Old straight razor refurbishing

OHALLUM

OHALLUM

Joined
Jul 17, 2012
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I have an old ANTONI TADROSS straight razor model 225 with the box it came in. The box is in pretty bad shape. My question is whether or not I should polish it up and sharpen the blade since it has some rust and corrosion on it. It says it is made in Germany, and the price on the box is $4.50. The blade is fairly sharp, but not shaving sharp. It has an ivory handle on it.

The blade body has a rose pattern on it, but barely shows up. My concern is if I polish it, that the rose pattern may be removed. The razor belonged to my grandfather, and I can remember watching him shave with it when I was just a wee lad :rolleyes: (lots of years ago). Don't want to ruin it, but don't want it to deteriorate any further. Any advice would be appreciated.
 
Maybe could try something like Flitz polish to gently remove the active rust. That might be less likely to damage the design than steel wool.

Jordan
 
Actually, very fine steel wool is much less abrasive than Flitz or Simichrome polish, both of which use very fine (and very hard) aluminum oxide abrasive. If the pattern on the blade is already faint, I'd avoid the polishing pastes, which might scrub the rest of it away. Many folks use Flitz/Simichrome to remove undesirable/gaudy etches from new knife blades, so that should tell you something. The steel wool isn't as hard as hardened knife steel, so it won't harm it. But, aluminum oxide is MUCH harder, even though it's very fine. It polishes by removing steel from the blade.

WD-40 and fine steel wool (#0000) are a time-tested remedy for gently scrubbing rust from vintage blades. To start, just wet the blade with WD-40 first, and let it soak a bit. Then use a simple paper towel to wipe down the blade. Much of the surface rust might come off this way. When you've taken as much of it off as you can with that alone, if there's more left, some very gentle scrubbing with more WD-40 and the fine steel wool can take off more of the rust.
 
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if you want to learn more about the razor i have links to a straight razor forum posted on my website. you can post pictures there and i'm sure someone would be able to help you out. a couple of friend of mine that go by nun2sharp and shooter74743 can help you out too and i can put you in touch with either one of them.
 
Straight razors are the main focus in my knife hobby, I've restored a bunch. #0000 steel wool and an oil of some sort is good, but there are two main sides in the straight razor crowd. Some guys like to preserve them and others like to restore them. With sentimental razors I always tell people to start off by preserving them, remove active rust, treat the scales, and oil it. You can always go further, but you can never go back to original patina.

Figure out what you would like to do with this razor, display it, or use it. Post a picture up on here or in the Razor subforum here and we can determine how best to proceed to reach your goals. Also we can tell you what common mistakes many first time razor restorers do that can complicate things.

Antoni Tadross immigrated to brooklyn NY in 1890 and began importing goods by the early 1900's. He was not the maker, but thay have proven to b good shavers. He died at the age of 52 in 1917 and his wife began selling off his things to support their 8 children. So this helps narrow down a possible age of the razor.


-Xander
 
fast14riot, Thanks for the information about the razor. My interest is to preserve the knife, but to restore as much as possible without any irreparable damage to it for my own display purposes. I had forgotten that I had the razor, until today when my wife dug it out of some memorabilia storage she has. She noticed my interest in knives when my new Kershaw Tremor showed up yesterday, and offered to get a display case for all the old knives I have collected over the years. (Yeah, she's a keeper) I was about to get some flitz, but glad I did not after the information I got on here. I am thankful for all the information that is available on this forum. Again, thanks to all who commented on my question.
 
First thing is to remove any and all active rust. A copper penny work well to mechanically scrape the rust off without damaging the steel. I use small copper rod, brass works well also. Mineral oil will help stop any other rust spots you can't get. Edge chips and pitting can be a toss up as to whether or not it will be able to be sharened and used. You say the scales are ivory, has this been verified or do you know for sure? Bone was also a common handle material, as well as horn, but horn does not look like ivory. Bone looks similar, but has small differences.

