Thread: Bluing and the tumbler

I just came back from the antique store and found a red imp. It has some rust on half the blade and the scales are kinda warped. I am not worried about the scales or rust, I think I can fix both of those. The main thing I am worried about is the bluing on the tang. Will the tumbler remove it or do I need to cover it before I throw it in. Sorry there are no pictures, the soonest I could post some would be in a week. Thank you for your help

Red imps had a blue/black tang from the manufacturer. The tumbler will take it off.

I am pretty sure the "Tumbler Method" will take the bluing off you could however re-blue it after

you can re-blue the tang using
Burchwood Super Blue

I might look into the super blue. For now I am thinking I will just cover the tang and let it run. Sadly, I only have this week to work on my razors, till Christmas.

Here is an old post showing us how to blacken steel parts. Hope it helps you...

Jerry

Blackening mild steel guards in Introductions - Visit Here First Forum

Well, the razor my be out of my restoration abilities. I picked another one up from the same vendor, the damage to the blade was identical. I decided to work on it before the imp, hand sanding with 180 grit for about 2hrs it looks better but the black marks are not going away. I really want to drop to a lower grit, any reason not to besides making more work getting those lines out? Chances are these two will be sent off to be worked on, they might just need to be reground.

depending on the grind of the second razor, you don't want to sand too much material away as it might permanently damage it (ie extra hollow ground). Also, as you mentioned getting the scratches from very low grit sandpaper out is very time consuming.