What should I do with this?

G

Guest

Guest
Hi Guys,

I picked this up on eBay for a few quid. I like the idea of straights rather than DE and do like a good restoration project, Vintage Bikes, Lawnmowers etc but this seems a bit more fiddly than I'm used to.

You lot will probably know more than me about Thomas Turner & Co of Sheffield, I don't know when they stopped producing razors, the blade and scales are all straight, no nicks or fractures in the blade and it feels tight-ish on the rivet/hinge with no side to side wobble!

There is some marking which is black but not pitted into the steel, but it does look like someone at some point has gone mad with a drimmel/wire brush to clean it up. to get the little squiggly lines out am i going to have to start with wet and dry and work up?







What's the next step to cleaning it up, I'd normally take something like this into work and get it on a polisher but I think its A, too tricky / sharp, B it will get too hot and risk buggering up the steel.

Once it looks respectable then I can think about getting it honed.

Any advice greatly appreciated.
 
If you are doing it yourself here is a link to another forum that deals with straights. I learned most of the stuff I use daily to restore razors from this site.

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I would recommend going down the hand sanding route first and use the jig that they recommend as it will save your fingers a lot of cut.

Good luck with the restoration

After you have finished cleaning it up send it to Neil (he is on this forum) to get it honed or just send him the razor now and he will restore it for you.
 
I'd go with the polisher. Just have some water on hand to cool it regularly. As for the sharpness you could dull the edge on a glass or bottle and hold it with a gardening glove if you like, it will need a full honing whatever you do as the bevel edge will inevitably get damaged in the process. If you don't already use a straight then I would do the clean up yourself then send it to a pro to hone that way you'll know for the future what kind of edge you are after.

Have a look at undream's Youtube channel there is a multi part tutorial on restoration although its more than you'll have to do with that.
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You could just hand polish it to clean it up. Won't get too shiny unless you spend a lot of time at it, but its not a bad result. I have no idea what you have over there, but over here I use Maas or T-wax premium rubbing compound.

Otherwise, the polisher (as you call it) is the way to go. No need to hand sand it. You'll probably lose the etching either way you go however.

You could just hone it too.
 
I don't know that I'd do a great deal with that one, leastwise not on the blade itself. Take it out of the scales, buff the tang and spine but settle for gently hand polishing the blade itself and keep the etching (and the pits) - that would do me. Everyone has different ideas about this, but it's your razor after all.
 
Cheers, the links were good.

I think i'll just gently polish it up by hand in the first instance, get it honed and use it then if I think it needs the full works i'll do it once it needs re-honing.

A
 
Arrowhead said:
Good plan in my opinion. You don't really know how much effort it's worth putting in till you've honed it.
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Wise words. It's always a good idea to see if the razor will support and edge before committing a lot of money and/or time into the project. That said, haven't come across one I couldn't get right. Unless it was weirdly discolored due to being overheated while buffing.
 
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