Thread: basic restoration "kit" advice

hello people i d like to restore some old razor...(and in the future)

could you tell me a basic restoration kit?

the dremel is a necessary item??

i have this item :

king waterstone japanese 4000 grit not natural (but i think that is not important for lower grit if natural or not)
belgian coticule yellow
paddle strop (mastro livi) with green paste..

thank you!!!

The Dremel (or any other rotary tool that you can get cheaper down there like my Mastercraft in Canada) would definitely make your job quicker and easier as long as you're very careful with it. However if you want to go really basic, you can also do hand-sanding and get great results (just look at Vlad's work in the restoration forum). You need abrasives (100-400 cleaning, 400-1000 satin finish, 2000+ mirror finish) and polishers (a metal polishing paste like Maas, Flitz, CLR Metal Clear and a rag for hand-work or a felt pad for the rotary tool).
If you want to work on the scales you also need 1/16" brass rod stock (2.54cm/16) and #0 brass or stainless washers (www.widgetsupply.com) plus any tools needed to work on the materials you'll be making the scales with.

If you are trying to salvage a razor, or plan on building new scales, everything Ilija listed above will work out well for you.

If you are only interested in honing your razor and getting it ready to shave, the items you have should work well, providing the edge isn't damaged.

I'm not much of a hone guy. Is the step from a 4000 japanese to the yellow belgian a good idea? Anyone?

Good luck,

I'd say it's adequate but a bit slower than going 4k->8k->yellow.

If you are new to straight razor restoration then the first thing I would get is Bill Ellis' Razor Restoration CD. From that you will get a lot of information including tools, supplies and sources. The CD will save you a lot of time and scrapped razors.

Also go through the posts in these forums. Some of the older ones have a lot of details and can qualify as good tutorials.

You will need to experiment with the various tools and methods to see what works better for you or what fits your budget. When it comes to restoration sky is the limit when it comes to tools.