Thread: Best way to clean this up but preserve the etching?

Hey Guys,

Just picked up this little guy here and am wondering what the best option is to clean up the blade without ruining the etching on the front?

Thanks!

The Murphy's Law of Razor Restoration says "The depth of the pitting will always be just slightly lower then the depth of the etching"

You have to make a decision based on what is more important to you, the safest way I have found to remove corrosion without harming etch is a Tumbler and even that will take out that Blacking

If it were mine I would buzz it lightly on the 600 grit greaseless wheel a few times to just knock off the worst of that black rust, and not harm the etch, but you need to check the depth of the etch with a fingernail first...

Hey There

+1 on what Glen said. You can also use the small polishing attachments that come with Dremel rotary tools. You can use them to polish around the etching. I wonder if using a gentle polish like CrOx mixed in with a non-low abrasive compound, and then using that on a cloth or small wheel would benefit your etching. Whatever you use you need to go slow and keep a close eye on your blade to make sure you aren't removing it (if that's what's most important to you).

Thanks

Carl.

Some advice on using a Dremel......be careful not to heat up the blade. I use a slow speed and keep a glass of water handy for when the metal starts getting warm. How do I tell when its getting warm? I place a spare finger on opposite side of blade.

I also do like straightrazorheaven said, clean around the etching. A little rust/black spots gives a vintage blade charactor.

Is that a George Wostenholm & Sons? If so they make some really nice shaving razors.

Thanks for the tips. I like to use a dremel to clean out jimps, but this razor doesn't have any. It does seem like SRP has a lot of love for a razor that shows a bit of its age and I was too afraid of taking out the etching so I just went carefully with some 1000 grit wet sandpaper. It seems I got really lucky as there is no real deep pitting on the razor, and the rust came out pretty easily. I honed it up as well and this razor takes a fine edge.

It is a George Westenholm & sons I-XL 5/8. pretty minimal honewear on it as well which is nice. I found the blade isn't perfectly flat so it was a rolling X to hone it up as well.


Sadly I'll never get to shave with this razor as I bought it to give to a friend as part of his wedding gift. What do you guys think?

It cleaned up nice. I like my razors to have a bit of character. Nothing wrong with that,

Hey there

Do you have a matching box for it? I have one here if you would like it. Have you made it shave ready? You need to test shave it

Thanks

Carl - SRH

Thanks, It's definitely shave ready. On an HHT it pops them as quick and easy as any of the razors in my rotation and a small test on my arm is smooth and leaves nothing behind. I'll let my buddy have the first shave with it, I'm confident that it will be very smooth.

Here's a picture of the box that came with it. I have no clue whether or not its the right box but its in pretty reasonable condition.

NICE! looks great with a tidy up & will be an amazing wedding gift.
Are you initiating your friend or has he already been corrupted by the str8 world?