Thread: How can I get the "black steel" of my razor?

I shave with a str8 for over a year now, and theres nothing better. Im independent, and love the feeling of such virtuos materials as steel and wood. I bought an old razor in a vintage store a week ago in Lithuania, and it looks great, but has that black coating on it. I know its how it goes when its not used a long time, but I was hoping to shave with it one day. Are there any tips -mechanical, chemical ways of getting my razor to shine again? Its a ERN , WALD-GERMANY 20 razor if that is any tip of the type of steel they used.
Please help me out

Pictures?

.j,.,m.m,

Originally Posted by shaver55

I shave with a str8 for over a year now, and theres nothing better. Im independent, and love the feeling of such virtuos materials as steel and wood. I bought an old razor in a vintage store a week ago in Lithuania, and it looks great, but has that black coating on it. I know its how it goes when its not used a long time, but I was hoping to shave with it one day. Are there any tips -mechanical, chemical ways of getting my razor to shine again? Its a ERN , WALD-GERMANY 20 razor if that is any tip of the type of steel they used.
Please help me out

Must have pictures!!

well, I dont have my camera today, sorry, but I believe its quite a common thing to happen. How would you start with cleaning it? It doesnt have rust or any thing else than the color, witch is dark grey/black.

It's hard to tell without a better description or pictures. Black coating could be a lot of things; tarnish, oxidation, spotting, devil's spit. Each require different levels of abrasive to remove ranging from a metal polish (very light, polishing abrasive) to sanding or greaseless compounds (more aggressive). I would start by trying some maas on it and rubbing it down until an application of polish and cloth doesn't turn the cloth black. Then you know you've gone as far as you can with the polish. This is just a shot in the dark since I don't know what the "black coating" is without pictures.

I'd start with the least aggressive method and work toward more abrasives. Start with soap and water, then a mild solvent, then polish and then move on to abrasives and sanding. As mentioned, without pictures its tough to tell.

You can also take to a local jewelery store that you think is credible and ask them to identify what the discoloration is.

Any type of metal polish and a cotton cloth will work for starters & not hurt the blade. I have kept "patina" on blades deliberately. It doesn't hurt them a bit and actually makes it worth more to collectors and many of us shavers. That's why we ask for pictures, we can give you a valid diagnosis. Without it, we are only shooting in the dark...

Is the black all over the razor (including the blade part) or just the tang? Sometimes, as I understand it, there's something called a "Blue" tang (not sure if I got this right though), which is probably a black deposit that razor manufacturer's put on for aesthetic reasons...Hopefully, someone more experienced in this will chime in and speak more intelligently.

I have an Ern "RELIABLE" full hollow razor that had a bit of surface rust on it when it was given to me. I treated it with Evapo-Rust, an excellent rust removal product which I have used on many tools in my workshop. The razor came out of the bath rust-free, but it has a blotchy black look that just won't go away. I've tried removing it with some polish on a rag, but it won't budge.

I'm not sure why this is, but I'm wondering if there are some elements aside from iron and carbon in the steel. Perhaps this is "silver steel" or something like that. I'm hoping that the black layer will provide some rust protection. It sure made the razor butt-ugly!

Cheers,
Ian

Ill make a few pictures and show you all in a wile. Thanks though for all your answers, it makes me feel that razors are still alive, and not all can understand there individuality.