You'll love it. Truly nothing like shaving with a Heljestrand. I really think the best line of straights ever made...
What's on your work bench right now?
- Thread starter Luecke2326
- Start date
I have only had a buffer for about a year and haven’t run into this yet. I’d like to protect the pattern on this spine and the remaining gold during buffing on this GRS Craftsman.
I was thinking kapton tape or nail polish.
Recommendations?
I was thinking kapton tape or nail polish.
Recommendations?
Nail polish will protect the gold plating when using metal polish. Not sure about using a buffer.
I'm guessing even at low speed a buffer will create enough heat to mess up the nail polish. It's not very heat stable.
You have to be super careful with gold plate, if you want to keep it, no polish of any kind. I only use alcohol on a Q tip, on gold, not polish of any kind.
I would tape the tang with electrical tape, Kapton may work, I have never use it for buffing, but it is more durable than most electrical tape.
I would be more concerned with removing the nail polish without damaging the thin gold plating.
I do use Kapton over electrical tape regularly to hone.
I would tape the tang and the spine with electrical tape and hand sand the blade with wet & dry, starting with 600 wrapped around a synthetic wine cork.
600 will give you an idea how deep the pitting is and how much deeper you may need to go. From 600 you can easily go to 800,1k and 2k which will give you a nice polish, which can be polished further with good metal polish, I like Maas used with paper towels.
That Devil’s Spit on the toe, edge and near the spine is some nasty stuff and usually goes deep. May be an issue at the bevel.
You would first tape the spine and put it on a 1k and see if you can make a chip free bevel that will hold an edge, before you invest hours in a restoration, only to find you have a razor that will not hold an edge.
Things can go sideways with a buffer quickly, especially if you do not have a lot of experience buffing razors. Hand sanding is a lot safer, especially with rare razors.
I have a couple Craftsman razors, and they are great shavers, most are prone to cell rot off gassing, especially the faux tortoise, which is why they are rare.
I would tape the tang with electrical tape, Kapton may work, I have never use it for buffing, but it is more durable than most electrical tape.
I would be more concerned with removing the nail polish without damaging the thin gold plating.
I do use Kapton over electrical tape regularly to hone.
I would tape the tang and the spine with electrical tape and hand sand the blade with wet & dry, starting with 600 wrapped around a synthetic wine cork.
600 will give you an idea how deep the pitting is and how much deeper you may need to go. From 600 you can easily go to 800,1k and 2k which will give you a nice polish, which can be polished further with good metal polish, I like Maas used with paper towels.
That Devil’s Spit on the toe, edge and near the spine is some nasty stuff and usually goes deep. May be an issue at the bevel.
You would first tape the spine and put it on a 1k and see if you can make a chip free bevel that will hold an edge, before you invest hours in a restoration, only to find you have a razor that will not hold an edge.
Things can go sideways with a buffer quickly, especially if you do not have a lot of experience buffing razors. Hand sanding is a lot safer, especially with rare razors.
I have a couple Craftsman razors, and they are great shavers, most are prone to cell rot off gassing, especially the faux tortoise, which is why they are rare.
Dry fitting a set of bone scales I scarfed from a GSG "Box-O-Problems" to a Frederick Reynolds. Fit is perfect. Clears the lead wedge as if it were made for it. The Freddy Rey came with broken tortoise dyed horn scales, so had to be re-scaled. These scales are from an Oak Razor Works razor from about the same period, and seem to work well. Blade seems to center well and I didn't have to unpin the wedge.
Still deciding how much of a polished look I want. I might leave it. Old but clean, like me...
Still deciding how much of a polished look I want. I might leave it. Old but clean, like me...
My workbench is so backed up it it needs Miralax....
Lol, I'm gonna be like a family friend and lose 25 pounds the first two months he was retired -- the list of stuff I need (and want) to do is a mile long and I'm still spending 10 hours a day 5 days a week away from home!
One project I hope to make some progress on soon is a box for razors so they aren't laying about loose on the shelf in the bathroom. They tend to fall off, which is a bad thing. Probably make several so I can keep them in order outside of the bath too.
One project I hope to make some progress on soon is a box for razors so they aren't laying about loose on the shelf in the bathroom. They tend to fall off, which is a bad thing. Probably make several so I can keep them in order outside of the bath too.
