Some time ago I picked up this New England Razor Co., English Steel, Boston "Barbers' Razor". I did my usual restore process: steel wool and WD40, 800, 1k, 1.5k, 2k wet/dry and finishing up with lots of hand polishing with Mothers Mag and Aluminium Polish. I will get this on the stones this week and take it for a spin. The edge looks a bit rough, but I am certain it will clean up easily. Here is the before: And here is the after shot with a close up of the blade and tang:
I encountered some challenges with honing this razor. There were some micro chips along the edge that took a fair bit of prayer and labour, but in the end it turned out to be an excellent little shaver. Sharp and smooth. Thanks @gssixgun for the great advice! I shaved with it for the first time this morning and was very pleased.
Very well done @Rusty blade. I need to learn your technique. I always end up obliterating all the design work on the blade and that makes me sad
My technique is nothing fancy. I take the approach of using the smallest hammer first. If polish alone will bring out the shine then I work with that. If that doesn't clean it up and make it shine I bring out the next hammer, etc. etc. I don't bring out the bigger hammers unless its necessary. This one needed all levels of cleaning from steel wool and then 800, 1k, 1.5k and 2 k wet dry sandpaper and then polish to make it shine. I just go very lightly on the etching. The edge had some micro chips but that just meant more time on the 1k to work them out. It turned out nice in the end, so I am pleased. And I had good advice along the way from others more knowledgeable then me!
