Post your latest progression.

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[Image: ae70abb4477c6039154410a2f790c629.jpg] A small lapping film set up.6 inches by 2-7/8th's wide .9 micron, 3 micron and 1 micron again.

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Put 3 straights to the hone tonight using the science of sharp method that Caleb31 posted about here awhile back. Very happy with the results. One blade was my recent no-name antique store find that I adjusted the scales on, cleaned up and polished just a bit. It needed a new bevel so I put her to a King 1k and then 6k, then stropped her on chrome polish infused denim, stropped again on a diamond pasted old belt, and then finished up stropping her on the cloth/leather. The other two blades, the Whipped Dog sight unseen and the Aust, just needed touched up as they started tugging on me a bit this week. Same sequence as the prior one, slightly abbreviated and minus the 1k bevel set step of course. All 3 blades felt sharp and smooth in their respective short test runs afterwards, so I'm pleased. I am a believer in that science of sharp guy's simple honing method--cheap, effective and pretty much idiot proof.

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I ran three blades through this setup this evening.
A dmt8c for the lapping.
A chosera 1,000 for the bevel setting.
A shobu type100 for the base stone and the nagura is a very hard Ozooku nagura.
Cheers.

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Torrey 6/8 full hollow

Another "new" razor that came in yesterday's box. Took her to the Naniwa stones 1k, 5k, 10k then a quick few laps on the Black Bethesda from a facebook passaround and finished on the Imperia la Roccia. 50 laps heavy duty linen, 50 laps leather, and she shaved like a champ. Very comfortable and clean.

I can't tell if the point is a slightly round French point or a squared off round point. It doesn't shave like a round point, as the tip gets right into the tight spots. It also has a bit of a smile. Not sure if that came from the factory or just over time...

This one will likely get a new set of scales as the original scales are a bit beat up. I'm thinking I might polish the blade a bit and put her in some fancy synthetic scales...

Nice find - Torrys are nice razors.

Re: the point, I've seen pics of a fair number of blades with this type of shape. Sorta like halfway between a round and square point. Given that I've seen a number of them, I'm guessing it was made that way as I can't imagine all the ones I've seen were mods.

Did another one from the box" today...



This is what it looked like upon arrival 2 days ago. The scales were nice but dirty and the metal was in good shape but very dirty and heavily patina-ed. I wanted to get this one nicely polished, so I removed the scales, and started working at the blade with 800 wet sandpaper.



I quickly realized that if I wanted to keep the stamped trademark on the tang, I was not going to be able to get the blade fully polished. So I worked at the patina, and got it down to just the veining and minor pitting, then I cleaned up the scales with alcohol and 0000 steel wool.

I took the blade down to "the shop", which is just my carport, and used a 120 grit soft abrasive wheel, which removed the discoloration from the veining, but left the trademark stamp and deeper veins in tact. Then I polished it with felt wheels and compound, followed by Never-Dull and 0000 steel wool.


To the stones we went. Naniwa Specialty stones in 1k, 5k, 10k, Bethesda Black from the Facebook passaround in transition, and finished on the Imperia la Roccia.

Just an excellent afternoon shave. I talked more in depth about the process in my SOTD video that I will be uploading shortly...

Got my replacement for the cracked Wade & Butcher that came in "The Box".

This razor won't win any beauty contests, but she took a fantastic edge and quickly jumps to the very top of rotation. I've always said I could happily shave with my AIC every day, but such is no longer the case. This razor isn't "better" than the Allegheny Instruments, but it is absolutely comparable. I can't choose just one...I need to have both...

Wade & Butcher Invincible 11/16 belly hollow

Before:


After:


Cleanup was touchy...The stamped trademark in the tang and the stamped "Invincible" on the face of the blade are both very close to being gone, and I definitely didn't want to lose either one. I used 1000 grit wet sandpaper to remove the active rust. Unfortunately, this did take away a bit of the maker's mark on the tang, but active rust has to be removed. The trademark is no good if the razor can give you tetanus, or rusts away to nothing, so begrudgingly I removed all the active rust, and some of the stamped markings. Luckily the blade mark is stamped and not etched.

After the 1000 wet sandpaper, I hit it 0000 steel wool and Flitz polish. Again...I can see the stampings are going to fade quickly, so I back off. I would rather have a lot of veining and patina, and maintain the stamped markings, than remove the deep veins and patina along with the stamped markings.

So I took the blade as far as I am willing to go, with the minor exception that I will probably remove the blade from the scales eventually, and clean up the hinge area a little better. I wanted to get it on the stones, and get a test shave...

Naniwa Specialty stones in 1k, 5k, 10k. Imperia la Roccia 15k finisher, 100 laps on FE oxide, 50 laps on linen 100 laps on horsehide. Smoooooooooth.....

Chris, that looks to be a fantastic cleanup.  I actually kind of like the character of the not "perfect" cleaning and shine.  To me, it has that "I've been around the block once or twice and I'm still darn good!"  In other words, this razor isn't afraid to show its history because it knows it's still in the game.

Chris, that looks to be a fantastic cleanup.  I actually kind of like the character of the not "perfect" cleaning and shine.  To me, it has that "I've been around the block once or twice and I'm still darn good!"  In other words, this razor isn't afraid to show its history because it knows it's still in the game.

Personally, I agree with you. I mean...it's stamped "Invincible" on the face of the blade, and she absolutely is. The patina and veining let her show her age with pride...

This was one of those razors that was just begging to be put back to use. The edge was a little tricky at first, but we quickly worked it out. It had started to develop a slight frown at the toe some time ago, so the tip was not cooperating during the honing process. But once I realized what the problem was, it was easy to fix, and she took a flippin' BEAUTIFUL edge in no time at all. I just needed to make some adjustments and remove the frown. Once that was taken care of, it was quick and easy, and she shaved like an absolute dream. Super clean and ridiculously smooth...

I, too, like the war scars on it - gives it some real character. Obtaining a bellied-hollow of some type is on my wish list. Not sure how different they feel, but I've read real good things about them. Your experience with this one reinforces this idea.