Hi
I'm planning on picking up this Boker King Cutter as my first straight to restore. From this single image, which is all the information I have on the razor at the moment. Does anything jump out that might be difficult for a first-timer to fix up?
Also, I started thinking about what I should inspect in a razor, here is my short list:
(1) Is the edge warped;
(2) are they celluloid scale,if yes, any cell rot;
(3) any out of the ordinary damage on the edge, e.g. chips;
(4) any pits along the edge (I imagine further up doesn't matter);
Anything else I missed that's important?
My plan is to begin with rust removal (if any), cleaning, polishing the blade and scales. Then the sharpening might go to someone else to give it a first pass. Haven't learned how to sharpen yet. Slowly building up the products, tools, and knowledge.
Thanks
I'm planning on picking up this Boker King Cutter as my first straight to restore. From this single image, which is all the information I have on the razor at the moment. Does anything jump out that might be difficult for a first-timer to fix up?
Also, I started thinking about what I should inspect in a razor, here is my short list:
(1) Is the edge warped;
(2) are they celluloid scale,if yes, any cell rot;
(3) any out of the ordinary damage on the edge, e.g. chips;
(4) any pits along the edge (I imagine further up doesn't matter);
Anything else I missed that's important?
My plan is to begin with rust removal (if any), cleaning, polishing the blade and scales. Then the sharpening might go to someone else to give it a first pass. Haven't learned how to sharpen yet. Slowly building up the products, tools, and knowledge.
Thanks
Scales might be a variety of hard rubber.
I'm working on a Torrey that came one with broken scale and an ERN that showed up with one softwood replacement scale. Perfect projects for this rainy sunday.
W&B 1/2 hollow "Barber's Rattler" rescale. Originals are severely damages, delam and bug munching; possibly salvageable but not worth it to me. Cheap replacement scales from fleabay needed reworking, de-warping, and fixing too.
Just about done, presently filling a teeny gap between the new brass wedge and the scales.
Just about done, presently filling a teeny gap between the new brass wedge and the scales.
That Boker should clean up nicely with just a spray down of WD40 and 0000 steel wool. Use a cut off wood coffee stir stick and paper towel to clean between the scales.
Polish with 0000 steel wool and any good metal polish. Scales look like Gutta Percha, hard rubber, will polish with steel wool and metal polish.
Buy razors in the best condition you can afford. Lots of good razors in the $10-20 price range. Condition, Condition, Condition.
Buy razors with minimal spine wear, no chip, cracks or rust. Same for scales. Don’t fall in love with a brand or a particular razor because it is “rare”. There are millions of razors in the wild.
Last weekend, I bought a pristine 3-pin Double Duck Dwarf for $40 at an antique store. I paid up because of the condition and it was a 3-pin Dwarf, normally I am usually in the $10-20 range, rust and spine wear are deal killer.
Polish with 0000 steel wool and any good metal polish. Scales look like Gutta Percha, hard rubber, will polish with steel wool and metal polish.
Buy razors in the best condition you can afford. Lots of good razors in the $10-20 price range. Condition, Condition, Condition.
Buy razors with minimal spine wear, no chip, cracks or rust. Same for scales. Don’t fall in love with a brand or a particular razor because it is “rare”. There are millions of razors in the wild.
Last weekend, I bought a pristine 3-pin Double Duck Dwarf for $40 at an antique store. I paid up because of the condition and it was a 3-pin Dwarf, normally I am usually in the $10-20 range, rust and spine wear are deal killer.
I just finished repairing this J. Allen razor with a corroded lead wedge. I can’t remember if I made the wedge or used one from the original razor. I replaced it with ivory acrylic and buffed everything up.
It’s the 1st problem I’ve had with lead. Is this common?
It’s the 1st problem I’ve had with lead. Is this common?
It all depends on what comes into contact with the lead?
It's not so common in razors. The lead has oxidised. You sometimes see it in lead that is exposed to the elements, like in stained glass windows and so on. I think it's caused by carbon dioxide.
Guys,
I recently bought this Wade & Butcher 7/8 square point near wedge - my fifth - on eBay. All original. Too good a deal to pass up.
