Thread: Regeldso - nothin' to lose.

Well nobody can accuse nphocus of having a major vice... There, I said it. I just couldn't stop myself.

The Regeldso is looking marvellous, and must feel so much more of an achievement than even the same restoration of an item examined and guaranteed sound by a specialist dealer. You backed your judgement, and you won.

The scales actually look pretty good, and should be looked at pretty carefully before replacing them. I don't doubt they can be straightened with hot water, whether they are celluloid, as I believe, or horn. The question is whether they will stay straightened.

Sometimes apparent warping is true warping of the material, and other times it arises, either until the rivets are released or longer term, because one side has become longer than the other. Lying on a damp or condensation-provoking surface, or in sunlight, can do that. It might be worth assembling it with only the pivot rivet, and leaving it joined with only double sided tape at the wedge end, until you are sure they have settled down.

Originally Posted by Caledonian

Well nobody can accuse nphoco of having a major vice... There, I said it. I just couldn't stop myself.

The Regeldso is looking marvellous, and must feel so much more of an achievement than even the same restoration of an item examined and guaranteed sound by a specialist dealer. You backed your judgement, and you won.

The scales actually look pretty good, and should be looked at pretty carefully before replacing them. I don't doubt they can be straightened with hot water, whether they are celluloid, as I believe, or horn. The question is whether they will stay straightened.

Sometimes apparent warping is true warping of the material, and other times it arises, either until the rivets are released or longer term, because one side has become longer than the other. Lying on a damp or condensation-provoking surface, or in sunlight, can do that. It might be worth assembling it with only the pivot rivet, and leaving it joined with only double sided tape at the wedge end, until you are sure they have settled down.

Thanks...

Yep, you're right... one scale is actually shorter than the other one, very likely due to laying on a window sill for who knows how long. The scales weren't long enough for the blade to start with and the wedge banged against the end of the blade - it was fortunate that didn't damage the blade I suppose.

These are inexpensive enough and come with the necessary pins and washers as well: Vintage Strops, Hones, and Scales for Straight Razors

I retained the inner washers, but if they don't fit for some reason I'll have to pick up a bag from the hardware store.

Originally Posted by tonycraigo

Thanks...

Yep, you're right... one scale is actually shorter than the other one, very likely due to laying on a window sill for who knows how long. The scales weren't long enough for the blade to start with and the wedge banged against the end of the blade - it was fortunate that didn't damage the blade I suppose.

These are inexpensive enough and come with the necessary pins and washers as well: Vintage Strops, Hones, and Scales for Straight Razors

I retained the inner washers, but if they don't fit for some reason I'll have to pick up a bag from the hardware store.

That is an extremely useful link, which is much appreciated. No doubt I should have seen it somewhere on the site, but I hadn't.

Much as I like making things, replacement with possibly contemporary old scales seems less obtrusive.

Yea, and I almost lost it too. The link was posted in a thread that got buried and it took me forever to find it again - when I did I set a bookmark to it.

The Superior Shave folks are right on top of things. I ordered at 03:30 this morning after getting home from my shift at the university and I have already been notified that my order has shipped. Free shipping too.

I got a couple of those little brass bolts and washers sets and that will let me put the scales on for honing and test shaving and then I'll be able to try my hand at making those Epay scales - if successful the little bolt can be easily removed and the pins can be employed.

Here we are, at the end...

I used the little bolts and washers... filed down the long end of the bolt and struck it with the back of a stainless spoon - as suggested by another member... worked like a charm.





I'm not really happy with the scales, but the blade fits nicely into them albeit they are a bit too large for my blade... I sanded off the trailing end of the scales... I'll still be working on those epay jobs...

Still...

I'll call it done... it has to impress no one but me... and it has.

The best part is it shaves wonderfully. Very comfortable. Set the bevel on a Norton 4000... (whew, that took a while) finished it on the 8000 side and the strops. She's good to go.

Nothing to lose... nothing lost... about 40 bucks into the restoration...

Not too shabby...



Borrowed a camera for the weekend... will try to get a better pic for the finish...

Nicely done, grats on a job well done. And what a nice result from your first resto.
I've enjoyed watching this razor progress, and it looks great in the end.
And you even sharpened it yourself, way to go

I've tried bevel setting and bevel correction on a norton combo 4k/8k... you Sir, have my full respect.

Originally Posted by Nphocus

I've tried bevel setting and bevel correction on a norton combo 4k/8k... you Sir, have my full respect.

I had just flattened the thing with some wet 320 grit on the kitchen counter and you know how smooth they are after that as opposed to how they come new.

I could tell it was cutting, it was just going slow. I used the 'circle' patterns Lynn explained about in the video set from the 09 get together. I just had to use a little more pressure and do more sets. The closer I got the easier it became. I'm glad I did it on my 4000 because now I have that skill in my quiver and know how it's supposed to feel as it progresses to the correct bevel.

Originally Posted by tonycraigo

Well...

The hand sanding went along fine. I removed all the light pitting and all but the deepest of the old scratches I dared to - a previous restoration (perhaps) has left this 1/4 hollow very thin and my eyesight isn't what it used to be, so I decided to err on the side of caution and to leave a few battle scars.

It didn't take very long to realize I was going to need to employ a power tool for the final buffing. I don't have a bench, or a bench wheel, but the good folks at the university I work for did see fit to supply me with two Dewalt cordless drills. Pretty nice ones. Two speed jobs with the reverse switch, which came in very handy.

I stopped by the local Tru-Value and picked up a stick of the brownish stainless and white compounds along with two drill mounted buffing wheels. I had to work with a vice, so I covered the part of the blade I wasn't working on with many layers of paper towel then clamped it firmly in the vice. Here's where it gets tricky.

I'm no rocket scientist, but being very, VERY careful to keep the drill's rotation aimed at the edge (with the edge, never against it - if you know what I mean) I was able to polish out all my sanding marks with the stainless compound very quickly. I used the higher speed setting and only used about half 'throttle'. I also positioned myself where I had a firm grip and absolute control over the tool and the wheel. The vise is one of those that rotates, so positioning was made easier.

I could not buff perpendicular to the blade and reach into the hollow, so an angled attack was necessary - AGAIN - making sure rotations always fell away from the edge!

The same technique was used with the white finishing compound and in about an hour I had a near mirror finish along the entire lenth of the razor - first working on one end, then the other.

There are a few scars that will remain with this razor, but we're miles ahead of where we started.

Here are two poor images, but will hopefully post some good ones as we progress through the scales installation. I will probably opt for some inexpensive premade replacement scales. I have my eye on some fairly nice ones.

My polishing cloth left a little to be desired on the end there... More Bleach in the laundry next time!



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looks awesome. great work.