My first straight restore

Mr_Smartepants

Mr_Smartepants

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3,268
Location
Cambridgeshire, UK
I've picked up 4 straight razors and a Naniwa 10k finishing stone in a trade. The 4 razors are not shave ready and all are in need of various restoration.
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The ERN has lots of surface corrosion and both pins are really loose.
The Imperial has a cracked scale and a lot of live rust around the hinge pin (not visible).
The Boker is not bad, but losing the gold-wash.
The Genco is the worst of the bunch. It has cracked scales, bent pins, surface corrosion/pitting and the round toe has been hacked off to make a square tip.

Genco before...
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Here's the Genco and Imperial with the scales removed. I should have taken before photos of the rust on both.
These were taken after using SiC paper (wet) from grits 360, 600, 800, 1200 followed by Mother's metal polish. Rust is completely gone now.
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Thanks! I'm saving the ERN for last since that one holds the most promise of a nice restore.
The brass rod kit and the rest of the honing stones should arrive from the US in a week which gives me time to repair these two and prep for honing.
The Genco scales broke at the hinge pin hole.
Since someone decided to make the Genco a "shorty", I'm going to grind down the broken end of those scales and reuse them with a redrilled hinge hole. It should fit fine.
More pictures to follow tomorrow...
 
Here's what it looks like with the damaged part of the scales removed and the hinge end reshaped.
I haven't drilled the hinge pin hole yet but I think it'll fit.
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Hinge pin hole redrilled (higher than center) and new pin/washers fitted.
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Here's both the Genco and Imperial remounted all cleaned up with new hinge pins/washers. Nice and tight.
Not bad for a first timer!
Since I only have 1k & 10k stones (3k/8k & DMT8c are on the way) this is as far as I can go with these two.
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I received the rest of my honing stones today.
I haven't received the LED magnifying lens I ordered but since it's coming from Hong Kong, it may take a while.
Anyway, I couldn't wait, I soaked all the stones in water to "stabilize" them, then lapped them all with the DMT8c. None of the stones were flat, so good job I checked.

Since this is my first time, I started with the really beat-up Genco. Taped the spine and put the 1k on a folded towel.
Did 20 circles each side then 10 laps on the 1k. No change to the edge.
Hmmm.
Repeat, 20 circles, 20 laps. No change. Couldn't set the bevel.
Very odd...
Put the 1k stone back in the water and pulled out the DMT8c (about 325 grit) thinking "this will un-blunt the edge". I know that's unorthodox but this blade is really blunt.
10 circles, 10 laps...it was definitely taking metal off, but wouldn't catch my skin on my thumb. Weird!
Oh well, put it aside for another day. Picked up the Imperial and pulled out the 1k stone.
Did 20 circles each side then 10 laps on the 1k. Ooh, there's the bevel!
Moved to the 3k stone.
10 circles, 10 laps, then 10 J-laps. To my naked eye, the bevel is looking good. It's popping hairs on the back of my arm. A good sign.
Moved to the 8k stone.
10 circles, 10 laps, then 10 J-laps. It's reflecting light off the edge in a very uniform way. Encouraging.
Moved to the 10k stone.
10 circles, 10 laps, then 10 J-laps. Passed the HHT on the first try.
I'll be trying it in the morning's shave after stropping on linen and leather.
*Edit. Stropped it and tried another HHT and it failed. HHT only passed on one section of the blade. Oh well, I didn't expect to get it right the first time.
Back to the stones...
 
Re: RE: My first straight restore

Mr_Smartepants said:
I received the rest of my honing stones today.
I haven't received the LED magnifying lens I ordered but since it's coming from Hong Kong, it may take a while.
Anyway, I couldn't wait, I soaked all the stones in water to "stabilize" them, then lapped them all with the DMT8c. None of the stones were flat, so good job I checked.

Since this is my first time, I started with the really beat-up Genco. Taped the spine and put the 1k on a folded towel.
Did 20 circles each side then 10 laps on the 1k. No change to the edge.
Hmmm.
Repeat, 20 circles, 20 laps. No change. Couldn't set the bevel.
Very odd...
Put the 1k stone back in the water and pulled out the DMT8c (about 325 grit) thinking "this will un-blunt the edge". I know that's unorthodox but this blade is really blunt.
10 circles, 10 laps...it was definitely taking metal off, but wouldn't catch my skin on my thumb. Weird!
Oh well, put it aside for another day. Picked up the Imperial and pulled out the 1k stone.
Did 20 circles each side then 10 laps on the 1k. Ooh, there's the bevel!
Moved to the 3k stone.
10 circles, 10 laps, then 10 J-laps. To my naked eye, the bevel is looking good. It's popping hairs on the back of my arm. A good sign.
Moved to the 8k stone.
10 circles, 10 laps, then 10 J-laps. It's reflecting light off the edge in a very uniform way. Encouraging.
Moved to the 10k stone.
10 circles, 10 laps, then 10 J-laps. Passed the HHT on the first try.
I'll be trying it in the morning's shave after stropping on linen and leather.
*Edit. Stropped it and tried another HHT and it failed. HHT only passed on one section of the blade. Oh well, I didn't expect to get it right the first time.
Back to the stones...
Click to expand...
Sounds similar to my first experience a few days back, I stopped with the circles (L. Abrahams esq in youtube) and held the razor flat with both hands. This seemed to help no end it's hard keeping the razor flat with one hand for a beginner like me. Anyway I have now honed 3 razors and all shave beautifully. Currently I use a 1k, 1200, 3000, 8000 and 12000 followed by 50 laps on a pasted strop and 50 laps on a clean strop. Works well for me but my 12k stone is miniscule almost laughable so I'm looking for a naniwa.
 
While waiting for my loupe, I got started on the corrosion on the ERN.
Here's what it looks like now after sanding from grits 360-600-800-1200.
In the second photo, you can see a sanding-line stretching from the bottom of the stabilizer to the toe (parallel with the edge). This is a raised section of the metal without a depression on the reverse side. I had initially thought that the blade was warped, now I'm not sure.
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OK, I'm "THIS" close to throwing in the towel with this whole honing thing.
Now that I have my 45x magnification loupe, I've taken a good look at the edge on my father's Henkel 415 (honed by Jamie) and my honed GD#66 (so I know what to aim for).
Sadly, I've been working all week on the 6 razors I have for practice and I have fallen far, far short of the mark.
I think that 2 of the razors are bent because I can't get the bevel set. One razor shows bevel wear in the middle on one side and wear on the toe/heel on the other side. The other razor will only bevel-set in the middle (both sides) and the toe isn't touching the stone at all. The other razors all have their own unique issues (chips, smiling edge, etc.).

I can't get all of the edge to sit flat on the stones without using both hands (which is a big no-no) to apply light pressure to keep the blade flat.
I'm hesitant to put my GD#66 on the stone since it is maintaining a great edge I don't want to muck it up.
Sorry for venting, but I didn't expect it to be this difficult. Help?
 
Hi Erik sounds to me you have a razor with a warped spine, try this little trick now I'm not going to say it will definitely work but as long as the warp is not to bad it usually gives you a far better result, try putting two layers of tape on the spine instead of one, I also don't want to state the obvious but are your hones lapped completely flat? they probably are but It's always worth going over old ground sometimes.
 
Yup, I lapped the stones twice today (just to be sure) using the 'x' pencil marks then lapping with the DMT (under running water) until they're gone.
I've been using 1 layer of electrical tape, and each razor has totally different bevel patterns which leads me to believe it's not me or my technique but the razors themselves.
Thanks for the tip, I'll try 2 layers of tape and try again.
 
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