Thread: Howdy howdy!

All,
I've read through a lot of the posts here and a few of the chat logs. I've long been interested in straight razor shaving and took the plunge. I won ebay auction 270014610509.

I knew going into this that the razors would need refurbishing and I expect to be able to accomplish this myself thanks in large part to the information here and in sites linked to from here.

I wondered if any have tried parkerization to protect the metal that will not be in contact with either strop or hone.

I also wonder if any knowledgible, kind sole would be willing to look at the above auction and render an opinion.

Great site you've got here.

Cheers,
-Chris

I don't know what parkerization is, but if it sticks to the edge I'd warn against it. If it would only remain as residue, take an old toothbrush with some toothpaste to it followed by a rubbing alcohol swabbing and that should clean it all off. There are other approaches which work equally well.

Those look like good blades and I'd bet that they could both turn into nice shavers. After cleaning the metal you'll need to establish a good bevel. Peer down the edge as you hold it up to the light to see how straight it is. Convex (if even) is ok, even prefered by some, but concave is bad. The deapth of the bevel ^ should also be even along the edge and on both sides.

Good Luck!

X

parkarizations would not be good for razors...it works great on guns, but it does wear off...its a chemical reaction with the metal, and I would never want that to touch my face. Plus it would make the metal harder to degrees or get soap off of IMO

Parkerization is a pickling type process that roughens the surface so it holds oil better -- by itself it doesn't protect the metal. Once you re-honed the razor it should shave fine, but I'd be worried about the rough metal at the edge of the bevel scratching your face, and the rough texture would hold soap scum like nobody's business.

However, if you did the Wilson type treatment where you parkerize the surface then polymer-coat it you might have have something there -- this would give a smooth surface that is easy on the face and resists both corrosion and soap scum. It'll show spine wear pretty bad though, so you'd probably want to tape the spine.

Or just get a razor in stainless, which are readily available and a proven solution.

Thanks for the greetings and the comments.

Thanks also for putting an end to my musings about parkerizing.

As for the stainless, I've got two stainless knives that are very sharp but take forever to put an edge on. I actually got a kyocera ceramic knife and a de buyer mandoline for the kitchen so that I could avoid sharpining the stainless knives. I'm not sure what metal is in my kabar but it's easy to sharpen and just as easy to dull.

When I get the razors I'll be sure to post high-res pics before and after cleaning, polishing, sharpening.

I've only held a straight razor twice. Once was a stage prop and was about as sharp as the back of a butter kinfe. The other was full of nicks and was used to carefully cut cables for splicing.

You may be able to send it to Wilson or one of the gun refinish shops and get them to do a razor for you for a reasonable fee. I doubt you're going to get Dovo or TI to start shipping factory razors this way. If you do this you'd probably want to use a quarter or half-ground blade (full-hollow blades are probably too thin in the middle to survive).

Stainless's reputation is pretty overblown if you've got the right hones. The synthetic waterstones and diamond pastes will put an edge on stainless very quickly. Plus you don't use abuse a shaving razor like you would a knife, so even a "dull" razor is typically sharper than even a "razor-sharp" knife, so there's very little honing needed to get it back up to snuff.

Welcome to the SRP Chris. I really hope that razor used on cabling was made in Pakistan. Now get ready for some major acquisition disorders!