Safety Razor of the Month, April 2013 - Restorations & Refurbs

OK, fine. Since you guys wouldn't take the last one seriously I guess we'll have to start over...

Spring is a time for rebirth and renewal (apologies to our friends in the Southern Hemisphere), so this month let's have a look at your best resurrections. Show us your terrible before pictures -- the ones that would make you want to go watch the Sarah McLachlan ASPCA commercial to cheer up -- and then make everything better with your amazing after pictures. Mega bonus points for sharing your process and secret tips for how you did it, whether it was just a lot of time and elbow grease with an old toothbrush or some super-secret product that no one knows about.

I'll share what I think is probably still my most striking before-and-after, and the process which was decidedly "low tech." I've posted it here before, but my "Phoenix" Single Ring was a mess of filth and tarnish with the distinct odor of wood smoke as though it'd been salvaged from a house or barn fire.



After two very long hot-water soaks with a touch of dish soap (that both came out looking like I was making soup afterwards) and a bit of toothbrush work I'd gotten most of the grime off, and I switched to the baking soda/aluminum foil treatment. That took three or four full rounds before I was satisfied that I'd gotten as much tarnish as I was going to that way. Followed up with a bit of Flitz and an old cloth diaper, the only hint of its rough past -- other than its case, which I decided to leave the way I'd found it -- is a very slight bit of pebbling on the cap.

Old Type Big Fellow

I cleaned the razor with aluminum foil and baking soda followed by a light polish. I renewed the case with Johnson paste wax and #0000 steel wool followed by some lemon oil.









Pocket Edition

The tarnish on the case was so amazingly thick, that I initially thought it was gun metal coating. Razor and case were both cleaned with aluminum foil and baking soda (I was able to remove the lid liner and razor bed) followed by a light polish.











Bulldog

This is the blackest razor I have found to date. Again, I cleaned with aluminum foil and baking soda followed by a light polish. I picked this up in a lot, but later tracked down a Military Set case with all the accessories to give it a nice home.

Superb!

Looks god Ras. Porter whats "Phoenix"? Can you please inform me. And Mark doesn't collect anything worth cleaning....I know you've found some diamonds in the rough Mark cough up some pictures.

elmerwood said:

Looks god Ras. Porter whats "Phoenix"? Can you please inform me. And Mark doesn't collect anything worth cleaning....I know you've found some diamonds in the rough Mark cough up some pictures.

Click to expand...

I presume he merely means "rising from the ashes", renewed and ready to start a new life.

luvmysuper said:

I presume he merely means "rising from the ashes", renewed and ready to start a new life.

Click to expand...

Yeah that makes sense. I was hoping it was some super set I could try to find.

Yeah, that was all I meant.

Wow, ras! The wooden case on that Big Fellow really came out nice.

elmerwood said:

Looks god Ras. Porter whats "Phoenix"? Can you please inform me. And Mark doesn't collect anything worth cleaning....I know you've found some diamonds in the rough Mark cough up some pictures.

Click to expand...

I jsut forget to take before pics all the time!

OH My, love this thread

Probably not my best, but this was my snag this weekend I just cleaned up.

Spectacular job!!

Wow there are some really nice restores here. I'm looking to get my 1958 Fatboy restored. I'm still looking for a reputable company though. Any recommendations?

Shenanigans said:

Wow there are some really nice restores here. I'm looking to get my 1958 Fatboy restored. I'm still looking for a reputable company though. Any recommendations?

Click to expand...

try B&B's Krona Kruiser does some nice replates.

Whether or not one uses a Gillette, they sure did make a bunch of lookers! Real nice work all! I shall watch this thread.

I sent this funky Rotbart Mond Extra to Krona Kruiser. It's the first replate I've had done, but from the results, it won't be the last!

This is a refurb for the case of a 1949 Executive set that I received sans mirror and was able to retrofit a piece of glass into the frame. I knew I would need a very thin piece of mirror and correctly guessed that a dollar store hand mirror would have the desired thickness (thinness?). It took a few attempts, but I eventually cut a clean piece that fit correctly.

No "before" shot, but it would just be of an empty frame.

More pics of the set here.

These are all beautiful! I've never refurbed a razor, but i'd like to learn. What is the tinfoil and baking soda method you speak of?

Nothing to say. I just wanted to post the 17th reply to maintain the 1 per day pace we have going.

Is there really no one else with some before and after pictures to share?

MacDaddy said:

OK, fine. Since you guys wouldn't take the last one seriously I guess we'll have to start over...

Spring is a time for rebirth and renewal (apologies to our friends in the Southern Hemisphere), so this month let's have a look at your best resurrections. Show us your terrible before pictures -- the ones that would make you want to go watch the Sarah McLachlan ASPCA commercial to cheer up -- and then make everything better with your amazing after pictures. Mega bonus points for sharing your process and secret tips for how you did it, whether it was just a lot of time and elbow grease with an old toothbrush or some super-secret product that no one knows about.

I'll share what I think is probably still my most striking before-and-after, and the process which was decidedly "low tech." I've posted it here before, but my "Phoenix" Single Ring was a mess of filth and tarnish with the distinct odor of wood smoke as though it'd been salvaged from a house or barn fire.



After two very long hot-water soaks with a touch of dish soap (that both came out looking like I was making soup afterwards) and a bit of toothbrush work I'd gotten most of the grime off, and I switched to the baking soda/aluminum foil treatment. That took three or four full rounds before I was satisfied that I'd gotten as much tarnish as I was going to that way. Followed up with a bit of Flitz and an old cloth diaper, the only hint of its rough past -- other than its case, which I decided to leave the way I'd found it -- is a very slight bit of pebbling on the cap.

Click to expand...

something like this ?

MacDaddy said:

OK, fine. Since you guys wouldn't take the last one seriously I guess we'll have to start over...

Spring is a time for rebirth and renewal (apologies to our friends in the Southern Hemisphere), so this month let's have a look at your best resurrections. Show us your terrible before pictures -- the ones that would make you want to go watch the Sarah McLachlan ASPCA commercial to cheer up -- and then make everything better with your amazing after pictures. Mega bonus points for sharing your process and secret tips for how you did it, whether it was just a lot of time and elbow grease with an old toothbrush or some super-secret product that no one knows about.

I'll share what I think is probably still my most striking before-and-after, and the process which was decidedly "low tech." I've posted it here before, but my "Phoenix" Single Ring was a mess of filth and tarnish with the distinct odor of wood smoke as though it'd been salvaged from a house or barn fire.



After two very long hot-water soaks with a touch of dish soap (that both came out looking like I was making soup afterwards) and a bit of toothbrush work I'd gotten most of the grime off, and I switched to the baking soda/aluminum foil treatment. That took three or four full rounds before I was satisfied that I'd gotten as much tarnish as I was going to that way. Followed up with a bit of Flitz and an old cloth diaper, the only hint of its rough past -- other than its case, which I decided to leave the way I'd found it -- is a very slight bit of pebbling on the cap.

Click to expand...

Or this ?