Thread: It was me, I did it...I removed them darn spots!

SO, I am restoring a $10 ebay razor (see first 'before' image), an old Frederick Reynolds razor (these are great shavers, and personal favorites), and had nicely buffed out the blade with my new dremel rotating drill press and fiber wheels (you get great control and uniform sanding when the dremel is held still and you can just worry about handling the blade). I went up to only the purple fiber wheel, used fabuluster and maas...there is a slight satin finish that looks original, with a uniform finish.

I decide that this razor is coming out great and is a 'keeper' (paper thin hollow grind, 6/8+ blade, little to no hone wear, with unique tang cut so that the heel fits nicely between the scales...never seen that last bit before!), so I go for the complete overhaul....time to clean up some dried out horn!

For those familiar with F.Reynolds razors, they often come with faux tortise shell (I found out just now that it's 'faux) - horn scales (see before image). As I'm sanding down the scratches and dead/dried horn I notice this tortise pattern is fadding, fast! I am guessing someone used an iodine or paint to make these look like tortise. The coloring is only on the surface, and not through the scales... As I sanded off the spots, the scales became a nice translucent honey-horn! Back to what they were originally! So, I made short work of thosedamn 'imitation' spots

I sanded the scales up to 8K, heated them to a boil in water and quickly soaked them in neatsfoot overnight, pressed flat. Wiped them down. Added a few coats of renaissance wax, and buffed with the 8K polish paper.

Repinned them with brass stock and double washer (microfastener), with original pewter spacer. I did add washers around the pivote, however I used a 'scrap' set from an old razor. All in all, I'm happy!

Now, time to hone this puppy!

C utz

Wtg Chris! It appears that I'll need to do more work with natural materials not to let you have ALL the credit these days

Wow, that's a beautiful blade! Nice scales too

Nenad

Thanks guys...

One thing I was thinking, or wondering, was if the tang design was a precurser to the middle pin/tang rest? The tang on this blade is cut out so that the fatter area (toward the spine) sits on the scales, preventing the blade from sticking through the bottom. While the heel area still fits nicely between the scales.

I wonder if someone was trying to solve an 'issue' with this design and it eventually turned into that middle pin the tang sits on. A quick easy, cheap solution to grinding out tand width....

OR, maybe I'm over analyzing this....



C utz

I like those scales alot, much like the cow hoof I use for pocket knife scales, nearly completely translucent

Great Job
I have one of these in its original case and both case and razor are nearly mint
It certainly is a fine shaver,no doubt ,
I`ll be getting you to do my razors soon if you keep this up
Well done
kind regards Peter

Originally Posted by C utz

SO, I am restoring a $10 ebay razor (see first 'before' image), an old Frederick Reynolds razor (these are great shavers, and personal favorites), and had nicely buffed out the blade with my new dremel rotating drill press and fiber wheels (you get great control and uniform sanding when the dremel is held still and you can just worry about handling the blade). I went up to only the purple fiber wheel, used fabuluster and maas...there is a slight satin finish that looks original, with a uniform finish.

I decide that this razor is coming out great and is a 'keeper' (paper thin hollow grind, 6/8+ blade, little to no hone wear, with unique tang cut so that the heel fits nicely between the scales...never seen that last bit before!), so I go for the complete overhaul....time to clean up some dried out horn!

For those familiar with F.Reynolds razors, they often come with faux tortise shell (I found out just now that it's 'faux) - horn scales (see before image). As I'm sanding down the scratches and dead/dried horn I notice this tortise pattern is fadding, fast! I am guessing someone used an iodine or paint to make these look like tortise. The coloring is only on the surface, and not through the scales... As I sanded off the spots, the scales became a nice translucent honey-horn! Back to what they were originally! So, I made short work of thosedamn 'imitation' spots

I sanded the scales up to 8K, heated them to a boil in water and quickly soaked them in neatsfoot overnight, pressed flat. Wiped them down. Added a few coats of renaissance wax, and buffed with the 8K polish paper.

Repinned them with brass stock and double washer (microfastener), with original pewter spacer. I did add washers around the pivote, however I used a 'scrap' set from an old razor. All in all, I'm happy!

Now, time to hone this puppy!

C utz