very coarse grits and will leave deep enough scratches that will not buff out. I liked a brass wire wheel to remove any of the heavier gunk

Originally Posted by Brando

depending on the finish you are trying to achieve those are very coarse grits and will leave deep enough scratches that will not buff out. I liked a brass wire wheel to remove any of the heavier gunk

Thanks for the suggestion. I picked up grits based on what I read in the wiki, and intended on going progressively finer. So far, even with the 150 grit, it doesn't seem to be leaving a lot of scratches on the blade.

Originally Posted by freyguy

So I have a beautiful razor which needs restoration, but I have never tried doing a restoration before. So I set aside one of my less used vintage razor and decided to have at it. Keep in mind, I'm not going for a brand new finish. I like patina, and I think minor pitting gives the razor character. I simply want to clean up problematic areas.

I read the Wiki regarding various parts of the restoration process, focusing on blade clean up, as that's what this razor needs most. Now on the to the task of gathering my various supplies.

I'm in NYC, the home of a fashion boutique on every corner, but a severe lack of fully stocked hardware stores. So I started pondering where I could get all these fine grit sand papers, and polishing wheels, and various apparatus.

Well guess what NYC has aside from over priced clothing... a great jewelry district. I went to one of the local suppliers and picked up some rubber buffing wheels, as well as some rouge, felt wheels, and fine grit emery paper.

I also made a stop at Home Depot and got some 150, and 220 grit emery sponges for the really gunked up parts. I figured the sponges would flex well and accommodate the varying surface of the razor.

I gave the blade some test runs, and so far so good.

If anyone has tried this method and found it is a formula bound for disaster, please let me know. Otherwise, I think it should work nicely.

Automotive stores (e.g., AutoZone) usually have sandpaper up to 2000-grit. If you have a buffer with various greaseless and polishing compounds then you should be set as far as cleaning up the metal goes.

Just read the many articles about using buffers with compounds, and always use safety equipment.

I love the feel of the 3M micron-graded finishing paper. I get it from jewelry suppliers. Really, razor work is very similar to jewelry making when you get down to it.

Originally Posted by PDobson

I love the feel of the 3M micron-graded finishing paper. I get it from jewelry suppliers. Really, razor work is very similar to jewelry making when you get down to it.

Those were my thoughts exactly. I just went back to the supplier and picked up some various grit buffing/ sanding wheels for the dremel. It cost about three bucks, but I think will provide good results.

I don't want to make the razor look out of the box new, I just want to clean up some of the heavily gunked areas, and I think these will do the trick.

Originally Posted by freyguy

I don't want to make the razor look out of the box new, I just want to clean up some of the heavily gunked areas,

LMAO Sorry brother but yer fooling yourself once you get that first "clean" spot it is very, very, hard not to continue on...

But good luck to you on trying to stop that restoration monkey from climbing on your back...

Originally Posted by gssixgun

LMAO Sorry brother but yer fooling yourself once you get that first "clean" spot it is very, very, hard not to continue on...

But good luck to you on trying to stop that restoration monkey from climbing on your back...

I could easily see that happening. I am a bit of a perfectionist to begin with, so it wouldn't surprise me if once I got to clean, I wanted to move on to gleaming clean.

At this point, I'm just eager to get it to a point where I could send it out for honing, so maybe that will help fight off the restoration monkey.