OK, so I just got my first straight, and would like to clean it up. Aside from warm soapy water and a soft cloth, what else should I use? I'd like to polish or otherwise clean the blade. Is this what I want? Or should I not do that? Would the honemeister take care of that for me? I'm planning on sending it to Lynn Abrams, I have an email in to him, just waiting on a reply... I know the scales are funky, maybe someday I'll rescale it, but here's some pics...
The Maas is perfect that is what you want, Lynn Abrams or any other honemeister for that fact won't do restoration work (cleaning) unless you specifically arrange in advance for a fee, If you want that done 2 good honemeisters who do great restorations are Kenrup at ruprazor or GsSixgun at gemstarcustoms both have great reputations on SRP b/t/w some very nice razors they should clean up and shave great
OK, thank you. I'll probably try to polish it up myself then to start. Also, that is the same razor, only one. I told you the scales were messed up.
Never used Maas before - it's not available over here. I think. I use sandpaper and a rotating doohickey with chromium oxide polishing compound. For special needs I also work with different Dremel-thingies.
Klaus, you never cease to amaze me with your mastery of technical English...I mean, you even spelled DOOHICKEY right!!!!
If this is the first razor that you've polished be careful. Make sure the blade is laying flat on a surface and held down tightly.
That 's a classic with potential. As far as working on the blade, when you decide to sand or buff you can get a piece of plywood and a C-clamp to clamp the blade to the board. This holds the work steady and ultimately saves energy while sanding and buffing. You can even fashion a guard with a strip of wood fastened to the plywood to cut down on the possibility of accidental contact with the edge. The other good thing about this set up is that you can carry your work around with you on a sanding station.
+1 - I just got my stitches out on friday from my restoring accident - even dull razors can be extremely sharp @Jim: Well, doohickey IS an essential word in the English language, is it not? :rofl
Good tips, thanks. And this one, although not shave ready I'm sure, is still sharper than any knife in the kitchen. Now that's something I hadn't thought of, sanding or buffing. I really like this blade a lot, maybe I'll send it off to one of the guys listed above. I've already been in touch with Lynn Abrams, but although he didn't say anything directly, for some reason I'm getting the feeling he's not so much for the restoration, but more just honing. I could very well be mistaken in that impression though. I'm not interested in a rescale yet. That's something I think I can tackle myself down the road...
Speaking of sanding, I would start with just the polish first and not anything too aggressive in the abrasive department. Since the blade has some nice engraving it would be a shame to damage it.
+1 always use the least damaging method first to see how far you can go. You can always bring out the big guns later on.
i just got my rusted japanese razor. i dont want to remove the nice wrapping on the handle but i probably will to check for more inscriptions and to make sure i get rid of all traces of rust. im thinking ill either start with a wire wheel or a light acid bath or electrolysis. ill probably take off the wrapping just to protect it from any of those tortures. im afraid but eager as i want to clean it up but at the same time i dont want to go in too fast so that there is no return if something goes wrong. keep me updated on your progress. ill be putting some photos up soon.
oh btw i have cleaned the rust from my japanese razor. i can read the inscriptions now. a few little pitted spots and some dark spots left but i should be able to polish that away. before the markings on the razor were unable to be read from all the rust, they are fairly clear now. i used lime juice and baking soda on the blade to clean off most of the rust and some fine sandpaper to get off the larger bits.. it took a while but at least there was no damage done. havent had success with my camera so i gotta play around a bit more with it and do a little more polishing so i can get someone to translate.. hope yours turns out as good as mine (or better) oh i also used a dremel with a couple wire brushes starting with the brass
wire brushes for the Dremel are really useful indeed, I use them all the time! (We need to see some pics now )
