Thread: The Foundation of Our Lives Built On Hollow Ground

I have never restored a razor before. Never really even thought about it until recently. Never sanded down a piece of steel. I have no experience making things shiny, or neat, or anything even close. Today all that changed.

I won an ERN Hollow Ground 11/16 off the bay and I received it over the weekend. Tonight was the first night I got to really sit down with it and give it a full assessment. I had stopped by the auto parts store and picked up a couple of sets of various grit sandpaper. As i sat there looking it over, I couldn't help but think about the life this razor must have had. It was severely rusted around the pivot. The scales, which weren't the originals, were broken. I could barely even make out where in Germany this ERN was born. So I grabbed the 100 grit and went to work. I discovered the pitting was about as bad as I thought, but that there was still good metal left underneath. I started to just go all out and get all the deep pits and imperfections out, but for some reason I didn't. I don't know if it was the fact that I'm new at this and didn't feel comfortable taking on such a daunting task, or if I felt like the blade deserved to be seen in its imperfect state. Like it had earned those pits and those scars. It just felt right. So I moved on to the 150 grit. Then the 220. All the way up to 2500, taking snapshots after each level. When I was finally finished, I looked back to the first photo. I couldn't believe I had actually done it!

Is it perfect? No. Not even close. But I didn't really go for perfection. I just wanted to give this new friend a good cleaning up. A new lease on life. A new start.

I still have to get new scales, which I will probably order this week. I am not a woodworker of any kind and I'm not looking to spend a fortune on a custom set. I'm thinking of a set of Ebony that are on the "Invisible Edge" website. The only problem is that I don't know If they will accommodate the 11/16 blade. Any suggestions or pointers are greatly appreciated. Below are a few progressive shots. Let me know what you guys think

The clean up

I have an old montgomery ward razor that still shows it's imperfections... It isn't beautiful, but I like it's personality too much to steal that away...
looks like a job well done.

Looking Good! The pics in the rough seem to indicate a slight bellied grind! Don't go too far! Seems like a bit of a frown, Honing will get it! Going to be nice! Good steel there!

I am glad you went with hand sanding! That is a really good way to learn and get ideas. Nothing wrong with fancy tools but the ideas usually come during the quiet moments!
Thank you!
~Richard

Thanks guys! I appreciate the encouraging words! I don't know. The blade seemed pretty straight to me. Maybe a weird angle or something? Anyone know where I can get a decent set of scales at a reasonable price? I didn't really find and that spoke to me on the vendor pages. Open to any suggestions!
Thanks
Tyler

Nothing wrong with leaving some pits, all a matter of taste. Some even leave the patina and just hone as is...

I have a blade with some serious pitting that I may do a "half" sanding job to keep all the lettering on the blade.

You would be surprised what just polish will do to fix up a blade. Pits and all....

Enjoy,
Jeff.

Originally Posted by tkpeebles

Thanks guys! I appreciate the encouraging words! I don't know. The blade seemed pretty straight to me. Maybe a weird angle or something? Anyone know where I can get a decent set of scales at a reasonable price? I didn't really find and that spoke to me on the vendor pages. Open to any suggestions!
Thanks
Tyler

Ya, lighting does strange tricks to distort objects.