Well WD-40 and 0000 steel wool will do amazing things, followed by mother and the same steel wool, followed by just mothers. You will most likely ruin the shaving edge and it will need to be honed. It will also leave the pitting behind. If you want it to be free of pitting you will have to use HollyRollers advice and use a wet dry progression. If you are not into doing it by hand, the power tool options should only be attempted by experienced hands, they have a tough learning curve.
Wet or dry sand paper progression takes a bit of time but can yield acceptable results. It does depend on the amount of rust to be removed. I wouldn't expect the razor to be shaveable without being honed afterward. Here's one I cleaned up.
The stuff Kevin sold recently should be looked at much more as having been a donation to the forum. Those razors are incredibly few and far in between, and he puts a lot of love into them. I have seen Roctraitor peddle some pretty scubby looking blades, and those aren't even his sight unseen...... Stuff I wouldn't own...... When you buy one of Larry's blades, you are basically paying for a honing, and getting the razor for free. The point isn't the razor, it is getting an edge you can learn to shave on. Of course there are great deals out there, and if you look on eBay, you will find tons of people selling their blades as shave ready. Good luck with that. Then spend $30 to get it honed properly, and discover that it isn't for you after all. As far as I'm concerned, there are much worse ways to spend your money. Knowing you actually got a shave ready edge is worth half that price, right out of the gate.
+1 When the time comes, this blade will be my "project" blade. I plan to learn to restore and hone one this blade. If it works out and I don't destroy it in the process, I will end up with a rather nice addition to my growing collection and have learned a few new skills.
So I just couldn't leave well enough alone. The wife is at work and I finished my Honey-Do list so... I broke out my felt buffing attachments, the Dremel and some Lucas Metal Polish (I use for cleaning my brass*). I worked very slow and had taped up my edge with 3 layers of blue painters tape. The Dremel was set between 1 and 2 (speed). My intention was not to get a mirror finish but remove most of the Black Rust spots. Here is the before... and After... I stropped it (15x Linen 25x Leather) and it shaved just like before. I am pleased with the results and this razor is a very nice shaver. Here's another picture showing more of the razor...
Just bought Sight Unseen FLAWED Razor from Larry. I agree that I have bought the honing service and get a straight razor for free. My razor also has some black thingy that I don't know what that is. I think some soap and later sand-papering will help to clean it out. I will recommend Larry in a heartbeat. He is a great guy!
I have already ordered some other items from Larry and definitely will not hesitate to order anything from him. Great customer services at an incredible price!
Keep in mind, Larry sells two types of sight unseen razors at different prices. His normal ones and his flawed ones. I just want to mention that not all of the sight unseen ones are rough.
Larry and I communicated via email a couple of weeks ago. I sent him back the razor I received and he exchanged it with another. I am incredibly happy with dealing with Larry and have no hesitation in recommend him for anyone just getting into straight razors.
