Thread: 5/32 pins

How common are pins of 5/32? I just unpinned a French razor with them:



It looks like it has a washer but it really was just a large peened head.


Also, the blade has a wavy pattern in the metal:

can't say I have seen any yet Mate,
but that looks like a Damascus blade, hows the rest of the str8 look is it one of those replaceable screwed in blade set up?
hopefully will show up more when done

Originally Posted by Hart

How common are pins of 5/32? I just unpinned a French razor with them:
It looks like it has a washer but it really was just a large peened head....snip...
Also, the blade has a wavy pattern in the metal:

The wavy pattern I have seen on a lot of LeCoultre's. 5/64ths I have seen and used on some razor renewals, 5 32 / 0.16" I have not so far.
~Richard

Texas knife supply carries 5/32 rod for pinning.

http://www.texasknife.com/vcom/produ...oducts_id=1779

5/32nds is fairly common for old razors like these - you find that size in the centre of the big, ornate bosses of some very early razors too, sometimes brass, sometimes copper, sometimes plain iron. I repair a lot of real oldies, and have got pins in steps from just under 1/16th to just over 5/32nds - all have seen use. For very uncommon odd sizes, a larger pin turned down in the chuck of a drill is a quick and dirty fix.

With regard to that pattern in the steel of the blade, it is as Substance says - a sign of damascus patterning, ie folded and hammer-welded steel.

Geezer pointed out the Jacques le Coultre razors - his family were primarily watch and clock makers, and Jacques himself gave up razor making to concentrate on the other side of the business - Jaeger-Le Coultre watches spring to mind! Springs - that was the reason behind the lines in Jacques le Coultre razors - the early ones were made by hammer-welding watch springs together - they are quite thin, as we know.

You need a superior type of steel to make watch springs - the main reason Benjamin Huntsman rediscovered crucible steel (cast steel/acier fondue) was because he wanted a good steel to make his watch springs from. Prior to this, in the 1700s the best steel was said to be 'german steel' or 'venice steel', both types being the same - the steel was made in Germany and shipped either direct to its destination or via Venice. In the UK we used the cementation method, also called the 'English Method'.

None of these steels were good enough for watch springs, as they suffered from lack of consistency and purity. Watch makers may be said to have kick-started the modern methods of steel making in the quest for a high quality reliable steel - in fact an english watchmaker from London, one Benger Higgins, may have beaten Huntsman to it. In the 1740s Huntsman embarked on the quest for a finer steel - and found it.

Le Coultre, born 1781, carried on that tradition by making fine steel from his own watchsprings, describing the product "...Razors, manipulated from steel wire used for watch springs, and consequently of superior temper..."

From razors to pins to springs to steel-making - what a convoluted journey the comparatively innocuous can take us on....


Regards,
Neil

Originally Posted by Geezer

The wavy pattern I have seen on a lot of LeCoultre's. 5/64ths I have seen and used on some razor renewals, 5 32 / 0.16" I have not so far.
~Richard

LOL, yeah, I meant 5/64ths. Sorry for the confusion.

Here's the stamped side:



L. PELLERAY
PARIS
30

LE PERPLEX

Go to a hardware store.look for small brass cuphooks,they come in the size you need,just cut them down.

Originally Posted by pixelfixed

Go to a hardware store.look for small brass cuphooks,they come in the size you need,just cut them down.

They may also have brass brads and nails in that diameter 2mm is very close! I use a lot of the 1.6 Escutcheon pins and brads for pinning. Takes a little work but hey they are really cheap! File some of the top off the brad, and turn the top of the scutcheon pin in a Dremel chuck to the right diameter.
YMMV or not ?
~Richard

thats look very nice Hart
are you going to etch the blade or anything to bring out the pattern more or just polish it up?

Most all of those Framebacks are not Damascus,they are acid etched to mimic Damascus.
Some steel wool and metal polish and it is gone forever.