Corrosion on a Puma

Greetings! This is my first post. I just found this forum from a link on a handgun forum. (Please don't hate me because of my hobbies!)

Anyway, I have a Puma razor that has some corrosion. It is kind of hard to see from this picture, but you can sort of see it around the word "Special" on the blade. Its not an antique or a family heirloom. I know it has not always been stored under the most ideal conditions, but I would like to restore it to its original condition, if possible. Am I being obsessive or is having a razor like this in pristine condition just a fantasy?

I did some searching, but haven't had much luck in locating an answer.

Here is a larger picture of my avatar taken with my cheapie digital cam. I can take better pictures if my wife ever decides to bring my Nikon back home from work!

Scott

http://i676.photobucket.com/albums/v...ultz/shave.jpg

Welcome to SRP. Here is a link to the restoring razors section of the SRP Wiki. IF it was mine I would try some mild polish such as Semichrome or Flitz on a paper towel. Nice razor you have there, from one handgun lover to another. :)

Thanks for the suggestion! All my guns are blue so I don't have any Flitz in the house, but I do have some Mother's Mag Polish I use on my car wheels. Can't hurt?

Scott

First off welcome to SRP and trust me there are tons of shooters here.....

The etching on the blade will come off there so be careful what you use,,,,

Anything that has abrasive can take those washes right off the blade, so no Simichrome, Flitz, Mother's, etc: etc:

MAAS is even questionable...

Now if the etch is unimportant then scrub away....
There is always a give and take when it comes to restoration, to take away rust/corrosion/age you must give up steel....

There is a little corrosion on the back side, so I will see what kind of luck I have with some of those cleaners before I tackle the front side.

And also like my guns, I buy them all to use and I will let my heirs worry about their value after they throw dirt on my face! But just out of curiosty, I know that a "pristine" razor will have the highest value, but what will effect the value more; having some corrosion on the blade with the etching intact or a pristine blade with no etching?

As long as it shaves well, that's really all I am concerned about.

Scott

Two different collectors are out there when it comes to razors...

Us who use them to shave so the steel is the only thing that matters :)

and those "other guys" :mace: who collect them for the handles (scales) and could careless about the steel....

With all due respect to Gssixgun, we've disagreed on this topic once before. :) Glen has forgot more than I know about restoration of straight razors. OTOH, I apparently know more about Semichrome. :shrug: Here is my mint, never seen a hone or a whisker Puma Friseur Freund #1. The first photo is as it was, the second with a gob of Semichrome and the third photo after vigorously wiping with a paper towel.

If it is gold wash or bluing the polish will take it off. I'd not use it on plated surfaces either although I'm not sure about that. It will never take an acid etching off unless maybe with a Dremel. Even then it would be the wheel rather than the media. A tumbler might take off an etching or lighten it up but not Semichrome or Flitz. At least not in the forty years I've been wiping the stuff on and off of pocket knives and razors. It not only polishes but leaves a rust resistant coating on the metal.

I didn't mean to start a fight!!

I really don't know what kind of etching it has or even how to tell. But seriously, should I even worry about the value of this razor? Of course the $64,000 question is it worth anything, even with a less-than-pristine blade?

Scott

No fight here, just a clarification. Like I said, Glen forgot more than I ever knew about razor restoration. As for the Puma, IMO you have a great shaver there. I don't know what it is worth in $$.

WOW Jimmy those Puma's stuck that stuff on/etched in there brother... Thanks for the clarification..

Thanks guys! I probably belong to 30 forums for my different hobbies (firearms, amateur radio, photography, model railroading) and for some reason, it never occurred to me to join a straight razor forum!

OK, I just ordered a tube of Simichrome polish from Amazon. It cost more to ship it than the cost of the product!

Now if you guys promise not to fight about it, I have just one more question (for now!) about my Puma. At the end of the scale (I learned a new word today!) on the side with the Puma emblem near the hinge pin, the numbers 4 8 1 are stamped into the material. What on earth does it mean?

Scott

I have the exact same razor as you and when I got it it had no gold on it however I used some cape cod polishing cloths and the razor came out looking like new and the etching wasn't touched. Its going to take a good amount of abrasive rubbing to dim the etching unless you use something really heavy duty like sand paper. I would start with the minimal and go up from there so the metal polish is the way to start but not auto stuff. As I recall the mag polish contains some other chemicals in it probably to dissolve brake dust.

I just got the same razor at an antique store a few weeks back.

That one you have there seems to be in very good condition. Mine, no so much. Nice find. You don't as often here anything about Puma 88's (versus their wider blade counterparts.)