Thread: Chipped Wade & Butcher Options

I have a W&B Keen Shaver in my collection with a nasty chip in the edge. Unfortunately when I looked closer I realized it was caused by swiss-cheese pitting from hell.


Apart from the rough edge and the pitting it would be a lovely 11/16ths bellied blade cleaned up, but am I right in thinking there's no way to hone out that chip? the pitting doesn't show so much on the back side but it looks DEEP, and clearly the edge has already broken down badly. Even the visible pitting runs well up almost 3/32nds into the belly and to hone it out I'd probably have to grind down the stabilizer.

I hate to take metal off this blade, but I think the only way to save it is to shorten it. I'd have to chop off almost 13/32nds of an inch, leaving ~2.5 inches of decent edge behind.

What do you guys think?

The chip continues in what looks like devil spit, the blade is hollow ground and to me it looks it is a lost cause.

That is some intense pitting and only God knows how far it goes toward the spine and along the edge just below the surface. You can cut it down and eliminate what is visible only to hone it and find out that the rotten metal is everywhere. Good luck and keep us posted.

There are deep lengthwise scratches all along the edge. Reminds me of another post where someone suspected a razor'd been used as a knife.

Ouch. If you want to cut it down feel free, but make sure to check the rest of the edge for retaining abilities before you bother. If there is some other swiss cheese along that edge which isn't as readily visible to the naked eye I wouldn't bother to cut it down.

Originally Posted by Goggles

I have a W&B Keen Shaver in my collection with a nasty chip in the edge. Unfortunately when I looked closer I realized it was caused by swiss-cheese pitting from hell.
...snip...

Hone it up to about 1K or 4K not so much to shave as to see if there
are other patches of pitting. The process will also let you see how
deep the damage is... Once you know you can decide.

My guess is that you can hone it out by being aggressive on the toe.
It is not uncommon to see the toe of a good shaver honed way
back by old school sharpening. i.e. put a smile on the toe end.

First things first hone it up to make sure there are no hidden
ugly... bits.

Originally Posted by niftyshaving

Hone it up to about 1K or 4K not so much to shave as to see if there
are other patches of pitting. The process will also let you see how
deep the damage is... Once you know you can decide.

My guess is that you can hone it out by being aggressive on the toe.
It is not uncommon to see the toe of a good shaver honed way
back by old school sharpening. i.e. put a smile on the toe end.

First things first hone it up to make sure there are no hidden
ugly... bits.

I agree strongly with this. Hone it, even a lot of honing, to see if you get back to a straight, sharp edge. You do see a lot of old razors with enough hone wear near the tip to make the edge curve back, and while it isn't the most aesthetic appearance there is, it isn't very harmful in use, and looks a lot better than a notch. It might work, and doesn't reduce your ability to shorten the blade instead. But shortening seems to me a poor second best, expecially with what would no longer be centred etching on the blade, shouting forever "I've been shortened".

I think those lines probably come from some intellectual scratching away rust with a file or coarse stone. They seem a secondary problem at the moment, but it might be that they could be removed with abrasive on a hard felt wheel, or abrasive paper glued to a firm cylindrical object. If either of those is of slightly larger diameter than the wheel which ground the razor, you could touch the spine and scratched ares (especially if there is a longitudinal reinforce), and use only a finer polish on the etched area.