For this one, I sanded the blade with 100, 240, 400, 800 and 1200 grit wet/dry sandpaper followed by one quick round of Mothers polish and Renaissance Wax. I used 100% neatsfoot oil to nourish the original scales and very thin super glue with baking soda to repair a crack at the pivot hole of the backside scale.
Before. Not much rust. No deep pitting. A little wear from what looks like someone laying the blade flat on a stone with no tape and rubbing it around.
After. The blade cleaned up nicely. While not perfect, the scales do have character, IMO.
I carefully removed the pivot pin by filing and drilling out the head and gently tapping the pin. Unfortunately, a crack developed where I am pretty sure there was an existing hairline fracture - I went back and magnified earlier photos.
Crack from the top.
Crack from the underside.
I dripped very thin super glue into the crack and then pinched the crack together using my index finger and thumb wearing a nitrile glove.
I then used sandpaper to remove the residual glove material and filled the crack with very thin super glue using baking soda as a catalyst. My first time using baking soda with super glue. Really glad I finally did. Way faster and easier than trying to drip multiple coats of super glue by itself.
After filling the crack from the top.
From the underside.
After polishing under not great lighting.
Upon close examination, you can see the crack but not feel the crack. I may replace the scales in the future but, for now, I am happy with the quality of the repair and that I learned how to do this. I would use this method again.
I recently bought this Wade & Butcher 7/8 square point near wedge - my fifth - on eBay. All original. Too good a deal to pass up.
For this one, I sanded the blade with 100, 240, 400, 800 and 1200 grit wet/dry sandpaper followed by one quick round of Mothers polish and Renaissance Wax. I used 100% neatsfoot oil to nourish the original scales and very thin super glue with baking soda to repair a crack at the pivot hole of the backside scale.
Before. Not much rust. No deep pitting. A little wear from what looks like someone laying the blade flat on a stone with no tape and rubbing it around.
After. The blade cleaned up nicely. While not perfect, the scales do have character, IMO.
I carefully removed the pivot pin by filing and drilling out the head and gently tapping the pin. Unfortunately, a crack developed where I am pretty sure there was an existing hairline fracture - I went back and magnified earlier photos.
Crack from the top.
Crack from the underside.
I dripped very thin super glue into the crack and then pinched the crack together using my index finger and thumb wearing a nitrile glove.
I then used sandpaper to remove the residual glove material and filled the crack with very thin super glue using baking soda as a catalyst. My first time using baking soda with super glue. Really glad I finally did. Way faster and easier than trying to drip multiple coats of super glue by itself.
After filling the crack from the top.
From the underside.
After polishing under not great lighting.
Upon close examination, you can see the crack but not feel the crack. I may replace the scales in the future but, for now, I am happy with the quality of the repair and that I learned how to do this. I would use this method again.
Looks great. Thx for sharing the process.
I over honed the 186GD Mall Ninja razor. I actually liked using the scales compared to most of the razors in this line, so I decided to pop them onto a NOS T-I barber that had very warped original scales.
The scales have 3mm holes with bushings that have an ID of 2mm, so I got m2 hardware for the job and annealed the 2mm rod.
The scales were too short and tight for the T-I, so I thinned the heel end of the scales, trimmed the wedge, and squared and trimmed the tip of the razor. I used a dremel for the thick part and a diamond plate for the thin part, and then finished the whole thing with diamond plates.
I suppose I should have put in a spacer or thicker wedge and cleaned the tang up instead of re-using the original wedge and leaving the tang how it was. It didn't occur to me that a NOS tang would need to be cleaned until I had it together.
I used a tack hammer. I need to find or replace my small pall pein hammer for a more serious job. This was more for practice, though the T-I seems like a good blade.
The scales have 3mm holes with bushings that have an ID of 2mm, so I got m2 hardware for the job and annealed the 2mm rod.
The scales were too short and tight for the T-I, so I thinned the heel end of the scales, trimmed the wedge, and squared and trimmed the tip of the razor. I used a dremel for the thick part and a diamond plate for the thin part, and then finished the whole thing with diamond plates.
I suppose I should have put in a spacer or thicker wedge and cleaned the tang up instead of re-using the original wedge and leaving the tang how it was. It didn't occur to me that a NOS tang would need to be cleaned until I had it together.
I used a tack hammer. I need to find or replace my small pall pein hammer for a more serious job. This was more for practice, though the T-I seems like a good blade.
