Thread: Dovo Fritz Bracht #88, restorable?

Salutations,

First, the razor...





Got this one as a Christmas gift. The black marks are all over the blade and tang. One small nick in the blade exists about a quarter of the way down from the toe. It has a diameter about the size of a sewing needle or tooth pick. My question is simple, can it be restored as a shaver. I would love to be able to use this in my rotation. Any and all help is welcome and appreciated.

Cheers,
JackOfDiamonds

I'm sure the experts could be more helpful but I would say yes. You might need to bread knife the blade depending on how deep the nick is but as I said the experts here on this board can tell you more.

Looking at that blade, I would say that you may have an issue with deep pitting along the edge.
You may not, however, the first thing I would do is try and set a bevel to see if you can find good steel.
Breadknifing - to me - is a last resort and should not be attempted by the inexperienced.

From what I can see on the pics, this is not going to be restorable giving the hollow grind and the corrosion along the edge.

I agree with mainaman. The pics are too small to really see the cutting edge, but rust/pitting like that right near the bevel don't usually bode well for a razor.

That is a real shame, but I was afraid that this would be the case. If I can't use it to shave with I really don't know what to do with it for now. Guess it will just be a neat show piece for the family. If you all can think of any other uses besides collecting dust let me know.

Many thanks,
JackofDiamonds

Minor buffing with some 3k sandpaper showed some deep pin hole style pitting beneath the blackened rust. It actually has that "Swiss cheese" look that was mentioned above. Some was just surface discoloring but the pitting is right down by the edge. Since this was a gift I didn't really lose anything. I thank you for your wisdom on this. A true learning experience.

Sincerely,
JackofDiamonds

And you don't have a piece of clean steel? So that you can breadknife it and then hone it with some good steel left?

From what I have seen on breadknifing, I don't have the tools to do it effectively. I lack a magnifier and the skill it takes to know I am doing it correct. I think I would rather practice that technique on a razor I cared less for before I try it on this one. Seems breadknifing is something master restorers do, I am not even 6 months into restoring. Perhaps I will return to this one with more confidence on a later date.