Just for you Yvsa
RAZOR RECONDITIONING A LA SARGE
<DISCLAIMER: The methods outlined below have served me well for a number of years. However, I do not claim to be an authority, nor do I imply that my processes are the "absolute best" or "only" way to do it>
Right, let's assume we just picked up a nifty old straight razor at a swap meet/gun show. The carbon steel blade has some light surface rust but no serious pitting, and the edge is okay other than being dull and having a few small nicks.
-Step 1:
Clean and polish. I use 1500 - 2000 grit sandpaper, 0000 steel wool, and Flitz metal polish to get the blade as clean and highly polished as possible. Handles of most old razors you'll run across will be celluloid, bakelite, or some other form of synthetic, these get a couple good coats of Renaissance Wax. Bone/horn handles get soaked in mineral oil/Hooflex, then wiped clean and polished with a soft cotton cloth
-Step 2:
Reestablish primary edge. A hollow ground file is it's own sharpening guide, laid flat on a hone, the thick spine presents the cutting edge at the proper angle for honing (this is why on well worn old razors there'll be actual flats cut on both sides of the spine from repeated sharpenings). Start with an EZ-Lap diamond hone (medium to fine grit), lay the blade flat on it and hone away without lifting blade from the hone . Particular technique (back and forth, circular motions, etc.) is not especially important as long as you grind the entire length of the edge evenly. After grinding on one side for a while, flip the blade over and work on the other side. In time you will produce a wire edge or "burr", your goal being to make this wire edge uniform along the entire length of the cutting edge. If the edge had nicks in it, or wasn't exactly plumb and true, this could take a while, so be patient. Whatever you do, do not at this point try to hone off the wire edge, JUST LEAVE IT ALONE FOR NOW!
-Step 3:
Polish away grinding marks. The diamond hone was used for fast stock removal to quickly true up the edge. However, those scratches and grooves it left are totally undesirable, so now we've got to make 'em go away. Start with 600 grit paper on a piece of plate glass or other perfectly true flat surface, again laying the razor blade flat on the abrasive medium, and start polishing. Back and forth, circular motion, don't matter as long as you're even and consistent, what does matter is anytime you have to lift that blade off that paper, raise the edge off first, then the rest of the blade. Otherwise you'll be curling your edge and that's bad. Progress through successively finer grits until you achieve pretty much a mirror polish. Look at the edge with a good magnifying glass, smooth and shiny = good, rough and scratchy = you got more work to do hoss
-Step 4:
Hone. For honing I use a hard black "surgical grade" Arkansas Stone, but an equivalent ceramic would do as well. Here we start getting into technique a bit. Lay the blade flat on the stone and lightly draw it, cutting edge first, using a diagonal stroke that hones the entire length of the edge from heel to tip. Carefully raise the edge off the stone before lifting the blade, turning it over, and repeating the process on the other side. Keep it up until the "wire edge" is gone entirely. Don't be fooled, it's still there, but now it's polished down so tiny you need a magnifying glass to see it. No worries, that's what the strop is for.
-Final Step:
Stropping. There's quite a range and variety of strops out there, but perhaps the easiest type for a beginner is the one called a "paddle strop". Follow along and I'll describe how I make these (yes, make 'em, a store bought strop costs as much, if not more than, a good razor). Get a piece of oak or poplar scant board (1/4" thick by 2" wide by whatever length suits you). On both sides, glue (Titebond II) some 8-10 oz. veg tanned cowhide, grain (smooth) side up. Make sure the leather is as flat and smooth as you can get your hands on. Sorry Satori, an old belt might make a fine strop for a khukuri, but not for something you're going to shave your face with
. Now, on one side, using Titebond II, or equivalent, glue a piece of canvas right on top of the leather. The 8 ounce cotton canvas commonly used for painter's drop cloths is perfect for this. Make sure it's stretched out tight and smooth, with no bumps or wrinkles. Once the glue's good and dry, trim all edges off flush with the board using a good sharp knife and a bit of care to leave clean smooth edges.
Your newly made, rigid, "paddle strop", is now ready for dressing. Heat a tea kettle of water good and hot and pour it in your basin (my morning ritual, I fix myself a mug of tea and use the remaining water in the kettle to shave with, two birds, one stone). Work up a good lather with your shaving brush and mug soap, and slather it all over both sides of the strop. Let the lather soak in a bit, then wipe off the excess and let it dry (dries quick, think saddle soap). Neat hunh? Give it another dose and it'll just about be ready. When good and dry, dress the canvas side lightly with a fine abrasive compound like FlexCut Gold or Veritas*, and you're off to the races.
Start on the canvas side, lay the blade flat on it, and use that same diagonal stroke that you used for honing, only now you want to stroke AWAY from the cutting edge. To prevent rolling the edge, you should not lift the blade off the strop during the stropping. How do you do that? Easy, at the end of each stroke you're going to rotate the blade so the edge lifts up off the strop while the spine stays grounded to it, basically the old dog's gonna roll over on it's back until the other side winds up flat against the strop and ready for it's stroke, and so on alternating back and forth. Takes a bit to get the hang of it, but with practice becomes second nature. Finish up on the smooth leather side, and you should be ready to scrape off some whiskers. The canvas side need not be used every time, once the razor's broke in and shaving well the smooth side will suffice, unless the razor starts to drag a bit or show other signs it could use some "freshening up".
*Note: don't have any of them fancy honing compounds I mentioned? Got some Flitz metal polish? Smear a thin, even, coat of it on the canvas side and allow it to dry powdery to the touch. Good to go :thumbup:
There you go Yvsa, about as thorough a treatment as I can give on rejuvenating old rusty straight razors. A bit of work, but well worth the effort. A 100 year old razor can't talk, but if it could, what tales it would tell.
Sarge
