Thread: Is this razor Honable?

Hey Alex,

Shame to see the rust, the razor looks otherwise good; not to mention straight as a die.

There are two main methods of treating corrosion: Electrolysis and acid

Here's a method I've used very successfully on old planes and other tools, should be no less effective with a razor

You'll Need

-2 Tbsp of White Vinegar (30mL)
-1 Cup Warm Water (250mL)
-Shallow Container

Mix the warm water and vinegar in the container and put the blade in the container, set a timer for 2 hours and leave it. This should penetrate the deep rust and get rid of the surface rust (you can use #0000 steel wool to get the rest off in this case)
Allow it to dry, then spray and wipe thoroughly with a penetrating oil. I use camellia oil, which can be pricey unless you buy small amounts; but is extremely effective.
If you want to be even more thorough, you could ask a jeweller friend a favour and see if they could run it through their ultrasonic cleaner first, then go for the acid treatment.

My only concerns are the material of the scales reacting with the weak acid, but in most cases they would likely serve only to clean them and the pins too.

After you've done this, the advice of everyone else in this thread is nothing but relevant, grind until you find good metal, hone and strop.

Good Luck, whatever you choose to do! it'd be a shame for it to live the rest of it's life as an ornament like some would suggest!

Neillo:
So far the results of soaking razors in solutions have met with less then desirable outcomes... I would very highly recommend trying this on actual razors and posting a complete and detailed thread on it... If you search back through the "Workshop" you will find quite a few of these experiments...

Even the ones that work to take off the "rust" leave behind the pitting which is the actual problem,, Be very very very careful of doing anything the involves the scales of razors....

Thanks "Glen the Mod"

Originally Posted by gssixgun

Neillo:
So far the results of soaking razors in solutions have met with less then desirable outcomes... I would very highly recommend trying this on actual razors and posting a complete and detailed thread on it... If you search back through the "Workshop" you will find quite a few of these experiments...

Even the ones that work to take off the "rust" leave behind the pitting which is the actual problem,, Be very very very careful of doing anything the involves the scales of razors....

Thanks "Glen the Mod"

Thanks for your concern Glen,

The context of my solution however was one of a position of having very little to lose with this particular razor, and as I stated it's a method I've used for Western and Japanese tools designed to be as sharp as any straight razor.

What alex decides to to with his razor on the other hand, is completely his concern; my intention was only to help.

Thanks
-Neill

Any info's useful info. But for the honing practice, I think I'm better off with honing it out, but thanks for the input, always appreciated. I do have some junkers that I'll try your method out on though

@gssixgun: I just watched the vid with the recontouring of the heel and I don't want to do that right now because I'm using my pals new Nortons and don't have another coarse enough stone to do it with. Looking at the toe I think i'll have to recontour that as well though... something to look forward to

Edit: scratch that last part, remembered i had an extremely rough no brand 4k which I could probably pass itself off as a 1k or below, I'm probably over exaggerating but its rough, now I see what you mean about the heel being a point, I did the toe as well, now everything looks in proportion. I thought that was going to hold me up, but I'm back on track. I've got a feeling I'll need to do that a couple of times.

Originally Posted by Neillo

Thanks for your concern Glen,

The context of my solution however was one of a position of having very little to lose with this particular razor, and as I stated it's a method I've used for Western and Japanese tools designed to be as sharp as any straight razor.

What alex decides to to with his razor on the other hand, is completely his concern; my intention was only to help.

Thanks
-Neill

It's got nothing to do with the edge you intend to put onto the razor afterwords. A vinegar bath will result in black staining, so while it may help with one problem, it creates another one. It's much simpler to just deal with the one problem without making more. There is also the difference of how much steel you have to work with under whatever you are trying to get out. Putting some staining on a thicker piece of steel won't matter because you can do whatever you want to get it off. But on a razor, especially a full hollow, it's a whole other ballgame.

I believe that was Glen's point - we are not talking about old planes and other tools, we are talking about straight razors.

For surface rust or light staining (not really nasty Devil's spit), I like MAAS. A single edge scraper will take off any rust above the surface, and then I use synthetic steel wool (the 000) and MAAS to get off any remaining rust and light staining. If you keep the pressure light, it won't leave anything more than very faint scratches. Yes, this too will leave the pitting behind, but without creating any new problems.