Thread: Pivot pin tolerances

In my limited experience so far Ive owned half a dozen razors and Ive had to remove the scales on say 4 of them, they are all older blades and they all have oversize and out of round pivot holes to a greater or lesser degree, some of them are so bad I suspect they were hot punched or else they have seriously rusted away. With regards restoration I like to use a peened pin and retain as much of the original feel of the razor as possible but Im not happy about the fit achieved with a 1/16" pin through a 1/8" oval hole.

What is everybodys experience of this, do you just put it together and live with it or do you do something about it? I know some people are using threaded bushings and torx screws of the type used in knives, Im not so keen on this, particularly on a very old razor. I was thinking I could open the hole up so that its in the round fit a solid brass bush and drill a new pivot hole to match the pin but I am slightly reluctant to drill the tang on an old razor taking it away from original. I realise its not critical as it would be in a knife, the scales are for balance and blade cover, not a handle to lever against but I just like to know things fit nicely.

Id be interested to hear peoples thoughts on this, apologies if its already been discussed!

Some places (knife supplies on the web, some model-making shops - you will have to google) sell brass tube - you can get 1/8th tube that a 1/16th rod will fit into. Just cut a bit of tube the same width as the tang and insert it in the pivot hole before you re-pin.

Regards,
Neil.

+1 with Neil If the pivot hole is to large I sleeve it with the appropriate brass tube...
I have also heard of some of the guys using epoxy to fill the hole and re-drilling the 1/16 hole, but I have never tried it that way myself....

Thanks guys, I see this is all been addressed a thread or two down, not sure how I missed that