Restoration help - from the bay to the face

[magicalex81]

Hi everyone,
I just got 4 vintage from the bay and I'm about to experiment with some "light" restoration (I say light because I'm not planning on touching the scales just yet, I don't feel comfortable unpinning and re-pinning.
Some of the razors I got seem to be in decent shape, tiny bit of rust on one, no chips. They all have etching (no gold).

I just wanted to share my game-plan and see what you gentlemen think: I've done A LOT of reading on this forum, the Wiki, Youtube and other websites, and there is so much out there that I'm concerned I might have missed something.

So here is what I'm planning:
1) soak the blade in hot water with a few drops of Dawn for about 30 min, rinse
2) clean with Scrubbing Bubbles (no bleach) using toothbrush
3) Some sandpaper, if need be (progression 150 180 240 320 400 600 1000 1200 1500 2000)
4) polish with Mothers Mag & Aluminum Polish using microfiber cloth
5) another round of hot water + Dawn
6) hone (I'm setting the bevel with 12 micron lapping film, then progressing with 5, 3 and 1 micron.)

What I am unsure of:
1) what can I use to clean in between the scales? And polish the scales on the outside?

Is there anything you think I am missing?

 

[totorlekiller]

For between the scales, I used paper napkin soaked in rubbing alcohol or when that is not enough I actually just use sand paper.
For polishing the outside, a cotton wheel on a buffer is typically good. Alternatively, sandpaper over 600 grit should do too.

 

[alpster]

Dental floss works well in the pivot area also.

 

[Slash McCoy]

Dental floss works well in the pivot area also.

Hey thats a pretty good idea.

 

[Brianskeet]

Depending on the condition of the blade of course, but you may not need anything as coarse as 150. I have usually started with 400. You will also need some steps between 2000 and polish. I am a big fan of micro-mesh. It comes in grits right on up to 8000 and if you follow that with polish you have a mirror!

 

[magicalex81]

Thanks for your inputs! Haven't thought about dental floss, interesting.
I'd never heard of micro-mesh...I've had hard time finding low grit sandpaper but finally found it on Amazon. How do I know whether I need to go above 2000 grit?

 

[Brianskeet]

Thanks for your inputs! Haven't thought about dental floss, interesting.
I'd never heard of micro-mesh...I've had hard time finding low grit sandpaper but finally found it on Amazon. How do I know whether I need to go above 2000 grit?

Depends entirely on the final finish you want. 2000 can give a nice looking mat finish, but the jump from there to mirror is to far for mothers polish to bridge. I do not get good results from trying to make that jump with differing grades of polishing compounds either. Micro-mesh is a cloth backed tough sandpaper that lasts amazingly well. When it loads up I wash it in the sink and it is ready to keep going. You can find it cheaper than this, but here is a link so you can see what it looks like and read a few reviews if you want.

http://www.amazon.com/SANDING-SHEETS-INTRODUCTORY-Peachtree-Woodworking/dp/B000H6HIK2

 

[magicalex81]

Depends entirely on the final finish you want. 2000 can give a nice looking mat finish, but the jump from there to mirror is to far for mothers polish to bridge. I do not get good results from trying to make that jump with differing grades of polishing compounds either. Micro-mesh is a cloth backed tough sandpaper that lasts amazingly well. When it loads up I wash it in the sink and it is ready to keep going. You can find it cheaper than this, but here is a link so you can see what it looks like and read a few reviews if you want.

http://www.amazon.com/SANDING-SHEETS-INTRODUCTORY-Peachtree-Woodworking/dp/B000H6HIK2

Interesting stuff, thank you! So basically there's no limit to the grit one can use, I can even keep going up until 12000 until I obtain the finish I like, right?

 

[Slash McCoy]

You can even keep going to .1u diamond paste, which is somewhere around 200k grit.

I go straight from 2k grit to 1u grit which is a big jump but diamond cuts so quickly, especially assisted by my trusty harbor freight dremel knockoff, that I can bridge it okay if I take my time. Standard dremel warnings and disclaimers apply.

I will get me some 3u diamond paste one of these days, or maybe coarser, to fill in the gap a bit. Meanwhile this works great, as you can see from the pics below. Razor is a modified Gold Dollar #66.

 

[Brianskeet]

Interesting stuff, thank you! So basically there's no limit to the grit one can use, I can even keep going up until 12000 until I obtain the finish I like, right?

Exactly right! From what I have seen right about 4000 you start to get a good shine and it is really fun to watch happen. Then at 8000 level it gets really glossy. Past that I like to jump to White Diamond metal polish on a soft wheel at fairly low speeds. Remember that once you go to a power tool you need to plan and look at wheel rotation direction. Make sure you don't catch an edge etc. You can ruin your work in an instant. The following blade was done micro-mesh to white diamond and the scales were done with micro-mesh only.

 

[magicalex81]

Being a newbie I'm planning of doing by hand, no power tools for me just yet. I think I need to get a feeling of the progresses first, before I start handling a dremel