Looking for tips on how to deal with this:

[yohannrjm]

I picked up a 7-day set for a really nice price a while ago.

The reason it was cheap was because the set had got wet at some point and all the razors were rust-damaged. Luckily the damage was away from the edge. I thought I'd take a chance on them and see if I can get them to look better.

Here are some images lifted from the sale thread:

I have received the razors and they're in better shape than the pics show.

The main damage is to the spine, where you can feel the damage with your fingers (in some spots).

I assume that the only way to get rid of that is to sand it down, and then polish it up again. I hope I don't lose the day names doing that.

The front of the blade has a nice gold wash/inlay. I don't want to damage that, so only minor hand sanding will be possible there. The reverse sides of the blades are very clean.

-----

I actually honed and shaved with one of the blades, so I know they're good shavers and are worth the effort.

This will be my first restoration of this level of damage, so I'm not really sure of what to do. I'll be practicing with some junk blades before moving to this.

My tentative plan is:

Hand sanding with 220 grit paper to get the majority of the black pitting out. The progressing with 400, 600, 800, 1000, 1500 and 2000 grit papers. This will be followed by low-speed polishing with a felt wheel on a Dremel using Simichrome, and white and red rouge.

Do you guys have any tips to add? Someone on B&B mentioned that the rouges are too fine, and I should get black rouge (not available at my local hardware store).

I've done the sandpaper progression before, and also the Simichrome (by hand). I played with a junky razor to get the Dremel speeds down, and it seems to work, but I've not done that with a razor I care for before.

 

[Bart]

I would definitely first try something else before I started sanding. Black steel corrosion, is the result of oxidation under conditions with low oxygen. It is considerably more wear resistant than red rust and can be harder by nature than the factory hardness of the razor's steel. It can be tempting to hit it with coarse abrasives, because it takes so long to remove. But I believe that coarse abrasives are only in order where in situations where deep pitting and scratches need to be removed. Sure, if you hit it with 200 grit sandpaper, you'll see the black corrosion removed soon. But consider how long it will take to work your way back up to finer sandpaper + polishing. If you spent the same amount of time with the finest abrasive to start with, you won't see the black stuff removed so soon, but eventually you'll arrive there too. The total time spend may very well not be longer and the razor will keep it's detail much better.

I have good experiences with the 3M bristle discs, though they work slow. Here's a Youtube video, where you can see them at work for a different application, but you'll get the idea. They come in many diameters, and a wide variety of "grits".
Another, much cheaper solution, it to take "000" steel wool and "spin" it on one of those conic mandrels for quick attachments of buffing wheels. See this:

You'll get a sort of buffing clew. Add some automotive polishing paste to it.

That's what I would try first, before going to any coarser measures. There a good chance that an hour or 2 per razor with said solutions are all they need.

Kind regards,
Bart.

 

[tat2Ralfy]

Mmm I would send them to that nice Dr Ralfson, and forget I ever owned them lol!

Seriously I think sanding would be far too destructive as well, I would try the 3m bristle discs, personally I would use a progression of polishing compounds on sisal, stitched cotton, and then loose cotton mops, I think you can mini ones for use with a dremel too, if you can get the mops I can send you a chunk of each of the three compounds? I do believe with the right method and care, you should be able to more or less completely remove all the marks from the spine area, and keep the day engraves intact.

I am not sure looking at the pictures, it does seem that there is also some corrosion on the face of the blades? I am sure that would polish out too, the only thing I think you will lose is the gold wash, there are places that can redo that for you, or it may be possible to use a home plating kit to do it yourself.

If you would like to send me one, I would happily work on it for you, I cant promise it will end up spotless as I said, but the offer is there, either way you can email me through the message box on my profile.

Best regards
Ralfson (Dr)

 

[yohannrjm]

Ralfy, Bart - thanks for the advice. I'll certainly start with the bristle disc and see what happens at that point.

I know I can get the other bits for the Dremel, and I'll look for the other polishing compounds as well.

Yes, there is corrosion on the face of the blades. I'm going to try and avoid touching that, because of the wash.

Ralfy - thanks a lot for the generous offer to work on one of the razors. I may take you up on that if I don't work things out myself. One of the reasons I bought this set was to practice some basic restoration techniques on it. If I decide it's not worth the effort, I may just gift the set away.

 

[pinklather]

Yohan, I've had good luck with a few methods, each of which is less aggressive and less work. I start by getting the big stuff off with a metal polish on 0000 steel wool. This is to get a full view of the extent of the rust/pitting damage. With pinhole pits, I'll use one of the glass fiber pens with metal polish on the fibers. If pitting is still shallow enough, I'll use either a plain rubber disc (amazing for having no abrasive), or an abrasive rubber disc (like Craytex) to polish out the pit. On the face near the bevel, some pits are too deep to remove, but on the sping, you can likely remove without taking the Day of the Week stamping. After craytex, greaseless buffing compounds bring back the shine.

Best of luck w/ the project.

 

[urmas]

Hi Yohan,

Normally I do not use paper less than 800 grit - too much work to remove ugly looking scratches. I rather prefer a mild restoration for razors.

From time to time I use a chemical aid (as first step) - you can find a rust converter from gun shop. Works pretty well, but do not just let it dry off on the surface and use it only there where needed.

Another idea, which I still have not personally tried is Renaissance Metal De-Corroder http://www.picreator.co.uk/articles/10_renaissance_metal_de.htm and maybe also Pre-lim surface cleaner http://www.picreator.co.uk/articles/4_pre_lim_surface_clea.htm

Regards,
Urmas

 

[yohannrjm]

Thanks for the tips, guys.

There's been little progress on this, as we just moved. Couple that with an 11 month-old, and you have no time for razor projects. Still, I'd rather spend time with my daughter than my razors (though it would be nice to be able to do both).

I have bought a few more buffing compounds and wheels. I do also have 0000 steel wool (for my vintage bikes), so I'll try that.

One of these days I'll get a chance to work on the razors. I need some nice 'before' shots first.

 

[bbr6704]

Hey Yohann, nice 7 day set!

What I should maybie do for the front of the blades could be putting some tape on the etching/gold wash : triying to make it the smallest/nearest possible by cutting the contour of the goldwash...

so you can work around without risk for it tio disappear... And you could do the same on the spine to be sure you'll keep the days on.

When you reached the result you want, you take the tape off, and with dremel and cotton and a light polishing paste, you just do just a very light pass : it can sometimes ggive a little imrpovement to the goldwash, but stay light, for not damaging it!

But as some members, I prefer light restaurations than to "deep" mirror finish that remove too much steel, deletes the blades and softens the tang geometry (don't know if i'm still clear...)

As for shaving, restauration requires to stay light as feather...

 

[CalamityJack]

Good advice from everyone. I now realize my restores are too heavy-handed and I look forward to doing all the things you folks have recommended the next time I clean-up an old blade.

grateful regards,

Jack