The Making of a MINTY W&B Meatchopper.

[gnomore]

So to etch a blade exactly what is used??? Acid???

Or is it just dye?

If someone could explain this process a bit I would really appreciate it. When I start to restore razors it would be nice to try and do a 100 percent restore

[SharkHat]

That looks awesome Vlad! I should have a W&B waiting for me in my mailbox when I get home from work tonight, and I'm looking forward to seeing if I can get it cleaned up to look even a fraction as good as that.

[gglockner]

Vlad, the etching is just awesome! You are really raising the bar around here.

Glen

[vladsch]

So to etch a blade exactly what is used??? Acid???

Or is it just dye?

If someone could explain this process a bit I would really appreciate it. When I start to restore razors it would be nice to try and do a 100 percent restore

It is nice sentiment but you will have to invest a lot into equipment and a lot of time learning the process. I would suggest starting with just restoring the blade. It is the cheapest and the most demanding part. If you can get through that then you can consider going the extra mile. Etching won't help a poorly restored blade anyhow.

And don't harbor any ideas about making money on this stuff. You would be lucky to make minimum wage for all your risk and effort. Bill said on his CD and I can confirm it.

If you are still curious then here goes:

The etching is really electro-etching. Uses a low voltage powersupply, etching pad, etching template and etching electrolyte. The etching template lets you selectively etch the metal.

So you will need to not only get equiped for the etching but also for making good quality etching templates. This means: etching template material, high output, parallel beam UV light source, vaccuum easel, and heated developer solution tank.

Then you will also need to be able to make fairly descent camera ready artwork that you will use to expose the etching template material with UV light.

You will also need to be able to make your own graphic designs from which the camera ready artwork is made. Don't think that the graphic design is a synch ether. The W&B fonts are old and hand made long before computers or electronic typesetting so it is not in any font library or clip art collection. You really have to make the whole thing from scratch in a graphic layout package.

You are really talking about being able to do 5 things: restore a razor, make your graphic design, make your own camera ready artwork, make your own etching templates and do metal etching.

You can buy some of these as a service but it would be prohibitevly expensive for razor restoration.

As far as an etching powersupply is concerned I built my own, since I like working with electronics. Hence, the pc board prototyping setup.

I was lucky because I used to work as a graphic artist and have the experience to make my own designs and artwork. I also built my own printed circuit board prototyping setup, which uses an etch resist that is the same as on the etching templates. So I already had everything I needed to make the templates except the material itself. Previous investment about $5,000 plus time to figure out what works and what doesn't.

So my only incremental investment was to buy the etching template material and the etching electrolyte. About $65 plus a whole bunch of experimentation to get it right.

Nenad was right when he said that I was nuts and it takes too much time. It just happens that I was nuts for a long time before getting into razor restoration and happened to have acquired the right skills and equipment to be able to get this job done for a small increment of time and money.

[Korndog]

I have not read any posts to this thread, but please let me say: Holy Shit!! That's my kind of razor.

[xman]

Yes, the original etching was sanded off. Once the pitting was gone most of the orginal etching was either gone or almost gone and shiny with very rounded edges looking like it was crudely restored. This time around I was aiming for a much higher mark and wanted a really MINTY blade.

I've never been a big fan of etching and such on the blade, but sweet mercy WELL DONE! Well done indeed.

X

[vladsch]

That looks awesome Vlad! I should have a W&B waiting for me in my mailbox when I get home from work tonight, and I'm looking forward to seeing if I can get it cleaned up to look even a fraction as good as that.

That is one of the reasons I decided to post pictures from start to finish.

I wanted to inspire others to restore their blades and sometimes all that is needed is for people to know that it is possible. However, don't be disappointed when your first attempts are less successful and take a lot longer than you thought or are willing to invest. When you get fed up of restoring then put the blade aside and come back when you feel like it again, otherwise you will ruin it.

I butchered a few blades before I even got to the point of what the blade looks like in the start of this restoration. So you might want to practice on a few blades before attacking a W&B. Find a worthless blade and restore it to a mirror finish for practice before tackling a good shaver. I have a nice and now ruined W&B Bow Razor because I attempted restoring it without having enough practice. It wasn't a total waste I use it for sanding pactice and etching practice, but wish I ruined another blade instead.

My first semi successful restoration when I was done with it looked like the starting picture of the W&B here and I gave up at this point thinking it was hopeless. Hell, it took a few hours just to get to that point.

Then after Bill Ellis' honest critique, I searched the forums and found Larry's (aka Korndog) detailed post on his restoration. It inspired me to try again. I kept a printed copy as I worked on my blade and kept refering to it for pointers and inspiration. The result was a mirror finish for the violin scaled razor. Oh, and about 10 hours of sanding by hand.

Now when this blade wound up looking familliar, the only decision I had to make was "Do I want to invest the effort". I already knew what was possible.

[vladsch]

I have not read any posts to this thread, but please let me say: Holy Shit!! That's my kind of razor.

Thanks, Larry.

BTW, it was your detailed Revisor restoration that inspired me to work harder the last time I restored a blade.

This one is just an extension of the previous work and hence also inspired by what you have done and shared in the past.

[SharkHat]

Thankfully I got the W&B bundled with another razor for a real steal. The Wostenholm looks a little thin to me (a 3/8 or 4/8), but I was primarily interested in the W&B. If I can either or both to the point that they can shave, I'll have my money's worth. Anything else is just bonus.

[Korndog]

Thanks, Larry.
BTW, it was your detailed Revisor restoration that inspired me to work harder the last time I restored a blade.
This one is just an extension of the previous work and hence also inspired by what you have done and shared in the past.

I'm honored by your words Vlad. The revisor thread was the best of what forums like these bring to our hobby. I was exhilerated by the member interaction and Bill's tutelage.