Thread: Rainbow reflection?

My new Puma just arrived and, aside from it having more honewear than I'd expected, there are two areas- one on either side of the blade- where there's a rainbow-coloured arc reflected across the blade. There's nothing on the surface itself to cause this that I can tell. Anybody have any ideas? Considering I also opened my finger up on this baby about 20 minutes after its arrival, I'm hoping the problem isn't anything that renders it it useless. I'll let you guys respond while I ponder going for stitches...

Originally Posted by Sweeney Todd

Anybody have any ideas?

Apologies in advance, but http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083366/

One of my razors has this. It's an old razor and if I turn it the right way it has a rainbow type look too it. I'm assuming it's a little bit of surface tarnish and I actually kind of like it.

-----Michael

Unfortunately it could mean that the razor has been fired (burned by fire) and will not shave under those circumstances.

X

That's exactly what I first thought of, X. Is it safe to assume the only way to know for certain is wait and see how it hones up?

Having experienced this once, I could probably tell for certain just by looking at it. If the stain comes off with metal polish, that's another sign that it's been fired. If it has been distempered, when you hone it the edge just won't take, it'll only round off at the end of the bevel. The good news is it shouldn't affect your hone at all.

X

There are a few possibilities, cetainly heat could be the culprit but usually you do get a rainbow effect but it's more of a blue-red cast in spots which is pretty strong not subtle at all, it could also be a patina that has formed on the metal and possibly someone put some wierd coating on the razor that has hardened causing this.

Of course the last thing could be the dreaded rainbow virus from South America which if it cuts you causes a slow lingering death marked by unimaginable pain with symptoms starting about a week after infection-Just Kidding.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

Of course the last thing could be the dreaded rainbow virus from South America which if it cuts you causes a slow lingering death marked by unimaginable pain with symptoms starting about a week after infection-Just Kidding.

Slow, lingering death, huh? Can't be worse than working...

This morning our office health and safety guy came in to ask me if I wanted to try and come up with a better story for him to report than "Employee was cleaning a straight razor at his desk, when..." I told him that, because I am contracted and therefore not really an employee, he should abandon the filing of his report immediately and go on like nothing ever happened. I also declared my office The Free Republic of Funky Town and assured him his corporate regulations did not apply here. I'm a bit curious to see how this all plays out when head office gets the report. No one said a word when they realised the wall behind my office cork board was crumbling because my assistant and I were hurling knives into it during our creative meetings.

Originally Posted by xman

Having experienced this once, I could probably tell for certain just by looking at it. If the stain comes off with metal polish, that's another sign that it's been fired. If it has been distempered, when you hone it the edge just won't take, it'll only round off at the end of the bevel. The good news is it shouldn't affect your hone at all.

X

The stain definitely isn't about to come off just by polishing. I'd already given it a good cleaning and it remained unchanged. If I can get it to show up in a pic, then I'll post that here for you to take a look at. It definitely hadn't shown in the seller's picture.

Well, I couldn't get a pic that reflected the rainbow, but I did manage to get it off with some 1500 grit sandpaper. While sanding I noticed the rainbow glow, in more subtle form, showing up on the shank, too. If the blade had been fired that close to the scales, it would stand to reason that the scales would be damaged, too. Possibly just a by-product of something someone used to treat, preserve or clean the blade.

Originally Posted by Sweeney Todd

Slow, lingering death, huh? Can't be worse than working...

This morning our office health and safety guy came in to ask me if I wanted to try and come up with a better story for him to report than "Employee was cleaning a straight razor at his desk, when..." I told him that, because I am contracted and therefore not really an employee, he should abandon the filing of his report immediately and go on like nothing ever happened. I also declared my office The Free Republic of Funky Town and assured him his corporate regulations did not apply here. I'm a bit curious to see how this all plays out when head office gets the report. No one said a word when they realised the wall behind my office cork board was crumbling because my assistant and I were hurling knives into it during our creative meetings.



The stain definitely isn't about to come off just by polishing. I'd already given it a good cleaning and it remained unchanged. If I can get it to show up in a pic, then I'll post that here for you to take a look at. It definitely hadn't shown in the seller's picture.

Consider declaring every Tuesday to be "Tequila Tuesday". Have a Tequila keg tapped and break out a pinata and a stick. The suits will just love it.