Well, it's been a while since I've had anything to post in this forum, but I still have 4 or 5 razors that need restoring.
I started working on a Clauss 7/8 that I scored on the bay a while back. It was a nice razor and all I really needed to do was to polish out a few patina spots and clean the scales.
I knew this wasn't going to end well when I accidentally burned the scales removing the pivot. Got careless with the dremel which is what I use to grind off the pivot pin and burned the scale. Ok, so it wasn't too bad, I could deal with that alright. Brush it up, polish it some and most of it would be covered by a stacked washer re-pinning. It'll be alright.
So I move on to the blade. I run it over the buffer and have it looking pretty nice. I could have and should have stopped there. But as I was starting to work on the scales I noticed a spot close to the edge that I hadn't noticed until I saw it in a different light, you know?
So..... I grab the rotary tool again and change over to a buffing wheel, starting with the black greaseless compound. I started to polish the blade again, and I had not been polishing for a minute before I picked up the razor blade and turned around to get closer to the light and get a better look at the edge when I lost control of it, (I don't know how, or what happened) and it was heading for a place that was not going to be good to hit. I slapped it back into the air, totally freaked that I was going to slice myself. The brain instantly weighs those pros and cons and your re-action is pretty much involuntary.
The slap resulted in missing what I wanted it to miss, but sent it flying into another section of the area that was even worse. The resulting chip out of the edge, near the heel seemed not to bad, and I thought it could have been worse. I could have sliced myself AND chipped the edge.
I grab the DMT and proceed to breadknife the edge. As I was already planning on honing it when I finished, I had been soaking stones for at least an hour already.
As I was breadknifing it, I kept examining the chip to make sure I left just enough of the chip to ensure the least amount of removal from the blade. I could just see the start of what I thought was a crack. I stopped when the chip looked to be just small enough and took it to the Norton's.
While I was trying to set the bevel, I noticed what I thought was happening, really was happening and there was a crack developing, heading toward the shoulder supports. A few more passes and the crack was well on it's way.
What a drag, eh?
I wish I could blame the dremel or anyone else, but dumb is as dumb does. I lost a beauty, but did gain some very valuable experience on the stones. This is the first crack I have ever actually seen come out of a chip. Another step in the right direction, even if I lost a razor to learn it. Which I'm really bummed about, I was looking forward, after all those hours of sanding and polishing, honing and all, to shaving with that razor. What a loss. Due to bumbling fingers.
Man it stinks getting old.
Well, that's my story, I hope there is something to learn for all in it.
Happy shaving!!
M
