Ben-Hur Restoration Attempt

Hey everyone,

Before I knew what I was getting myself into I purchased a Shumate Ben-Hur on ebay. It took a while to realize how bad the condition actually was and I gave it a quick cleaning attempt. (before and after pics are below)

Should I go any further or is the pitting too deep? Seems like I've been sanding forever but they just won't go away. If it's too deep and not worth continuing does that mean the blade is useless or can I still hone it up and use it until it eventually dies? :tameshigiri:

Thanks!

The pitting is purely a cosmetic thing as long as it doesn't come into the edge. If it does then you'll have to remove alot of steel to get a good edge or maybe not be able to at all :( Its hard to tell from the pics but it looks like you should be ok.

ive got a razor with many many times worse pitting, it seems all you can do, and all thats worth doing is honing it and seeing how it goes. if the edge is solid and doesnt deteriorate your fine.

i tried hand sanding my pits, and i just gave up, there ugly but thats fine with me.

Yeah, you'll be working on that a long time. I would also just polish it up, such as it is. I'd say to use some Renaissance or carnuba wax on it pretty regularly, pits are where new rust will try to take hold, so you'll want some good protection.

I shave regularly with blades that look a lot worse. As mentioned above, as long as the edge is good, you are good to go.

They don't need to be shiny to work well.