Thread: Peening pins

How many times roughly can you tighten the blade within the scales by peening the pins before you may risk having to get the razor re-peened with new pins? I know that this is subjective but to those who have been doing this for many of years please chime in. Thank you.

I would guess indefinitely if they were pinned correctly in the first place

I think the bigger question would be why are they always coming loose. If they are well pinned in the first place they should be able to go for a very long time before needing any more peening. Is it a rescale?

Originally Posted by RezDog

I think the bigger question would be why are they always coming loose. If they are well pinned in the first place they should be able to go for a very long time before needing any more peening. Is it a rescale?

Totally stock Revisor; Boker; Dovo; and Ralf Aust. My PRC is holding up fine. I never put pressure on the scales and I always handle the blades alone without torque to the pivot points.

The more you open and close a razor the more the internal washers are going to rub against the scales and tang. Which in turn is going to wear down the washers, the scales and the tang causing the razor to get loose. Different materials wear faster than others, but even so I think it would take alot of opening and closing to really wear them down. Usually when I first pin a razor it might become loose afterwards until everything settles into place. I found that if there are scratches on the washers or scales they tend to wear pretty quick until the scratches are worn out and become smooth causing everything to slid easily over each other making the wear minimal and keeping everything tight for longer. That is why I try to make sure the inside of the scales are sanded smooth and the washers aren't scratched or damaged. Certain materials shrink or even swell with the humidity and heat causing pins to loosen or tighten. This is assuming the pins aren't bent or damaged to begin with.

So I am guessing that they are all new razors and have not been tightened since you have gotten them. Tightening them up is pretty simple and unless the hammer misses its mark or the pins are over tightened, it is not destructive to the pins. The peened end has a profile like a mushroom. As you curl the sides down the pin tightens down, so a circular tapping around the edge of the pin is what you are looking for. Very very light taps.

Most of the brand new razors I've bought I've had to tighten the pins after about 15 shaves; after that I haven't had to retighten them.
When I do a repin, I usually I'll open and close the razor about 50 times and then retighten the pins one last time.

Bear in mind they are probably nails instead of peened rod. They will only tighten from one side and I prefer to remove them and go traditional.

I have noticed when polishing pins on a buffer that a little heat build up can cause a bit of pin expansion requiring a few more taps for tightening - however, once pins are sufficiently tight it will take a lot of wear for them to feel loose again. A tip I learned from Glen is to tighten then hone and strop - then tighten again.

Originally Posted by UKRob

Bear in mind they are probably nails instead of peened rod. They will only tighten from one side and I prefer to remove them and go traditional.

To me that is very important to note on new production razors, that they use nail head pins and tighten only on one side. To me they look just plain ugly but it speeds assembly and helps keep costs down I assume.

Bob

Originally Posted by RezDog

So I am guessing that they are all new razors and have not been tightened since you have gotten them. Tightening them up is pretty simple and unless the hammer misses its mark or the pins are over tightened, it is not destructive to the pins. The peened end has a profile like a mushroom. As you curl the sides down the pin tightens down, so a circular tapping around the edge of the pin is what you are looking for. Very very light taps.

Well less than a year old for most.