Restoring an old pipe wedge with light etching.

So, I want to restore this razor. Its a pipe wedge with an extremely light etching on the face that i would like to preserve as much as possible. I also tend to favor mirror finishes over the lightly restores/light patina finish. So the question is this: can I restore the rest of the razor to mirror finish and lightly go over the etching without losing it? Of so, how would I go about this? Or should I just not risk it and lightly go over the entire razor with some 00-0000 steel wool and call it a day there.. there are some images i am attaching that you can very barely see the etching, along with others of the rest of the razor.

Bump... nobody has any advice?

Dude, I don't do restores but if you start looking through these posts you will find many posts addressing this. Also in the WIKI. Yes you can mirror just the spine and tang. Sand, sand, sand, buff, buff,buff, polish, polish, polish. More or less, depending on what you are looking for in a given area on the blade.

Start here
http://straightrazorpalace.com/works...wers-here.html

Sorry to not be more help, but kinda out of my expertise.

Jeff

get some greaseless compound, learn how to use it, and go through the progressions, followed by jewelers rouge to obtain a mirror finish on all other parts of the blade. Put a piece of masking tape over the etching while you work the rest of the blade. Lightly go over the etching with a cloth diaper and metal polish - nothing more.

Its a little hard to tell from the pics but the first thing I'd be worried about before I spent any time polishing is what looks to be rust along the edge. Try it on the hones first to see if you can find good solid steel on that edge :)

Just an FYI, I have that exact razor. It is one of my very very very best shavers. Truly awesome.

Somebody has to explain that bump thing to me sometime. I think the general concensus is that with mirror polishing, etching is lost. But some have had success with MAAS and 0000 norton steel wool using extremely light pressure. Think, "I am the water, carving rock" Meaning to say it takes a long long time. And you might search "tumbler" to see if anybody was able to do it with the brass tumblers. I'm about a week from picking up one of those for myself. Otherwise, it seems like you may be asking to have the cake, and eat it too.

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Originally Posted by TURNMASTER

Dude, I don't do restores but if you start looking through these posts you will find many posts addressing this. Also in the WIKI. Yes you can mirror just the spine and tang. Sand, sand, sand, buff, buff,buff, polish, polish, polish. More or less, depending on what you are looking for in a given area on the blade.

Start here
http://straightrazorpalace.com/works...wers-here.html

Sorry to not be more help, but kinda out of my expertise.

Jeff

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Thanks for the response.. I've looked through the wiki, and it does have some great advice.. I've done 2 "restores" that were really only blade-in-tang sandings because i didn't have the equipment to un/pin the scales. also, those were on 2 blades that I picked up specifically to practice restoring.. This is the first oen that I've actually really cared about, so I wanted to ask if anyone more knowledgeable than I had any info.

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Originally Posted by Catrentshaving

Its a little hard to tell from the pics but the first thing I'd be worried about before I spent any time polishing is what looks to be rust along the edge. Try it on the hones first to see if you can find good solid steel on that edge :)

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I wish i could try it on the hones first.. But unfortunatly, i dont have any hones, haha.. My plan was to restore it first, then send it out for honing.. as for the rust.. it's mostly just the pictures.. there is some along the spine where there is a good amount of hone wear (though oddly enough the wear doesn't look like it affects the profile of the grind at all).. there are a few little micro chips near spike, but they're tiny and i'm guessing can be honed out. the bevel area of the razor, when you look at it in person, is actually remarkably clean, considering the rest of the blade.. but thanks alot for the suggestion!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ogershok

Just an FYI, I have that exact razor. It is one of my very very very best shavers. Truly awesome.

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AWESOME! this will be my first wedge and I'm stoked to hear that others have had great experiences with it.. once i get it all fixed up, I definitely plan on posting a review of some sort up...

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Originally Posted by regularjoe

Somebody has to explain that bump thing to me sometime. I think the general concensus is that with mirror polishing, etching is lost. But some have had success with MAAS and 0000 norton steel wool using extremely light pressure. Think, "I am the water, carving rock" Meaning to say it takes a long long time. And you might search "tumbler" to see if anybody was able to do it with the brass tumblers. I'm about a week from picking up one of those for myself. Otherwise, it seems like you may be asking to have the cake, and eat it too.

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i only use the bump when i see that the post has been moved down the page or to the second page in the forum without responses or many page views... it brings it back up into the list so that maybe people who weren't online to see it when i posted are able to see it agian..
I understand that, in this case especially, there's a fairly good chance that, if i want a full mirror on it, the etching will be gone.. which is why i'm asking in the first place because i really do like the look with the etching and would be happy not going with a full mirror finish on the blade itself if thats the only option i have.. My hope was actually that there would be some process that could clean up the face of the razor enough to make the etching show just a bit more and remove the little bit of rust that is around it. and yeah, i probably am asking to have the cake and eat it too, but if i can't, i mostly just want to know what options I have available before I start any work on the razor. Thanks for the input!!!