Thread: My Newbie W&B Ghetto Restore - PICS!

Here is my first restore. Admittedly I have never done this before. Nor was I ever planning to do one. But this weekend I stumbled upon a few Sheffield straights [2] from Wade & Butcher & [1] from Joseph Rodgers & Sons.


1. Joseph & Rodgers 2. Wage & Butcher Spike 3. W&B Barbers Notch

They were pretty beat up but for $10 a pop I figured I could use them for something. In the car ride back home I was really growing fond of the two old W&B's specially the barbers notch. The more I thought about it the more I wanted to clean them up. Im on a tight budget at the moment so I didn't want to have to pay a lot to get them in nice working order. My thought was to de pin them and then clean the steel up as best I could.

So, I de pinned the two W&B's and started to go to town with the limited supplies I had. I started whacking away at it with 100 grit. And I got the barbers notch to this point...





That took about a little less than an hour to do. Then sadly, I made a BIG STUPID mistake... I broke the tip off the Barbers Notch!



Which really ****ed me off... I felt horrible. So, this morning I decided (with the help of some peeps in chat) to grind down the Barbers notch... I figured WTF? I already buggered it up...

Continued...

I then went out to the depot and to the auto parts store and picked up some more sand paper... 120/150/220/320/400/600/1000/1500/2000

Now I must confess / warn you I didn't take a whole lot of time. I think I spent a total of five hours. During that time I broke out the dremel and mandrel grinder. Went over most of the razors knocking out all the rust and as much pitting as I could. I also took off a lot of patina and such.

Then I proceeded with the grits. One thing I did was on each grit I used Flitz metal polish as a slurry - so to speak. I just added a few drops to the sand paper and went at it. I think this really helped cut faster.

So here is where I stand right now. I did the barbers notch all the way to 2k and the spike to 320 or 400 I dont honestly remember.















Considering this should have taken a week (to do properly) I am still pretty impressed with the outcome. I know I really should have spent more time on the different grits, but I really didnt want to make this a long drawn out ordeal - remember I wasn't planning on even doing this. Nor have I ever done it before.

So, considering the rush job... how did I do? Any comments would be appreciated.

Inspite of it all, I really commend you for rectifying situation gone bad. At least you didn't just leave it be. :beer:

Plans for scales?

I would double check the scales from the 1. Joseph Rodgers & Sons as I believe those to be real tortoise.

If they are not then they sure are the best imitation I have ever seen.

that or celluloid.

That head of the W&B is sure a nice save
and for a first the finish is really ok!

Thanks, for the kind words everyone, your posts inspire me.

I will try and restore one of the sets of scales from the W&B. The other is cracked at the pivot pin. I may however attempt to fix this. Again, I have no clue as to what I am doing. Hopefully, it all works out in the end.

How, can one tell if its real tortoise shell?

Originally Posted by myuserid

How, can one tell if its real tortoise shell?

First check and see if the scales are thin. Second use a needle, heat it up with a lighter and hit it somewhere on the inside. If it's celluloid it will burn right through. If you smell a weird burned hair smell it's definitely not celluloid since tortoise shell is keratin (hair. horn, nails...)

or rub the scales on a piece of cloth until it becomes warm. If the warmth brings out an odor of camphor or celluloid, it is an imitation.

Here's a link on a set of real tortoise I ended up restoring for the owner. They sure do look extremely similar to yours.

Like I said, if they are not they sure are the best imitation I have ever come across.

Thank you, they do look very much alike. Ill check them out this morning, and report back.

Going to start work on the scale repair for the W&B tomorrow... Didnt mess with the tortoise shell yet.