Thread: Rust during storage

I got this razor in for edge repair which was stored for 4 months.

The rust & pitting didn't make sense as I know the owner doesn't wet his razor during the shave , just wipes dry.
I also know he uses a quality WD oil.

Turns out he regularly checked to see that it was well oiled by running his fingers on the body of the blade & tested it by shaving arm hair on occasion, never cleaning off & re oiling.

A trap for young players especially those with acidic skin chemistry.

Keep your razors rost frei

Oz your high magnification photos are too much of a good thing for proper perspective IMHO. How about a normal shot of the blade ? Good advice though for everyone.

What is normal Jimmy ? You mean no magnification at all ? These are a couple just using the iPhone. You can see a couple of pits in the edge but the toe damage is not obvious at all.
There was staining on the body of the blade that was apparent but I check all blades with a simple 8x loupe pre honing. The scope is just a way to for me to take pictures.

Originally Posted by onimaru55

What is normal Jimmy ?

Oz, you and Me are the only people 'normal' on this forum, and sometimes I'm not sure about you ! ...........

Forgive me, couldn't resist ...... those photos are what I wanted for perspective as to what that blade looked like without the magnification. Looking at the cell phone pix I wouldn't think there was anything to concern me about the blade. Veddy interesting !

Now the next question is, if we subjected every blade to high magnification what would the result be?

Wow that sure looks a lot like mic

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

Now the next question is, if we subjected every blade to high magnification what would the result be?

Like I told Sham, the higher the magnification, the worse my honing gets ........

Wow, I will make sure from now on to keep a light coating of oil on my blade.

Depending on the acid, oil is no protection, ie cell rotting scales will still corrode a blade but in everyday use carbon steel benefits from being oiled.

Mic is also a concern, microbiologically induced corrosion. It affects both carbon and stainless steels. Most common morphology is pits within pits, called tubercules, which look exactly like the damage shown in the first post. I see it a lot in process equipment where untreated water is used. Bacteria literally eat iron, silicon, carbon, and many other alloying elements, leaving behind a weak sponge that crumbles under stress. Only way to avoid it is to kill the microbes before they have a chance to start.

In the case of a shaving razor the bacteria mostly come from our skin. That's why it's important to thoroughly rinse, dry & oil the razor before putting it away. Even if all you did was test it on a few arm hairs, still need to rinse, dry & oil it.

Edit: 400 series stainless isn't quite as susceptible as carbon steel, but it's still a concern. The extra nickel helps protect it some. Same with alloys that sport a lot of chromium.