Thread: Dealing with heavy rust?

I started working on my second razor.

Here's how I got it:



Unpinned (and I didn't break the scales this time):


After some heavy 400 grit sanding:




It looks like the rust has damage the steel. Any recommendation on how to proceed?

Clean it up the best you can.
Go to 600grt. , then 1000, from there you can polish it out. You'll be left with some pits and black rust, but as long as you can get a clean edge, you'll be good to go.

I would set the bevel before going any further. That is quite a bit of rust at the edge. Once the bevel is set and you are certain you are going to get a shaver out of it then you can get the black out of the pits with steel wool and a lot of elbow grease, see if you can reduce the pits with more sanding or put it in a set of scales and be happy with it there.

Originally Posted by RezDog

I would set the bevel before going any further. That is quite a bit of rust at the edge. Once the bevel is set and you are certain you are going to get a shaver out of it then you can get the black out of the pits with steel wool and a lot of elbow grease, see if you can reduce the pits with more sanding or put it in a set of scales and be happy with it there.

haha I didn't know the elbow grease idiom and I thought there was a magical product

Rez has a good point. There is no sense in spending a lot of time and effort on a blade only to find out the metal will not hold an edge.

Originally Posted by rolodave

Rez has a good point. There is no sense in spending a lot of time and effort on a blade only to find out the metal will not hold an edge.

I understand that but my issue is that I didn't get into honing to be able to answer that myself.
For now, I will do a second cleaning today, focusing on the blade, see where that takes me.

why do you guys think of trying something like Evapo-Rust?

Some people use, some love it, most don't find it saves any time. There is something that you can mix up using molasses that is suppose to be pretty good, but I don't use any of that. Just the old fashioned idiom and some basic supplies. LOL

Never used it, have used navel jelly with nominal results.
Still left with black rust in the deepest pits. Have also used muratic and hydrochloric acids, but ya need to understand how it works before putting it to a blade, cause it works pretty darn fast, and can easily etch the blade, or turn it black.

I use EvapoRust all the time, especially in applications like yours, where you may leave some pitting, by choice.

What it will do in the pits, is stop the rusting chemically, it will not remove the pitting but, stop the process and protect the steel. Depending on the level of rust it can work in a little as an hour or leave over night without any damage to the steel. Do not throw it away when finished, you can continue to reuse it. I keep a water bottle filled, it is a perfect container to hold a straight razor blade, just mark the bottle and keep the lid on tight.

Years ago, a good friend of mine who is an engineer, where English was not his first language, got his first job as a licensed Engineer, after graduating from the University, in a sugar refinery in Ecuador. The mill was run by an American, who had tasked him with a job of restoring a large piece of neglected equipment and told him, it was going to require, a lot of “Elbow Grease”.

Wanting to impress his first boss, he just nodded his head in agreement. He promptly phoned their supplier and ordered a 55-gallon drum, of Elbow Grease along with his other needed supplies.

Later after the task was completed, he told his boss the story and how the supplier laughed for a good minute on the phone. He said that relating that story, cemented a great working relationship with the boss, and was the start of a long and interesting career as an engineer. He is today, one of the world’s leading experts in water purification.

You will, have to decide how much pitting you can live with, or steel removal the razor can take. You will remove as much steel as the deepest pit, on both sides.

Yes, as advised, do make sure the blade will hold an edge, before you invest many hours in restoration, only to find you have a nice letter opener.

Are those horn scales, if so, they can be saved with some CA glue and a bit of sanding.