Thread: Removed Black Rust from Henckels Razor...

Well, mostly. Some of you might recall the thread that went off-topic and I posted about this Henckels razor. I was originally told it had patina on it, but Glen pointed out that it was actually black rust. He also mentioned this was more difficult to remove than regular brown rust. I sure found that out today. I decided to go to work on the razor and remove it. Not an easy task. I sanded it for quite a while. There was some brown rust around the pivot at the tang, and that came off like a breeze. This black stuff was just a pain in the ass, however. I must have went over it 5 separate times. This is the end result after polishing with Mothers:



Still some spots here and there, but overall not too bad. The engraving on the tang is much easier to read now.

Here is how the razor looked before:



And it looked worse than that before, believe it or not. Mothers polish took off majority of it.

I love Whipped Dog, and will still buy products and recommend newbies to buy from him (heck I have 3 old Sheffields on the way to him now to get honed), but I personally will not be buying another sight unseen. My OCD personality just will not allow me to own razors with rust on them. I think the sight unseen deal is important for newbies to ensure they get a razor that will be shave ready, but don't necessarily need something pretty to look at, especially to learn on. Now that I know a little bit about what to look for, I will be sticking to buying from eBay (where I got my Wade and Butcher), Craigslist (where my new 3 ones are coming from, thank god for being able to search all of craigslist at once, lol), and the Classifieds here (have yet to take advantage of unfortunately). I like this razor better now that the rust has been removed. Well, as much as I could remove anyway.

i know the feeling im sitting here thinking if i wanna sand a blade or not with some black spots .. just got it in the mail and i see someone took paper to it already of a low grit so im trying to decide if i wanna start from 320 and go on up to fix what others have done .. bad thing on mine is they hit the patina with the paper and left the rust ...lol

Originally Posted by gooser

i know the feeling im sitting here thinking if i wanna sand a blade or not with some black spots .. just got it in the mail and i see someone took paper to it already of a low grit so im trying to decide if i wanna start from 320 and go on up to fix what others have done .. bad thing on mine is they hit the patina with the paper and left the rust ...lol

Well then, shame on them for not finishing the job! :P I'd go ahead and continue on.

The black spots that remain on mine are completely smooth, not pitting, but also no longer crusty... It's as if the steel is just discolored now. It really frustrates me that I can't take them completely away. Just know this may be the case for you as well if you do decide to continue on with the sanding.

Originally Posted by Chreees

Well then, shame on them for not finishing the job! :P I'd go ahead and continue on.

The black spots that remain on mine are completely smooth, not pitting, but also no longer crusty... It's as if the steel is just discolored now. It really frustrates me that I can't take them completely away. Just know this may be the case for you as well if you do decide to continue on with the sanding.

yep , i already planned on them being there ..lol.. they dont bother me as much as the sand marks ..lol... there faint but I notice them and thats all that matters ...lol

Originally Posted by gooser

yep , i already planned on them being there ..lol.. they dont bother me as much as the sand marks ..lol... there faint but I notice them and thats all that matters ...lol

AHHHHHHHHHHHHH! SO YOU'RE THE GUY WHO WON THAT! I gave up on it after it went past $80, lol. I'm EXTREMELY jealous of you right now, haha. I opted to spend a bit more and went with a 3 razors deal on Craigslist: 6/8 barber's notch Wade and Butcher, 6/8 barber's notch Greaves Sheaf Works, and 6/8 barber's notch Frederick Reynolds. After purchasing that lot, I couldn't justify going over $80 on this one.

But yeah, that should sand out rather nicely. It won't be perfect, but hey, it's old and it'll still look awesome. I'd definitely work on it. Be sure to post after pics!

EDIT: How bad is the tang? In the pics the seller posted, it looked like "Cutlery" under "J.M. Hall" may be near completely gone. I wondered if it was just black rust covering it or not.

Originally Posted by Chreees

AHHHHHHHHHHHHH! SO YOU'RE THE GUY WHO WON THAT! I gave up on it after it went past $80, lol. I'm EXTREMELY jealous of you right now, haha. I opted to spend a bit more and went with a 3 razors deal on Craigslist: 6/8 barber's notch Wade and Butcher, 6/8 barber's notch Greaves Sheaf Works, and 6/8 barber's notch Frederick Reynolds. After purchasing that lot, I couldn't justify going over $80 on this one.

But yeah, that should sand out rather nicely. It won't be perfect, but hey, it's old and it'll still look awesome. I'd definitely work on it. Be sure to post after pics!

EDIT: How bad is the tang? In the pics the seller posted, it looked like "Cutlery" under "J.M. Hall" may be near completely gone. I wondered if it was just black rust covering it or not.

believe it or not i put in my highest bid and thought it will go higher .. then i walked away and my phone said i won .. i was like yes and no , cause i wanted it but i didnt want it bad enough if you know what i mean .. i noticed the bid under me was only .50 less .. lol..

honestly i havent even done much to it yet other then i honed it ( needs a bit more) , shaved with it , and its sitting on the dresser ... i may clean it up later / or 2morrow .. ( it does have some nasty pitting on the tang/spine near the toe ) wire wheel nasty removal ..lol

Originally Posted by gooser

believe it or not i put in my highest bid and thought it will go higher .. then i walked away and my phone said i won .. i was like yes and no , cause i wanted it but i didnt want it bad enough if you know what i mean .. i noticed the bid under me was only .50 less .. lol..

honestly i havent even done much to it yet other then i honed it ( needs a bit more) , shaved with it , and its sitting on the dresser ... i may clean it up later / or 2morrow .. ( it does have some nasty pitting on the tang/spine near the toe ) wire wheel nasty removal ..lol

Well dang, maybe I'm glad I passed on it... I'm really OCD and that pitting would have probably bothered me a lot. I know what you mean about yes and no on auctions... I often find myself going too high and feeling like I shouldn't have, lol. Either way, you have what I feel like is a rather rare razor. You don't see them pop up near as often as other brands.

BTW .. i apologize for intruding on your thread !!
cutler is almost unreadable ... ill post it after i do whatever it is im gonna do to it in the show&tell...lol

I got some rust in the pivot in a razor i just purchased too. How did you sand in between the scales without taking them off?

Originally Posted by gooser

BTW .. i apologize for intruding on your thread !!
cutler is almost unreadable ... ill post it after i do whatever it is im gonna do to it in the show&tell...lol

Nah man, not intruding at all! I WANT folks to share their experiences with black rust as well.

That's a shame it's almost unreadable... I only know it's supposed to say "Cutlery" because of this thread here: http://straightrazorpalace.com/razor...n-salford.html Yep, I did research on the razor when I saw it pop up on eBay, lol. I found the info regarding the maker rather interesting.

EDIT: Err, "Cutler," not "Cutlery." Does yours say "Wigan" as well or no?

Originally Posted by sloppygator2013

I got some rust in the pivot in a razor i just purchased too. How did you sand in between the scales without taking them off?

I just folded the sandpaper and rubbed it down between the scales while moving the blade around to get it from all angles best as possible. Luckily I only had brown rust in this area, so it was rather easy to remove.