Restoration Highway

I've got a very cool razor, with some cosmetic issues. This will be an ongoing story of my attempt to clean it up a little.

The blade started here:

Lots of staining and discoloration, but no real damage. It's only cosmetic, but bad enough to get on my nerves. To get a good looking blade out of it, I started with some metal polish (99papa metal polish, to be exact.)
That left me with this:

The stains lightened considerably, and my cloth blackened considerably, but it's still ugly. So I decided to go ahead with sanding.
I got some 180, 240, 320, 400, 600, 800, 1000 and 1500 grit sandpaper, and put together a sanding jig out of some plastic sticks and part of an old belt (better than my finger, I reckon).

I decided to start on the back of the razor, where my clumsiness would have the least visible effect, in case I screwed up.
So, before:


And after 20 minutes of hand sanding at 180 grit...


Some progress! There remains some staining, but I think I'll leave it. It's a reminder that this razor has seen more years than the town I live in...

Now, tonight the front. I have to think about that etching...do I want to preserve it? No? What do you think?