Thread: Power tools

Hi all,

I am wanting to begin buying the necessary tools to aid me in restoration.

Of the requirements, which should I get first? Buffer, drill press, etc. For some reason I am thinking a drill press.....not sure why lol.

Thanks for the help.

Jon

I started to say buffer, but as I thought about it, you can do just about everything you can do with a buffer by hand, but drilling precise holes requires a drill press. So, ---- I vote drill press. Do NOT get a Dremel!

Don't worry. I am going to get a real drill press.

Jon

What "restoration" do you want to do?

And as Skip pointed out, anything can be done by hand if you have the time to do it. So, what do you anticipate doing, and how much of it?

I have a buffer, drill press, beltsander, and scroll saw. If I could only have one... it would be the buffer and I wouldn't do scales.

I am wanting to do full restorations, and only replace scales if needed, or if I simply just want to.

Jon

I don't meant to be picky, but "full restoration" means different things to different people. Some might include regrinding to get rid of deep pitting, some might include re-etching and/or re-frosting blades if you buff and/or regrind them. Some might or might not include making new scales. To some, restoration might include nothing more than MAAS and a paper towel.

My point is, to get advice about what you want to do, you have to say exactly what you want to do.

For now I want to bring blades back to their best without having to re grind them, removing as much rust, pitting, etc as possible. Not worried about doing etching right now. As for scales I will stay with the originals if they are in good enough shape. If not I will make new ones. Right now I am hand sanding and polishing to clean blades, and I have some manual tools to make scales, except for drilling them.

Please let me know if there is any additional information I can provide.

I am such a newbie at all of this.

Jon

Originally Posted by skipnord

Do NOT get a Dremel!

Why does everyone hate dremels?

I think you should buy a vise to hold your work down so you can use both of your mitts to do restorations by hand. It doesn't sound like you're doing anything major so buying a new power tool might be a waste of money for the amount of use it will get.

In my post above, I meant do not get a Dremel, not just a Dremel drill press. There are other, and much safer tools than a Dremel, IMO. If you are not going to to scales, you really don't need a drill press. For blades, a buffer is the most valuable motorized tool, IMO. All of what I wrote is IMO, and for what it's worth. Good luck. A magnetic blade holder is a great helper for hand sanding and polishing. Also, for what it's worth, "My name is Skip, and I am a toolaholic"!

If you are starting out, you use no power tools. You use sandpaper, cloth, and various things that run on elbow grease.
There are a great many things to learn about razor restoration, and most of them are figured out while you spend hours sanding and polishing. The reason we advise newbie to start with only sandpaper is not just because of cost or 'earning the right to power tools', but it is good sense.

If you skip to power tools from the beginning, you will not learn those important lessons. Additionally, you will likely destroy a number of blades because you make the various beginner mistakes which are mostly harmless when you do things by hand. That is for the blades.

If you want to make scales for blades which don't have them, then imo the number 1 powertool is a drill press, for the simple reason that the holes in the scales absolutely need to line up perfectly. It IS possible to make do without a drill press, but it is a chore and the result is less than what you'd get with a drill press.