If you have a buffer, a buffing wheel attachment for a hand drill or bench style, I would start off with white rouge on a loose wheel. This will shine it up and leave any patina marks and black spots. The black spots are not of concern for preservation, just keep it oiled and it will be fine. Depending on the scales (if real ivory or not) will depend on how you treat them.

Resist the urge to use a dremel on it. They have a nasty habbit of screwing up good razors, or worse by flinging the blade into your fingers. Even a dull razor is still very sharp. If you aren't comfortable with a buffer, the rouge can be used by hand with a soft cotton cloth, T-shirt works well.


I would love to see pictures of it and your progress!


-Xander
 
While doing some research today, The handles may not be ivory, just look like ivory. Some were made from turtle shell, and some are plastic. No mention of ivory in any I found listed on flea-bay. Will try to post some pictures when I get it cleaned up. Will try some before and after pictures if I can get the wife's camera to cooperate.
 
Yes, a sewn, cotton wheel with white or pink rouge applied in a drill attachment is the way to go with the least possible damage. These may be picked up at any hardware store, get two for this project. When the wheels turn black you'll need to clean them with a rake. A wire dog brush will work (before using it on the mut). ;) DM
 
Don't buff your razor with a buffing wheel! They were not finished this way when they were made. Unless you are adept at using a power buffer, you'll do more damage than good.
 
Bill, I did my early A.F. Bannister on my cotton buffing wheels loaded with rouge and it turned out fine. Then sharpened it up and used it. DM
 
Bill, I do most of my hard work restoring using buffers. I will go all they way own to black #80 emery compound. Yes it is delicate work, yes the buffer is a dangerous tool, but it is a very effective and common method.

To the OP, if you are not familiar with buffers, please do learn to use one before working a sharp object. They have a habbit of grabing things and flinging them at you at a high rate of speed.


-Xander
 
OHALLUM said:
While doing some research today, The handles may not be ivory, just look like ivory. Some were made from turtle shell, and some are plastic. No mention of ivory in any I found listed on flea-bay. Will try to post some pictures when I get it cleaned up. Will try some before and after pictures if I can get the wife's camera to cooperate.
Click to expand...

Ivory will have schrager lines
 
OHALLUM said:
While doing some research today, The handles may not be ivory, just look like ivory. Some were made from turtle shell, and some are plastic. No mention of ivory in any I found listed on flea-bay. Will try to post some pictures when I get it cleaned up. Will try some before and after pictures if I can get the wife's camera to cooperate.
Click to expand...

I have seen real ivory handled razors, and have worked on them. Bone is much more common than ivory and is easy to tell. It will have pores and a grain running very straigh along its length. Tortois shell is far less common than real ivory even. Typically they dyed horn to look like tortois shell. Celluloid is very common and can even look like ivory.

If you can get a picture up on here feel free to just email it to me and I will put it up here for you.

-Xander
 
Yes, the buffs can grab it and throw it but this happens not as often when using a cotton buff on a drill press. Here's my finished Bannister. DM
100_2319.jpg
 
Then a before photo. The handle is horn as was the material with many early razors. I wanted a 5/8'' and American made. They are not so expensive and worth restoring. This one now shaves like a dream. DM
100_2316.jpg
 
Nice looking razor! I do agree that a buffing wheel chucked in a drill press is a bit easier to use but will grab thing and fling them just the same. I lost a wedge I was getting ready to install last week because the buffer pitched it across the room.

To the OP, here is what can be done with some pretty bad razors...

The before:

2012-08-06095227.jpg


And after:

2012-08-07090644.jpg



If you look closely at the before photo, you notice the severe chipping, a chunk of edge missing in the middle, scales broken, just plain ol' ugly. Well this W.R. Case razor is now reported to be the smoothest shaving razor its new owner has used. All these nasty problems were addressed in a specific order to eliminate any unneeded work. Nothing done here requires specialized equipment, even hand tools can do this work, it just takes longer.


-Xander
 
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