Can it be saved?

Morning all,

I've been using the DE area of B&B for a while now and after finding out I was interested in traditional shaving, my grandfather gave me his assortment of collected odds and sods (another post on that later!). Amongst them was a 'Kropp' straight with 'ground in hamburg' on the side. It's definitely seen better days and is in need of a drastic clean up, but could an experienced honemeister put a edge back on it and turn it into a serviceable shaver?

It was never a family item, just something he was given 30 odd years back to put into a jumble sale and kept due to concerns of selling it!

Here's a few quick photos:







If it can't be saved then I suppose it still makes a nice decorative item for the collection!

Cheers,

Chris

Doesn't even look severely injured to me.

It definitely can de easily saved my friend.

That thing can be saved for certain.

Where's the other post about the other stuff he gave you .

I would hone it up and shave with it as is.

Fnord5 said:

I would hone it up and shave with it as is.

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Yes, I think I would be tempted to do the same.

Though metal polish and time would give a nice blend of shine and patina as well.

I think it's bound to be a disasterous piece of kit, good only for the bin. Feel free to send it my way and I'll dispose of it proper.

Okay, I lied. Looks totally usable, and like a fairly simple cleaning would do it wonders. Get busy with the polish!

ambrose said:

It definitely can de easily saved my friend.

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Ambrose, What did you use to clean up those two?

SavantStrike said:

That thing can be saved for certain.
Where's the other post about the other stuff he gave you .

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Here

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?p=1177938

Fnord said:

I would hone it up and shave with it as is.

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Which leads me nicely into my next question ....

As a DE user I haven't got access to any honing equipment or a strop! On the honing front - presumably a request on here might find me a UK user who could hone it for me and then I could use a strop to keep it shave-ready? I also have a piece of leather that might be strop-sized, can these be made out of any leather?

I might have to do a bit more research rather than pestering you lot for answers anyway!

Chris

Any smooth hunk of leather can be used. Even a belt.

Also, if you get desperate, take several thicknesses of newspaper(classifieds, or anything with lots of ink) and stretch it tight over a flat surface, like a book, and strop on that.

A lot of sanding in various grits ranging from 150 grit aluminum oxide all the way to rubbing compound.

I spent a few hours last night cleaning the blade with Brasso and it was starting to look a bit better, until this morning when I gave it a rinse in some mild disinfectant. Now it looks terrible!





That's not rust it's more like a patina on the surface.

A bit more Brasso seems to tone it down, but it seems like I might have done something wrong?

Help?

Very nice...

Also, very nice close up pictures! You know how to use a camera better than me!

neocaligatio said:

I spent a few hours last night cleaning the blade with Brasso and it was starting to look a bit better, until this morning when I gave it a rinse in some mild disinfectant. Now it looks terrible!

That's not rust it's more like a patina on the surface.

A bit more Brasso seems to tone it down, but it seems like I might have done something wrong?

Help?

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I don't think you've done anything wrong, but you will need to use something a little more abrasive to get the rust off.

If you're really looking to do this in a minimalist way, I suggest going to a metal polish.

Also, make sure you dry the razor completely if you do rinse it.

I'm heading out later to get some wet and dry - the shop nearby has 1500 up to 3000, any idea where I should start? I'm intending on finishing with 2000 and ideally want to take as little metal off as I can.

Chris

They're all really fine grades.

Have you tried something midly abrasive like Autosol as well, that stuff can really remove crub from metal.