The End of the Road?

So I've gone through several sheets of sandpaper and worn out my arm sanding, but I might, MIGHT that is, be pretty much done with my first restoration project.

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!

For Victory!!!! (Warning, straight heavy content)

I am ALL THAT IS MAN!




I have had this lovely Japanese razor for some time now, but was never able to get a good shave off it. It just wasn't sharp enough, or smooth enough. I felt I was wasting it, just letting it sit in my display case...so the other day I decided to fix it.

I got out my hones:
A coticule/Belgian Blue Whetstone combination and a Shapton "Ha no Kuromaku" 12000 grit ceramic waterstone, and went to work.

Because I was noticing some micropitting on the blade under magnification, I followed the advice of Bart on SRP in this thread, and used a progression of Coticule with slurry, BBW with slurry, and then Coticule with water. I finished with 5 laps on a Chromium Oxide pasted hanging strop, then 50 on linen and 100 on shell. The edge I got was insanely sharp, but not very shaving smooth. I went back, and added the Shapton after the coticule. Again, to the strops fo a total of about 200 laps, and the shave.

Results? My best straight shave to date!

Using the Japanese straight is tough--the grind is assymetrical, meaning one side is concave and one is flat. Everyone says you are supposed to shave with the concave side against your face at all times, so you have to really contort to get the blade in all those tight little places on your face. Kind of not very fun. But the results were great--very smooth, and very comfortable. So, shaving with a lovely tool that I honed myself = an awesome day.

An Open Apology

Ok. I have to do it. I have to say it.
I'm Sorry, Truefitt and Hill. I'm Very, Very Sorry.

A little while back I totally mooched graciously requested some samples of T&H 1805 shaving cream from Mantic59, the Godfather of Wetshaving on the Internets. They got here, and I tried one shave and yeah, ok, I got a good shave and the scent was great, but I found myself reaching for other products instead of this one again. But then Mark asked me to talk about it, and I figured I should give it one more try, and so this morning I did.

Now, I was kind of a loser and slacked off this morning, spending all my time watching The Daily Show downloads and skyping with my mate instead of getting ready for work, so time ended up shorter than usual. I went ahead and decided to try the cream (unfairly--any product for review deserves more attention) and dove into my shave. I hurried and took shortcuts and didn't really give my shave the love it deserves, and I should be in pain as a result. But I'm not. I got a magnificent shave--smooth, comfortable, and easy. I can't believe it, actually. I was racing through it, shaving over places that hadn't been relathered and not paying attention to my angle or pressure.

I can only assume that the T&H was there, looking out for me. Shaking its head in rueful understanding and taking the hits intended for my poor, ignorant face...So, thank you T&H, and I'm sorry. I should have taken you more seriously.

I won't do it again.