Where to begin? Some new restoration projects

Hey guys!
I'm new to the world of straights, but I've been reading and getting interested. I started with some antique store finds that Randy Tuttle and Studioguy honed for me.
Now I have the bug and can't find the stop button.
I hit up an antique store in SE MN last week and picked up a Torrey, DublDuck, and Wade&Butcher bow razor. ($30 total)
I also was gazing at Craigslist and saw 20 straights that I offered $5 apiece on. He didn't want to go that low so he kept the DublDuck Goldedge out. Still I got 19 razors in various states of condition. Here they are with pics to follow:

Eclipse Cutlery Co, Germany, Excellent 11/16, Ornate Handle
Twin, JA Henckels Germany, 5/8” very good, Ornate handle
Spike, Union Cutlery Olean NY, Good, 9/16"
Graef and Schmidt, JA Henckels, Twin Works Germany, Very Good, 5/8”
The Cranford, Cranford Razorworks, NJ, Excellent blade 11/16”
Genco Fluid Steel, Very good blade, 5/8”
Bowdinswedge Hand Made, Very good blade 9/16”
King Cotton, chip in blade and rust, handle good
Minnehaha, Western BS Company, Mpls, Excellent blade 11/16”
Vomcleff, Rust on back side top of blade, 9/16”
Honan Shave, 42 Al Rieder, Mpls, Made in Germany, Excellent 9/16”
Bowdinswedge Hand Made, chip 1/16 in blade, 11/16”
Henry Mueller, Solingen Germany, Excellent, 5/8”, Handle repaired
Preer Cut and Tool, Portland, Made Germany11/16” 3/32” chip
St Paul Dispatch Pioneer Press, Excellent 11/16”
Rieders Hand Forged, Made Germany, Good 9/16”
Zartina, Zartina Cutlery Works, Germany, Excellent 11/16”
Bowdinswedge Hand Made, excellent, 3/8”
Hess St Paul 50, English Steel,Very Good, 11/16” some edge curvature

A couple of questions here.
1. What have I done?? Can this sickness be reversed? What's my prognosis?
2. What have I got? I like that there's a couple of interesting Minneapolis blades here. The Minnehaha is kinda cool with the wood-grain scales. One that didn't show well in the photos is the St Paul Pioneer and Dispatch (local newspapers). It is very clean with little sign of use. The two henkels seem to be in good shape. The eclipse is the coolest thing I've seen. It's heavy, ornate, and very, very clean. Bowdins Wedge? No idea, but there are three of them. One of them is petite (3/8) is it supposed to be that small? The scales seem proportionate as does the spine.
3. Where do I start? Any suggestions? I did take a bit of time last night to remove the chip on the Preer. I chose to shorten the blade by 1/3 inch rather than take 3/32 across the whole edge. Right call??

Sorry for the long post, but there's a lot in here. On to the pics.

Damn, very nice instant collection.

Get a few of them honed and give them a go.

I love the one with the Spanish point, spine work, and fancy scales. Umm, nice start . . . .

That is a great score. There are some great looking razors in that bunch!!

lmarkow said:

I love the one with the Spanish point, spine work, and fancy scales. Umm, nice start . . . .

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YES!!! That one looks awesome! Which one is that? Eclipse cutlery? I'll double what you got it for !

Nice group of razors for a great price. I guess I should start looking at craigslist?!?

I had a Bowdins wedge in 4/8ths and it was a very nice shaver. I don't regret selling her, but I think fondly of her from time to time.

You sure did great, quite a few nice shavers in there I bet! Enjoy your new hobby. I'm 7 plus years in and I still look for deals.

Wow! That's some instant collection. I would take a couple of the most damaged razors and set them aside to practice your restoration techniques. If you want to try a sandpaper grit or cleaning polish, etc. it's always good to try it on a useless blade first to see if you get the results you are after before taking a chance on a valuable blade or scales. You have some sweetheart razors there. Congratulations.

alpster said:

Wow! That's some instant collection. I would take a couple of the most damaged razors and set them aside to practice your restoration techniques. If you want to try a sandpaper grit or cleaning polish, etc. it's always good to try it on a useless blade first to see if you get the results you are after before taking a chance on a valuable blade or scales. You have some sweetheart razors there. Congratulations.

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Sound advice that I tried last night. I took the worst of the bunch and worked the rust off of one of the blades. The Vom Cleff. Prior to the before pic I couldn't even read Sweden so I worked it enough to see where it was made. Once I could read Sweden I thought it might be worth proceeding.

I have worked it hard to remove the rust using 440 wet/dry sandpaper with squirts of Top-Saver (a rust reducer and preventer) that I have in my shop for tools.

Now I am at the step of what next. It could be honed (that's another learning curve) and used, but it looks like purgatory (not quite hell anymore).

With further work, would I get those stains out? I know its my call, but is it worth it? Would you keep going, if only for the learning? I'm very surprised at how strong and resilient the steel is. But I don't want to go so far to risk damaging the blade. Is it worth it to take a blade to ruination, if only for the lessons?

I read the thread on polishing razors and tried a bit with a dremel using felt wheels and black compound. That's what you see in the after pic.

Let me know what you guys think.

Note to moderator(s): I've taken this from a general thread about a bunch to a more narrow conversation about a specific. Should this have its own thread?