Thread: Razor Restoration - Lessons learned

Hi,
it is awesome

the picture isn't all that clear, but it appears to have turned out pretty good for a first razor restore. You have learned and put another razor back to work, congratulations!
Scott

So here are my hi-res images.
I am looking for critique and suggestions, so please don't spare my feelings

You can see on the photos a little damage to the scales ... i dropped them in the garage
Also you can see the dark tarnish. On the spine it's actually pitted a little to the point where you can feel it by running your fingernail across it, but the rest is just a stubborn black discoloration that won't go away no matter how much I sand/polish it.

I tried to get a good picture of the spine, but my camera just wouldn't do it...

I suppose I could take the grinder to it, but I think that would more than likely damage or destroy the blade.

Thanks to all in advance...

How did you work the horn?
I do not have the experience that its hard for what its worth there are harder woods.
If you had to thin the horn then I can agree it takes time if you do not have power tools, pre cut 1/8" horn is not a big deal.
For making straight holes use a jig, a piece of flat metal like aluminum or steel, drill a #52 hole and use as guide.
Use a #52 drill for some wiggle room for the pins and scales to adjust.

I tried cutting the shape out with a Dremel tool. Smelly, slow and tricky. A normal wood coping saw ended up working best.
The horn was 3/16" thick, so not too much thicker than it needed to be. I used an inverted reciprocal sander with 60 grit sandpaper to shave it down to about 1/8", but I had cut the pieces out first. Probably would have been beter to do that first, then cut the pieces out.
Then sanding ( a lot by hand, some with the above rec. sander ) to take the angular cutout shapes and smooth them into the desired shape.
There are probably better ways to have done all this.

Looks really good.

I'd have to say they are very good looking. From the above shot, are the scales the same thickness or is it a color difference giving an optical illusion? For your first rescale, you should be patting yourself on the back. If I were to make any suggestions, I'd say to countersink the screw heads/nut or replace with brass or nickle pins.
Scott