Thread: Preserving etching on this Razor

Pencil lead/ graphite, will remove rust.

Originally Posted by Kirasy

Sorry for my ignorance but do you mean try to scape it off with a pencil? Or is it some sort of procedure?

Yes. Someone brought it to my attention recently (I believe on this forum, so I cannot take credit for the idea) that graphite tends to be harder than iron oxide (rust) structures, but not hard enough to put major scratches in steel. (though it will scratch with enough force, which is why I recommend removing the rust on the etching PRIOR to doing the rest of the finish work.
I have done this on a few of my restorations with great success. I don't honestly think the number of the graphite really matters... but I've only used a #2 so that's the only one I can confidently recommend. It seems MrZ has had success with a #10H as well increasing my suspicion that the variance in pencil graphite grades in terms of hardness is all between the hardness of steel and rust.

I use the 10H because it is the hardest graphite pencil that I could find. I have never tried anything lower than an 8, so I dont know about softer. Learned the trick here (one example of the helpful tips shared here), and use it especially where tail pieces duck down between scales. I also use it around manufacturing marks and engravings.