Thread: To Unpin or Not to Unpin, That is My Question

Originally Posted by PaulFLUS

If there is no rust between the scales and you could not tell when done whether they were unpinned or not then leave them. On the other hand, the pins themselves are not really the thing that's usually best left intact, it's the collars. If you can unpin without losing or damaging them or, as in my case, have them soaking in a shot glass and have the wife toss them down the sink, then repinning using the same collars is a non-issue. That is of course if you are proficient at pinning.

If crud under the scales is what you are concerned about you can use dental floss and 3M Marine to clean around the pivot. I also use a fingernail brush and plain old soap and water to clean in between the scales.

I have had very little luck saving collars, but I'm going to look through all of the pinned posts and see if there are better methods than I've been using so far.

Thanks!

Well when I say collars largely what I am referring to are the dome collars or beehive collars. The small ring collars often can't be saved. I still try to save them if I can but I'd rather replace.them.with ones that will look nice than reuse ones that are damaged. A big portion of it is removing them surgically rather than grinding them down to the scale but often even then they have been squashed or split during the pinning process.

The dome, beehive and other ornamental ones I always try to save.

Saving the collars takes practice. This is why you should start with junkers or razors that you don't care if you destroy the collars or scales. As unpinning can be tough to do cleanly. I use a drill press and centering bits. A device to hold scales, magnification, and a bright light. But that's what I need to do the job. Not everyone has to go that far. I try and reuse all collars. Even just the tiny cups as they can be saved and reused too.
Here is a tip for ya. Polish the collars before unpinning. This saves you a lot of work trying to hold the tiny little bastards for cleaning when they are loose.

Collars can be easily made at home and there should be threads about that on here. Also you can buy replacement collars, even fancy ones, on oboy.

Bob

Originally Posted by BobH

Collars can be easily made at home and there should be threads about that on here. Also you can buy replacement collars, even fancy ones, on oboy.

Bob

This has been my solution so far.

A large part of me thinks that all of the fuss of saving collars and stuff is a bit unnecessary, since I can buy very similar replacements online...

But another part of me is a big snob that wants as much of my razors as possible to be original parts.

I'm just figuring out the cost/benefit analysis of which part is worth listening to...

Originally Posted by skald

This has been my solution so far.

A large part of me thinks that all of the fuss of saving collars and stuff is a bit unnecessary, since I can buy very similar replacements online...

But another part of me is a big snob that wants as much of my razors as possible to be original parts.

I'm just figuring out the cost/benefit analysis of which part is worth listening to...

Consider that straight razors were just tools not even valuable enough to have serial numbers and made in the thousands if not millions. Being all original does not matter much. The only exceptions that I can think of is if you are buying NIB razors or a very rare specimen. In most cases I would not loose any sleep over the decision and do what is convenient.

Bob

Originally Posted by BobH

Consider that straight razors were just tools not even valuable enough to have serial numbers and made in the thousands if not millions. Being all original does not matter much. The only exceptions that I can think of is if you are buying NIB razors or a very rare specimen. In most cases I would not loose any sleep over the decision and do what is convenient.

Bob

This is totally accurate... But worthless object + time = priceless artifact.

Broken pot shards and bone fragments that were literally tossed in the fire are now invaluable lenses into ancient ways of life. Bills of lading that were used to wipe people's butts are now priceless sources of information.

So you're right - they're just things, but dealing with old things always has a more complicated set of choices.

I realize that a 100 or 200 year old razor isn't the Rosetta stone or the Gilgamesh tablets or anything, but they're still more valuable as artifacts than they were as manufactured items originally.

Then again, cleaning without unpinning is a giant pain in my ass, so there's also that...

XD

Originally Posted by Gasman

Saving the collars takes practice. This is why you should start with junkers or razors that you don't care if you destroy the collars or scales. As unpinning can be tough to do cleanly. I use a drill press and centering bits. A device to hold scales, magnification, and a bright light. But that's what I need to do the job. Not everyone has to go that far. I try and reuse all collars. Even just the tiny cups as they can be saved and reused too.
Here is a tip for ya. Polish the collars before unpinning. This saves you a lot of work trying to hold the tiny little bastards for cleaning when they are loose.

Can you post a picture of the device you use for holding them? This has been one of my biggest problems with restoration.

To date I've mostly ground off my pins and replaced the collars with domed washers I got from some fellow on Ebay (I don't remember who, but I think I got the name on this forum, so...)