I can't believe I'm sharing this with you all, but I couldn't not tell you. I have been engaged in my first straight razor restoration for the last couple of weeks, which has been a lot of fun. I bought a razor, which had some pitting and was a bit grungy. Not too bad, but enough that I removed the pins and separated the scales and cleaned everything up. Right now I'm in the process of removing most of the pitting and then on to polishing. Last night I was working on it for a bit and that's when the "what not to do" moment happened. I had the razor on the wheel for several seconds at a time and would dunk the razor in water when it started to get too hot. Well, I wasn't really paying that close of attention and lost track of how long I had the razor on the wheel and didn't think about it when I grabbed it. I will let you guys guess as to which part of the razor I grabbed from looking at the picture. After my slow brain registered that I was getting burned I dropped that thing like a..................well, like a hot razor! It clanged to the ground and as I cringed at the though of it breaking off a piece of the blade my now throbbing thumb and forefinger made me forget about it for the moment. I tried to jam my hand into the cup of water I had there to dunk the razor in, but that was just an exercise in futility not to mention pretty silly looking. When that didn't offer any relief I went up into the house and got an ice cube from the freezer. I pinched the ice cube between my thumb and finger and let it melt almost all the way down before removing it. It's a bit blistered and tender this morning, but I think the ice cube did a good job and hopefully it will not bother me too much. Now on to the important stuff. The razor seems ok. There weren't any chips or cracks from dropping/throwing it to the ground, so at least that is something. There were two big mistakes made this fateful evening. One; I let the razor get too hot, and two; I dropped/threw the razor to the hard cement ground. I mean, if you are getting burned anyway, take the time to set the razor down on your bench, don't risk ruining it any further by letting it fall to the ground. I hope you all have learned something from this tale of stupidity and remember to not touch anything hot because I'm here to tell you that you will get burned.
Actually, yes! I'm pretty excited about it. Still have a ways to go and devoting an hour a week is no way to make any headway, but so far so good.
ouchhh, Yes be very carefull not only will it get hot but you may damage the blade getting it so hot, bit at a time or even cool it in water every few mins.
Ouch! I'm glad it wasn't worse. You have just given me one more reason to stick with hand sanding my blades (the other is that I don't have a bench grinder...lol).
Hi, Tom put some ice in the jug or whatever you are using to dip your razor in, secondly be very careful not to overheat the blade edge while buffing or polishing, because this can alter the temper of the steel and render your edge useless. Regards Jamie.
Yeah, I do have the water and I do dunk it, buuuuuuut.................well, I just lost my focus and you saw the result. It is actually better now. I was very surprised. I think getting the ice on it and keeping it on there helped a great deal.
If you learn to rest the side/back of your forefinger against the back side of the blade while buffing, you will eliminate or greatly reduce the problem.. The side/back of your finger is way more sensitive to heat build up then the pads of your fingers and thumb. I have a pic someplace of how to hold for spine to edge buffing... This is also the safest for your fingers as you NEVER want any part of your hand in the path of the blade should it get caught on the wheel... Looking for pic These first 3 are what I consider to be the correct way to buff the blade, I have really good control with my finger against the back of the blade, and I can feel heat build up in an instant, lastly and most importantly, if the spine catches my fingers are nowhere near the edge... It also follows the original grind and polish marks from the factory, but you can also buff heel to toe also and use basically the same holds... This came from a Restoration thread from awhile back it is on SRP but there is some good reading a safety concerns brought up so I will link it... http://straightrazorplace.com/workshop/55897-greaseless-compound-buffing-question.html
