My first razor arrived today: surface rust

Hello, I took a gamble with my first razor. I bought it on ebay. The purchase was actually a set. The set included a DOVO Bismarck 6/8 with a bone handle, a Dovo XL strop, and a Norton 4/8K water stone. I paid 200 (expecting everything to be in mint condition) Everything looks brand new, and probably is, but there is one little problem....

The add said the the razor and strop had been used once, and the hone had never been used. This all looks true and the razor has clearly never been honed (it is as dull as the day it left the factory). But the razor has some visible surface rust on the tang (near the pin), and very slight pitting on the blade's surface.

This is what I guess happened; the guy bought the razor, tried to shave with a never honed blade, got frustrated, stored it away with a bit of moisture on it, the blade sat there for a few months and developed some surface rust. So this is basically a brand new blade that had been allowed to deteriorate due to poor care.

My questions are: Is a little bit of pitting a big deal? Will this likely spread all over and further deteriorate the blade? Should I just try to get my money back? Is it worth just shaving with it, and making sure it doesnt spread, and getting it refinished down the road? Basically, I have no idea how common this is, or how big of a deal this should be to me. (keeping in mind the price I paid for it)

Any replies would be much appreciated. Thanks.

Tristan

Just to clarify. You def. cannot get this set for cheaper on classic shaving or straight razor designs. The razor itself is 176.99 on classic shaving (they don't have this specific razor on straight razor designs (oh and that price does include sharpening)), the strop is 64.99, and the hone is 75. So, I don't agree with the last post.

But I do think you are right that I should try to return it.

If the pitting isn't deep,and will mostly polish out, I'd clean the blade and send it to a specialist to get it properly honed to 'shave ready' condition and start using it. If you bought the gear new it would cost more and anyway, nothing much stays perfect forever.

You can just get some 800 grit sandpaper and sand off the rust. Might even be able to get to it with a scotch pad. Its on the tang, so its not exactly that important as long as you remove the active oxidation.

If the rust was not mentioned or shown in a photo, I would ask for a partial refund to defray the cost of correcting it.

If you were able to post a photo of the razor's blade that would be helpful. From your description it doesn't sound too bad to me. As long as the pitting is not in the area of the edge. If it is in the edge and is deep enough when you hone it will just keep leaving areas of micro chipping. Other then that I would probably keep it. Rust in the tang area isn't a major issue with me.

use maas and see it cleans up.If you think it is a good deal try to keep it.Rust close to pin is not a big deal.As you said blade actually doesn't have rust has pitting .Maas will take care of pitting and you will loose your 5 minutes time.:gl:

Thanks so much for all of the great ideas. Where do I get this MAAS cream? Home Depot only carries Brasso, and I hear MAAS works way better.

Thanks again

Maas, Flitz, Simichrome, Neverdull, all good brands.

I would say once you change anything with it you cannot expect a refund, even if you make the razor better. I think this is fair to both parties.
If the item wasn't as described you should get a satisfactory resolution with the seller.

As long as there isn't deep rust at the edge I would keep it. The only reliable way to get a pristine blade is to pay the cost of new one. On ebay unless the item is described as new I wouldn't expect it to be excellent cosmetically, even though it can happen. The black rust doesn't spread by itself if the razor is dried and stored properly.

Your theory seems good to me - the razor probably has just one shave on it but wasn't stored too well. In any case I'd give the seller the benefit of doubt on this one as there's no strong evidence to support the contrary. If the seller described the cosmetic condition wrongly I would talk with them about it and either return it for a full refund, keep it for a partial, or if I feel it's worth the price I paid I'll just keep it but still tell the seller his description was incorrect.
I think you should decide how much this is worth to you and if less than $200 you ask the seller for partial refund or send it back for full.

Until you can get some MAAS or similar, try a little lemon juice mixed with bicarb (for cooking - bicarbonate of soda) worked into a paste and rub this into the rust on the tang at the pivot, perhaps with a Q-Tip. It wont add any marks but it will get rid off the superficial rust staining, giving you a better idea of what - if anything - needs to be done next.

Regards,
Neil

Thanks everyone for the great ideas!

I Think I am going to ship it off to have it professionally sharpened and have the pro take a look at the rust while it is there anyway. Then probably just use the Maas cream (which I plan on tracking down this weekend) to touch it up. The amount of rust on the blade is really nothing to right home about, so I am just going to deal with it and tell the seller that I am a little dissapointed but want to keep the razor (and maybe he can cover the cost of the cream or if the pro will fix it, the price of getting it professionally done).

Anyway, thanks again for all your help. I will be sure to post again after my first shave / attempt. I just want to shave already, it is hard to wait for all this sharpening and such. But it wont be long now!:w

Tristan

Tristan, I bought Maas at an antique store. Most carry wood and metal refinishing products, at least the bigger shops. I have also used Moms chrome cleaner that I picked up at a car parts store.

Ace Hardware carries Maas. good luck!

sounds like a plan. i would probably do the maas treatment before honing as it's dangerous for the edge. you can of course be very careful to not get close to it, but it's always safer to do it the other way around.

Simichrome applied to the blade and worked with the fingers, then allowed to dry, then buffed off with a cloth should remove 99.9% of the rust. Polished steel is more difficult to rust than rough. Careful of the edge. It may not be shaving sharp, but will still cut skin...

Got my MAAS at walgreens. Good luck with your razor!

never-dull works great too you can get it at walmart or autozone