I got this razor, which has some gorgeous lines and a pretty unusual grind, off of eBay a while back. The staining was pretty extensive, and there was some rusting, but structurally the razor was fine. I decided, with some help from my friends, to go ahead and sand off the staining and say goodbye to the etching (it wasn't that interesting to begin with) and try to clean it up.
So I got some sandpaper and went to town. I tried to get it clean, but not perfect--this is an old razor, it should look it. So I left some of the staining--Intentionally, yes--but tried to get it as even and smooth as I could. So, how'd it go?
We started with this:
And this:
And after a few days of hand sanding up to #2000 with wet/dry sandpaper (mostly dry), We come to this:
The pictures aren't the best, but that is NOT a mirror finish. It's shiny, yes, but there is still a bit of cloudiness. I'm NOT going to take this to the buffer. I decided it was too risky, I'm too inexperienced and this is a razor I want to keep. So, I might take it up to higher grits of sandpaper, but no machinery. I also had some trouble with the monkey tail; it's not as clean as it should be, but to get it better I'd have to unpin the scales, and I don't want to do that yet. As for the scales, that's another issue.
They are some kind of plastic--bakelite, perhaps, by the smell--and they were finished with a lacquer that had discolored and flaked off. I scraped it off, leaving a matte black surface, and I'd like to clean that up a bit more. I tried some metal polish, and got some improvement, but I want gloss--any ideas?
Anyway, it's pretty much done. It needs honing, and it needs a bit more polish, but the difference is certainly striking. I'm no pro, I never will be, but I didn't screw it up too bad!
