I just got these back from Chris at Razorplate, who stripped them down for me for a very reasonable price with very fast turnaround considering his heavy work schedule. Chris will answer any and all questions you have and I highly recommend his services. I know what you're thinking..."So what, stripped Super Speeds." True, but they're not done yet. What I want to do here is control the amount of darkness on different areas of the brass and copper to get a nice antiqued, maybe even semi-steampunk look out of these. I'm using plain old ammonia fumes, the cheapest way I know of. There is a specialized brass darkening solution but this should get the same results. These two are just experiments, and I apologize for the poor photography. I buffed and lightly polished the areas I want to end up lighter and barely touched the areas that will be darker (mainly the handles). I used a loop of dental floss coated with Simichrome to polish the ring above the knobs, just for some contrast. The razors are now back in the fume can. They'll gradually darken to where I want them, and I can then selectively polish areas I want to be lighter and/or shinier. Not sure which scheme I'll ultimately go with but the cool thing is, if you make them too bright you can just put them back in the fumes and start all over again. When I finally get the look nailed down, the razors will get a coat of lacquer to preserve the different tones right where they are. I don't think my Slim would look very good like this, but a Fatboy done up this way might look really tough. If I had one I'd have Chris strip it down just to see. Anyway, thanks for looking. Comments, criticisms and suggestions always welcome.
Neat Idea! I think I saw a Fat Boy stripped and polished no his site. Looked pretty nice that way! Have you thought of using Renaissance Wax instead of lacquer? Seems like it would be easier.
Never heard of it, tell me about it? I was thinking lacquer because some form of it is what Gillette used on theirs so...
It was developed at the British museum for preserving just about everything. ( woods, metals, plastics, ect.) It is used to keep the patina on jewelry. I myself have only used it so far on restoring pipes. It is super easy to put on. The consistency of it is like Vaseline not like a hard wax. You just rub it on with your finger or cotton ball then wipe it with a dry cloth. I think it would be better than lacquer. The lacquer will turn , crack\flake off, and would be hard to apply in the first place. Renaissance Wax would not be a permanent solution, it would have to be reapplied at some point. A bottle would be enough to do at least 1000 razors, though.
