Thread: First small restoration success

Hi guys!

With adroit assistance from Randy last night, I managed to return my giveaway razor to shaving ability after whatever I had done to it in first receiving it. That was pretty exciting.

However, the bigger excitement for me comes in the aftermath of my eBay arrivals. I won two group lots for razors on eBay. One was largely unknown, and the other was known identity but unknown quantity.

I think, on the whole, I got pretty lucky. I doubt that these are worth a whole lot as collector's items, but I think they'll be decent as shavers. Dates and other information are from that straight razor manufacturer page that gets tossed around. I got:

a Peak by Geo. Korn, circa 1900-1925. Excellent condition.

a Presto by Fred Dolle, blade made in Germany. ca. 1901-1928.

a Sackett's Cadillac.

a Joseph Rodgers & Sons wedge razor from Sheffield somewhere between 1682 and 1991.

a Larkin

an 05 Premier by Farrand, Williams, and Clark, made in Germany. Slightly broken tip.

an Eagle "The Magnetic Razor" by G.F. Creutzberg, Philadelphia, ca. 1875-1943.

a pair of Wade and Butchers, Sheffield. Pretty good, although one has a couple of small nicks.

a J.A. Henckels from Solingen. Good condition.

A few of them have some shoulder wear such that they don't sit evenly on the hone. I'm not sure whether I'll end up trying to fix them somehow or just tossing them--but given that my reason for buying them was to get some razors on which to practice honing without fear of destroying something valuable, I think I did pretty well. Ten razors for under $30 delivered.

Anyway, my two successes for today involved the Farrand-Williams-Clark and the Fred Dolle. The Farrand was in pretty good condition except that the very tip of its spike point had been broken off and was jagged. I rounded it off using the side of an aluminum oxide kitchen hone I got in Chinatown years ago (used it to maintain all my kitchen knives for a while, too), and it's now a round point. The point is smooth, though, and I hope it'll hone up well. Should, given that it's German steel. I also de-rusted it with 0000 steel wool and then spent an hour polishing it with Flitz while watching a Foyle's War episode, and now it is shiny and beautiful.

The real success was with the Fred Dolle, though. It has slightly hideous plastic or bakelite scales in a pixelated brown and black wavy pattern, but the edge was straight and it had an attraction: the Fred Dolle logo is, apparently, a knight with a lance riding into battle on a frog. Too good to pass up.

I started with the cleaning--0000 steel wool for the active rust, then a lot of Flitz. It could still use some more, which it may or may not get. It had some pretty severe pitting on the tang, beyond my ability to remove, but it's not a problem outside the realm of aesthetics.

Once it was clean, I started with the honing. I had the idea in my mind that I was going to be a brilliant honer, and that I'd probably take the dull eBay special from rags to riches in about twenty minutes, at which point someone would tell me it was worth $800.

Um, right. Like that happened. Instead, I spent an hour and a half honing it yesterday, hands cramping from trying to do everything perfectly. I was trying to hone with less than no pressure, because I was scared. Didn't really get anywhere.

Last night, Randy T spent a lot of time with me working on another razor, and I applied what I had learned today. In looking at the Dolle, it had a pretty significant wire edge that wasn't going away even on a 4000, so I backhoned it and forward honed it on my knife hone, whose grit is somewhere well below 4000. That gave me a good starting bevel. A fairly long and involved pyramid later, I have a razor that doesn't really pass the HHT but shaves quite comfortably! It can use some more work, of course, but I'll leave that for tomorrow.

But: I know you'll understand what I mean when I say what a strong feeling of masculine pride came over me when I found that I had taken a dull and ugly knife and made a working razor out of it. It was great.

Thanks, guys.

Well done, Piper. Sounds like you're really jumping in. I don't know about the steel wool though. Most rust will actually come of with most metal polishes. Takes a little more elbow grease, but doesn't leave any scratches. You might want to use some very fine sand paper to erase some of that action. I've got some 400, 600, 1500 and 2000 wet dry that seems to be a good progression.

X

Hey there, X,

I'm using the finest grade of steel wool--0000--because I didn't want to scratch the razors. The Flitz wasn't doing anything about the rust, so I decided to try the steel wool. I can't see any scratches with the naked eye; does that mean I'm okay, or are we talking about smaller ones that will weaken it somehow?

I'm gonna try and pick up some sandpaper this week.

What an addictive hobby.

Originally Posted by piper

... the finest grade of steel wool--0000-- ...

That sure sounds non abrasive alright. LOL

Originally Posted by piper

... I can't see any scratches with the naked eye; does that mean I'm okay, or are we talking about smaller ones that will weaken it somehow?

Visible is what I meant. Anything else would be insignificant both æsthetically and functionally.

Originally Posted by piper

I'm gonna try and pick up some sandpaper this week.

If the steel wool works that well I wouldn't bother unless you felt some 2000 or 2500 wet dry would polish it.

Originally Posted by piper

What an addictive hobby.

Amen brother.

X

I can quit .... any time. Any time I want.

Hands, shaking. Checked mailbox. Kufmann Imperial isn't back from John! New scales aren't here! My Kingcutter is somewhere over the pacific! I'll have to go shave with a DE, but... it just isn't the same.

But I can. I can quit ... any time I want.

Dan.

Ohhh!! Are you toast!!! You got it bad!

I seem to be doing that kind of thing almost every day since beginning to shave like this.