Thread: Straightening bent pin

I've seen your work, Josh, and I know you know how to peen a new pin. Is there any reason not to just do it? It's not unusual material is it, just brass?
I think it's the only way to fix it.

Originally Posted by Kyle76

the pins on both were bent. Has to be from retightening over the years. The scales seemed to line up fine, but I didn't take a real close look.

I too have found bent pins on about 20% of the razors i have pulled apart for re-scaling or cleaning etc. I would agree that it is from retightening but i also suspect some left the original workshop that way.

I am guessing it would depend on how experienced the pin fixer was or even how many he had done that day... you're bound to smack one or two too hard when you've got to work your way through a bucket of razors fresh from the grinding shop.

Greg Frazer

To DEwey's point, I could just repin them, but since they're otherwise in great shape, I'm thinking I'd like to just leave the original pins in. Right now my replacement stock is all brass, and the originals are nickel silver or something...

Greg, I agree with what you're saying. It just seemed odd that these Ducks were all messed up in the same way, especially given Pearlduck's reputation for quality control... The razors are otherwise marvels of quality.

I have seen this same kind of twisting on other razors, but it's really not very common. Maybe one in 10 razors, if I had to make up a number... Not common enough that I'd expect to see the same thing in three of the same model...

Anyway, it must be a coincidence. Of course, if enough of us started complaining about Ducks and lousy quality control, maybe eBay prices would come down enough that we could all grab some bargains.

Thanks, guys!

Josh

Well, just a quick update here... I had another member send me a Goldedge with the scales misaligned the same way--that's five out of six, I think. He'd asked me to repin it to alleviate several issues, so I drilled out pivot and tang-stopper pins.

The pivot pin was badly bent--it was almost twisted in the middle. The tang-stopper pin was likewise bent, although not as badly.

I repinned the razor with the Dovo replacement pins, since they better match the original left in the spacer end of the razor.

Wow--what a difference. You can really tell that the razor feels more solid, and it flips more nicely when you're stropping it. I've ordered some more Dovo pins from Classic Shaving and I'll be repinning my other two Ducks this weekend.

I still have no idea why this seems to be a particularly common problem on this model.

Thanks for the advice, guys!

Josh

My NOS Wonderedge was like this (and it really was NOS, not just "really good condition"). So at least some of them left the factory like this.

Out of curiousity - does anyone have any thoughts on why this occurs?

Certainly the factory has/had some qa/qc. I can't imagine a badly misaligned razor would leave the factory. Although mparker762 indicates that at least some did.

I was wondering if it were either:

a) initial assembly was too loose and to save money they let the boss's infant son whack on them to tighten them up.

b) the metal used for the original pins is/was substandard and normal assembly would warp them.

Josh, the pins that you've taken out. Are they softer than the pins you've replaced them with??

I don't think the original pins were any softer. If anything they were harder; they can be a bear to drill out. I'm out of theories.

Josh

When I stumbled over this thread, I was hoping there was a shortcut. No such luck, huh?
I often make the mistake of cutting the pin not short enough before I start peening. Then of course I get a little impatient, and hit it just a little too hard, which inevitably results in a bent pin. Oh well, eventually I'll learn it, hopefully, ...

Originally Posted by CatMan

I often make the mistake of cutting the pin not short enough before I start peening. Then of course I get a little impatient, and hit it just a little too hard, which inevitably results in a bent pin.

Welcome to my world, Klaus. I hated pinning when I first started replacing scales for that very reason. I was afraid to leave too little pin and not have enough to hold everything together. I have pair of wire cutters that I use to cut pins, and I have learned that I need to cut as close as they will allow and that many light taps are better than one hard tap.

I hated pinning for the same reason. I always ended up having to sand or file down one end of the pin to make it short enough... It's hard to come to grips with the fact that it's almost impossible to cut the pin too short. Almost. You really don't need much exposed rod to make a nice peen.

Josh