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Straight Razor Restoration Thread

Luecke3262 said:
I cleaned up and brought this old Shumate Razor Co. “Shumate’s Barber,” back to life(circa 1904-1920). It is an interesting example of a nickel plated straight razor. You don’t see too many of them, but this one I spotted a mile off. They have a dull/matte metal look to them also this one has a little bit of “bubbling” on the non-show side where the metal was starting to pit.
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Cleanup didn’t take too long. I used 3k wet dry sand paper to knock off any minor rust I found. Then I took it to the buffers and cleaned up the scales and removed 90% of the discoloration. The scales seem to have shrunk just a tiny bit and so the toe was catching on the wedge ever so slightly. I used a small file to mill down the inside edge of the wedge, rather than unpin and sand it down(decided against, because the pivot has little rust in it and why risk busting the scales). Finally I tightened the scales up a bit with about 150 light taps from my trusty pinning hammer.

I was getting nowhere quick at work today, so I took the afternoon off early(waiting on other people). So, I went ahead and honed it 1-4-8K on Naniwa Super Stones and then finished it on my Escher Barbers Delight Thuringian. This one just wanted to come together! It had a couple of small chips in the edge, about half the length of the bevel, so after working them out the edge came together really quickly.

I decided to go for the cycle, Cleaning, Restoring, honing, and shaving with it. It gave me a buttery smooth shave except for a small cut(due to my inattention). I’m really happy with how this one turned out! Now it’s off to a new home tomorrow, I hope it makes the new owner as happy as it’s made me!
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Nothing quite like a century old hometown razor! Awesome job.
 
I've got one straight razor in serious need of restoration. It's probably one I wouldn't use, or use often. I just wanted it for the collection. I'm debating trying to clean it up myself or sending it out. Problem is it has a lot of rust on it. And I want the name on the tang preserved.
 
Spider said:
I've got one straight razor in serious need of restoration. It's probably one I wouldn't use, or use often. I just wanted it for the collection. I'm debating trying to clean it up myself or sending it out. Problem is it has a lot of rust on it. And I want the name on the tang preserved.
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post some pics!
 
uacowboy said:
post some pics!
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I kinda didn't want to post any pics of it until it was done, and you'd know why if you saw it. But, as much rust that is on it, you might not be able to read it anyway, lol. I'll try to remember to dig it out and post it.
 
Spider said:
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View attachment 48981
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That's going to take some work...

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Jaro1069 said:
I'm sorry but what does it say on the tang ? I zoomed in but still couldn't quite make it out ? What's the name say please ?
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As I said, I didn't even want to show it, until it's done. But it's not too hard to figure out. If you could make out Skin Bracer on the bottle in my video, certainly you can read the tang....
uacowboy said:
Give that a soak in some evaporust to get a head start. Bit of a crap shoot if the edge will be salvageable without major work.
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Thanks. And I'm not too worried about using it. I really just want it as a display piece.
 
Spider said:
As I said, I didn't even want to show it, until it's done. But it's not too hard to figure out. If you could make out Skin Bracer on the bottle in my video, certainly you can read the tang....

Thanks. And I'm not too worried about using it. I really just want it as a display piece.
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I looked closer and saw it said The Spider. I just wanted to be sure... BTW I was browsing the WWW earlier and ran across an old thread at "that other " site where you were trying to figure out how to etch a blade or tang, well I was curious did you ever figure out how to do it?? I saw over there they basically tried to crucify you over even asking........
 
I almost cried when I went to polish my favorite razor in a lot of 10 that I found on the bay and the scales just fractured into several pieces. They were very nice looking, and I've never seen scales that brittle before.
2suslRol.jpg


@Fenster was kind enough to send me a few slabs of Kirinite, and I finished the new scales for it today. I didn't go for a super polished look. Only went up to 2k on the wet/dry before giving it a final polish with some Mother's. They are centered very nicely, if I do say so myself, though I still need to peen the wedge a bit better.

N3XGEwAl.jpg


hgOOaWXl.jpg


Time to see if it'll take an edge.
 
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