Thread: Hinge pin play

I'm doing a little restoration on a non xll

I'm going to repin it after I take it apart for cleaning.

The blade has a fair amount of play in it. Not side to side, but back and forward when closed, like the hole is a slot or much larger than the pin.

I have read where people suggest leaving it, but I'm a bit fussy. So what to do to take away that play?

You can do several things to cure that. You can fill the hole with Devcon epoxy metal and drill an appropriate hole once that has set up. You can drill out the hole, fit and peen some brass round stock in it and then drill. You can drill out the hole and fit it with a sleeve with the right size inside diameter opening. I am sure there are other options too.

Bob

Originally Posted by BobH

You can do several things to cure that. You can fill the hole with Devcon epoxy metal and drill an appropriate hole once that has set up. You can drill out the hole, fit and peen some brass round stock in it and then drill. You can drill out the hole and fit it with a sleeve with the right size inside diameter opening. I am sure there are other options too.

Bob

All of this will require you to dismantle the razor, at least from the pivot end so I hope that you have a little bit of skill in that regards. But Bob is correct, it is going to take some work on your part or you could send it off to be restored or live with it. If you are OCD like most of us here then that final option is not an option.

A lot of vintage str8s were made with a punched hole that was elongated
I think this is why most have a fair distance from the wedge to the end of the blade whe closed to allow for this.
But as Bob mentioned above if you can't live with it and have it apart already it can be reduced but not essential for its working

Thanks for the replies, I'll have to look at it when it's apart.

Why they would purposely make them this way defeats me. Does the play serve any useful purpose at all??

I've asked similar questions before about old vintage razors like W&Bs. Many tend to have a pivot hole that appears too large for a normal pivot pin. An amount of play in the blade because of a big pivot hole would drive me mad. I'd clean up around the hole, pour casting resin or epoxy inside and once hardened, smooth it down flush with the tang then drill it the correct size. Pretty straight forward.

Originally Posted by nonick

Thanks for the replies, I'll have to look at it when it's apart.

Why they would purposely make them this way defeats me. Does the play serve any useful purpose at all??

As Substance says in post #4 they punched the holes back then not drilled them. No the play does not serve any useful purpose that I can see. It is just a result of the method used to make the holes.

Bob

The brass tube sleeve fix has always been my favorite.

So metal putty is good how about a standard two part epoxy resin like loctite epoxy? It's ok for sanding and drilling

Originally Posted by nonick

So metal putty is good how about a standard two part epoxy resin like loctite epoxy? It's ok for sanding and drilling

Anything that you can drill should work fine. I've done this before too. The slop would drive me nuts.