Thread: Advice: the aesthetics of old steel?

Originally Posted by CJBianco

Thanx, everyone. I'll follow the 0000/Maas route. Now, can anyone tell me where to find the 0000? Would it be near the sandpaper in my local auto parts store?

Me

I picked up synthetic steel wool by Norton I believe at my local Woodcraft. I went with the synthetic stuff so the MAAS wouldn't affect it, and it's been working very well for me.

OK...I honed it again (1K-Escher) to see if the shave was better, but it was still unfavorable. So I took out my little loupe and found big microchips along the edge. It seems there are a few areas of heavy pitting that did reach the bevel, so the bevel is dead. And I am sad.

Personally, I'm a user, not a collector, and I can't see owning a razor that I can't shave with. However, I guess I can make one little exception for this particular razor. It would look very nice in a wall display. Especially next to an old newspaper article about JRD Huggins. Wouldn't that be cool! =)

Thank you, everyone.

Christopher

I am in favor, in your case, of doing the minimum to make it nice. I do not always say that. Some oldies are worth saving as is and some aren't! A blade by itself could be a different story. A case in point, cleaned, honed and loved:
Respectfully
~Richard

Originally Posted by holli4pirating

Almost pains me to see something like that hit greaseless.

Almost?! I'm dying just thinking about that poor thing being torn apart!

[QUOTE=CJBianco;735884]OK...I honed it again (1K-Escher) to see if the shave was better, but it was still unfavorable. So I took out my little loupe and found big microchips along the edge. It seems there are a few areas of heavy pitting that did reach the bevel, so the bevel is dead. And I am sad.

Dont give up on it mate. Microchips? in my book that just mean more and better honing. Or am i wrong? My knife is up to par now i can tell you and shaves like a dream. 1 k escher. 1000 shaptons? you cant shave on that. you need to go up to like 8000 at least. Im a beginner so im not sure about my above statement but seriously, dont give up. its a beautiful razor.. have another go.

is there a lot of pitting on the bevel´? can you find a clean area of it thats up for a good honing or do you hit the pitting on the whole thing? even if there is pitting on the bevel you should be able to get a clean edge unless the pitting is real bad.. didnt look like on the pics..

CJ, keep honing at the 1k level until the micro chipping is gone, sometimes that may take awhile with these older blades, and dont be surprised if they come back as you move up the grits. If they do drop back and start over until all of the bad metal is gone.

There are two spots on the bevel where the chipping is bad, and the pitts are deep in the bevel. I may try again in a few days, but it looks as if I'll just keep opening up fresh pits the more I hone. Maybe not. We'll see.

Me