My Favorite Shaver

I got this little Dubl Duck from floridaboy last week. It cleaned up well, and it's the best shaver I own. (I have another on the way from him; he says it's in even better shape.)

I thought I'd post a photo because I decided to use gun bluing on the tang for some reason. The razor originally had gold plating there, which over time got nasty and orange-looking. I used electrical tape to give a clean line on the razor's spine. It came out pretty well--at least to my eye. :)

I'm thinking my next full restoration will be a razor with white scales and a gun-blue blade. We'll call it the Black Widowmaker. :)

Josh

That looks really sharp. I never thought of using the tape to mark off areas. Was the blade attached to the scales when you blued it?

Just out of curiousity, what kind of bluing did you use?

Yep, the blade was attached when I blued it. I used a small paintbrush to apply the bluing. If the blade wasn't attached, I might try to dip it in a bath instead.

The brand was Birchwood Casey Perma Blue. I got it at Dick's Sporting Goods for about $5. :)

Josh

One of the razors that I am going to restore with my grandfather is a Dubl Duck Satinedge like yours that I got at an antique flee market for $10. The other is a Satin Wedge that I got for $5. They both need new scales and a good cleaning, but the blades are both in great condition with almost no honewear. If you consider yours to be one of your best shavers then I know that I am in for a treat when these are done. Pics to come :D

By the way, I REALLY like what you did with the gun-blue on the shank and tang of that razor. Where can I get some of that stuff and how is it used?

Does bluing the blade/shank/tang help to prevent rust or corrosion in any way?

While I'm a newbie to str8 blades. I'm definitely not a newbie for firearms. My hobby, besides this new one, is black powder rifles. In the beginning, like in the days of long rifles, Hawken Mountain rifles, etc. there was browning. It is actually a controlled form of rusting. However, once applied, it limited additional "natural" rusting a bit. The idea seemed to be if rust is inevitable, lets at least make it uniform and slow down the intense local rust. Bluing came later when someone changed the formula a bit.

As to your question: I would say that the bluing would tend to retard rusting a bit but no it would not stop rust. Ask anyone who carries a sidearm in a holster in a humid climate. Unless it's kept clean, dry, and occasionally oiled, it will rust.

Gads, ask a salt water sailor about corrosion and he'll talk your ear off. That is unless you've already chopped it off with a blade!!:roflmao

Thanks! I've been curious about that for weeks, waiting for the right time to ask!

Loochie, us junior members gotta stick together. We need this practice cuz someday we will be listed as senior members and someone might actually listen to us, poor sods. :gth

To use the bluing, you first need to make sure the steel is free of oil. The first time I tried this, I didn't do that, and the bluing ended up a little blotchy...

It helps to use 0000 steel wool on the part you want to blue; it seems to make the liquid penetrate more evenly or something.

The bluing is a clear liquid, almost like water. I use a brush to apply it to the steel, trying to get the entire surface wet. Sometimes the surface tension pulls the liquid away from certain spots, like the edges...

When the bluing hits the steel, it turns it black immediately. You just coat the surface, leave it on for a minute, then rinse it off with cool water. I clean the steel with steel wool between coats, and I do two or three coats. :)

This stuff should be available at any store that sells gun supplies. Heck, Walmart probably carries it in the hunting section.

Josh

Josh, You did a really good job no that blade, I do like that bleuing. The gold wash on those blades is about 14k. it dose turn an orange as they rust. that one looks really good know. HD, if you want I have a satin edge that the blade is trashed. the scales apear to be ok though. if you want it, send me a PM, and I'll send it to you.

Phil

Quote:

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Originally Posted by floridaboy

...if you want I have a satin edge that the blade is trashed. the scales apear to be ok though. if you want it, send me a PM, and I'll send it to you.

Phil

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Whoa...hold on.
If I recall the 'satin' version of the d.ducks are clear celluloid. Is the blade trashed due to rusting? If so, that might be due to the scales breaking down. Putting those scales on another blade might be more harm than good. The gases released from the degradation (I believe nitric acid, but I might be wrong) with rust/pit the metal, but the worse part is, it spreads on to surrounding blades.... I learned the hard way :(

C utz

Don't know. has heavy rust on the blade, at the scale, mmm. maybe this one is for the trash.

Phil

The blueing is mild acid as well. Just use it properly. Can you neutralize the stuff that gets around the piviot pin and hole?

I got my razor's twin from floridaboy today... This one included the original box and was in better shape overall. It took a FANTASTIC edge--can't wait to shave with it. :)

It got the blue tang treatment, too, as there was a little pitting on the tang that I wanted to conceal.

Thanks again, Phil!

Josh

Man, that blueing looks great...i'm gonna have to give it a try on one of my rebuilds.

-Pary

It loofks very nice I like the contrast that the gin blue gives.Paul

That definitely looks great :tu Raises a question - what shape does the steel need to be in to get a nice bluing effect? Does it have to be completely shiny, or can it have that black patina you see sometimes? Will the paint-on bluing blend and cover that up?

James.

I've been using the bluing over moderate staining and pitting to good effect. It helps disguise damage from rust. As long as the metal's clean, it doesn't seem to care whether there's damage or not. :)

Josh

Thanks Josh - happy days! I might just try that out :tu

James.

OK - tried it out on an old junker. I bought the bluing cream rather than the liquid. And I got a bottle of blue and rust remover to apply beforehand. Slightly disconcerting health warning on the back of the remover: "Contains chemicals that are known to the State of California to cause cancer and birth defects...". :eek: The cream just gets applied with a clean cloth. Otherwise, everything's done the same as Josh mentioned.

I did the whole blade. If people are interested I'll post a pic later today. Had to be careful with the entire blade to avoid splotchy-ness (which I didn't avoid on the first coat ;) ). Looks pretty good. One thing to note is that it ruined the edge (I guess because it's acid). Next time I might try taping along the edge...

Oh, and one other thing. I thought that a Wapi with nice blued scales would look great, so I tried the cream on the scales.... For some reason I thought the scales of the Wapi were just carbon steel, like the blade. Nope. Stainless I guess, because the bluing had absolutely no effect at all (although the heads of the pins are now a lovely metallic blue :D) .

James.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jimbo

"Contains chemicals that are known to the State of California to cause cancer and birth defects...". :eek:

James.

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Breathing, in SoCal, contains the same warning :p

I'd thought of trying the same thing with the Wapi scales... Now I know better. :)

I'd love to see pictures of your blade.

Josh

Sorry, the pics didn't come up as well as I'd hoped, but you can get the general idea from these. Need to clean up the scales today....


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James.

Josh,

All I can say is Damn! that's a good looking razor. Nice work. :bow