Thread: Text on razors.

Hi this is my first thread here so please bear with my if my english isent so good.

Ive been looking around here on the restoration part and what i havent found is any tips on how to save text/markings on the razor/tang during a restoration. And maybe how to make them appear fresh/new. Maybe some dont´s and do`s. And please let me now if there already is a thread for this.

Welcome to SRP. I don't know about a specific thread but the SRP Wiki has a section with tutorials on restoration here that may be helpful.

The best advice I could give is not to sand/buff on the areas of the stamps/writing. If you take off the metal around them, you effectively decrease their depth, which makes them less visible.

The only way I know of to put them back on is to re-etch (with a stencil, by hand, or with a laser).

Alright thanks alot for the help so far. I should have been more specefic i think i meant if the blade is tainted and has some rust/dirt etc, how is the best way and what should i use to keep the blacknesss/color of the text but by the same time brining it forth so its visibale without removing it?.

Originally Posted by Sibban

Alright thanks alot for the help so far. I should have been more specefic i think i meant if the blade is tainted and has some rust/dirt etc, how is the best way and what should i use to keep the blacknesss/color of the text but by the same time brining it forth so its visibale without removing it?.

I've taken 0000 steel wool with a bit of oil on it and removed corrosion without scratching the surface metal. You can also try Maas, Flitz or Semichrome metal polish on a toothbrush and finish with a paper towel. Dental floss with metal polish is good in the pivot area if you are not going to remove the scales. These won't restore it to like new but they will help and won't harm the stamping or etching. They will take gold wash off though.

I have an idea, but I have never tried it. To be perfectly honest I have absolutly no restoration experience, but I had this thought after reading some restoration posts on saving tang markings during restoration. I used to work at a country club, and some golfers used lead tape to modify the head weight of certain golf clubs. I was thinking that if someone was going to bench grind the razor and tang during their restoration process that lead tape may aid in keeping shallow tang markings alive during the different stages of grinding/sanding/polishing, ect....

I don't know just a thought. I would like to hear what some experienced restorers think of this idea.

Thanks,
Louis

That might not be a bad idea at all Luois, i dont realy know what lead tape is called here in sweden and where to get it, but the idea seems to good.

Many thanks!

I'm in the USA but if your thinking of giving it a try a sporting goods store may carry it where you are or let you know where you might find it. If you do try it let us know how it worked out for you please.

Louis.

OK lets look at this a second time..

The only objective for "Cleaning" a blade it to remove "Something" off the steel...
That something, can be as easy as fingerprints, or as bad as Devil's Spit
The only difference is the degree of which you chose to do this...

The simple fact of restoration which I sometimes call the "Murphy's Law of Restoration" is that you can pretty much bet your bottom dollar that the "corrosion" you want to remove, will be just deeper than the Etching you want to keep...

If you cover etching you will save it, but you will not clean around it you can save the time and money by just not cleaning it at all, by not touching the steel by the etching...

The absolute best way to save etching is to use the tumbler method -BUT- it will not remove metal and fix pitting but it will clean it

Once you start sanding or grinding or buffing then you have a choice to make, which actually the razor makes for you, some razors have DEEP stamps that make it through, others have light stamps that one pass will pull...

Try and never wipe an etch off completely though, as you totally wrecked the value..You at the very least want an identifier left there

You can play with the buffers too, like one pass over the etch to rip rust then stay away from that spot until the higher polishing grits...There are all kinds of tricks with all kinds of razors, only experience teaches you what you can get away with....

Go For It

Thanks for all the answers ive gotten here all of them have been very helpfull, i think ill just have to try all kinds of diffrent methods on different razors metal and learn what happens. Thanks guys!