I've had this particular vintage razor in my drawer with a number of other straights for about two years. I look at some razors I acquire and decide to either do a quick restoration or shelve them for a later time, particularly if they've some potentially 'time-consuming' issues present. This DDD had some visible problems such as dirty, grimy scales (inside & out) and a weak hinge pin, but what made me 'shelf it' for a while was the frowning edge and horribly scratch-up blade. After some recent successful restorations of a Dubl Duck trio, I was inclined to bring out this razor and begin the process. The hinge pin 'cap' was nearly gone on one side and the washer was split. So I removed the blade and gave it a good polish to remove years of grime. The blade removal allowed me the chance to thoroughly clean up the dark, gunked-up scales. After cleaning the blade, I took it to the buffing station and began a progression of greaseless compounds (400, 600, emery) to remove the surface scratches. At this point I decided to re-blue the tang as a good portion of the original bluing was missing or worn off—giving the tang and tail a rather 'splotchy' appearance. Taping off the blade and thoroughly wiping down the tape & tang with degreaser, I used several applications of Birchwood 'Super Blue' liquid gun blue to create a uniform color to the tang and tail. Here is the blade, post-bluing, shown with the partially-clean scales. Note the frown still present on the blade edge... Edge-Fix: To correct the frown on the blade edge, I lightly 'breadknife' both the heel and toe of the blade on my Atoma 600. I initially started the job using a DMT 300, but have found the Atoma to be a 'gentler' process. It required far less work than I originally anticipated to remove the frown and create an even edge. Here is the blade; post edge correction: Cleaned, buffed & polished the scales. Re-pinned the hinge with nickel-silver pin and stainless washers; brass inner bearing washers. Blade aligned nicely (and snugly) within the scales. Some post-work 'glamor' shots....
If you don't mind. How do you do the re blueing process. I am working on my Black Diamond. It needs to be re blued. Thanks Tom Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
There are a number of methods and products/processes used in bluing metal. You can do an internet search on forums and see the variety. I tried to find a method that was relatively safe, effective and not overly time consuming. I liked the results I got from the Birchwood product I listed above. It required only two repeat steps to get the right amount of coloring. Steps: clean and degrease the area to be blued. Denatured alcohol works well. Wear gloves to protect hands and avoid fingerprint oils. Bluing is corrosive. Tape off the areas you don't wish to be blued (blade). For uniformity, I chose to dip the tail and tang into the bottle so it was submerged into the bluing solution. The solution can be applied by brush or q-tip, but I've found the results more consistent with the full submersion. Remove the razor after 3-5 seconds and rinse tang and wipe dry. Check coverage and density. Repeat process if necessary until the desired results are achieved. Note: make doubly sure the surface to be blued is uniform in color an thoroughly clean. I removed all the old splotchy bluing on the buffers (with compunds) before starting the new process.
That is beautiful, congratulations! It looks like a completely different razor than what you started with. I especially like the treatment on the tang.
Forgot to add the honing of this DDD: Chosera 1k (bevel set), Naniwa SS progression (3k>5k>8k) and finished on this old Escher water stone. Laps on linen and fast bridle leather = an extremely comfy shave this morning!
Nicely done. Gonna have to try the Birchwood gun blue, just did a quick restore on a d/d special no1 but should really do a full restore. They are fantastic shavers.
