How do I fix scales messed up by peening?

[VeeDubb65]

I have a vintage razor off ebay, and the ad said that the blade was slightly loose, but could be tightened with gentle peening.

So, out comes the little ball hammer.

tap tap

still too loose

tap tap

almost there, but not quite

tap tap

just right, except now the end of the blade rubs the scales when opened/closed unless I carefully put a little sideways pressure to prevent it. Is there a simple way to fix this, or will I need to remove the pins and start over?

[onimaru55]

You could try some light taps on the offending sides pivot pin but pins may be bent or misaligned, scales or tang may be warped etc. etc..
Starting over can give you some answers.

[Maximilian]

Steve,

I encouter many razors that when dissasembled have no spacers. This could very well be the case with yours and that's why the scale is now rubbing tghtly against the pivot.
There could be many other variables and just like our friend from down under just said pins are probably bent or misaligned.
At least if you decide to remove the scales and re-peen them you could easily clean the blade's tang and pivot side.

[VeeDubb65]

Yeah, I think I'm going to go ahead an remove the scales and repin everything. The scales are celluloid with a really nice ivory finish and silver caps. They're not fancy, but they look 'just right' on that blade, and I like the way they feel in my hand.

I had to remove some light rust from the tip of the back and buff out a number of stains with a little polishing compound and my dremel. Taking it all apart WOULD allow me to clean the shank/tank much better, polish the whole thing to a high gloss, and maybe file in some jimps, which is the one thing the razor seems to be lacking.

Also, the razor does have a spacer, but is seems to be unusually thin.

I guess I've got my project for this weekend.


Oh, where do I get new pins?

[gssixgun]

Just one quick thing before you go tearing the razor apart,

Hold the razor up in front of your face, closed with the tail pointing straight at yer nose, look at the pivot end and see if the scales are straight....

If one side is higher than the other, that's the problem.....
Sometimes you can spot other problems here also, like a bent pin, badly drilled holes, an uneven tang... Oh yeah!!!! you didn't really think these were all ground perfectly straight did you????

[VeeDubb65]

Oh yeah!!!! you didn't really think these were all ground perfectly straight did you????

lol, no I didn't. I'll take a closer look when I get home, but when I pulled the razor out of the box it was shipped in, it opened and closed smoothly, just a tiny bit too loose. (I really was gentle with my tapping)

Also, before doing anything, in fact only a few minutes before trying to tighten the pin, I sighted down the razor, and the best of my ability to tell, this one was ground just about perfectly.

[onimaru55]

One other thing that comes to mind - adding a couple of brass thrust washers to the pivot may give the blade a bit of 'breathing space' but a sweet pivot is nice bonus even if it doesn't help the original prob.
The extra wide brass # 0's from microfasteners work.

1/16 brass rod from most hobby stores.

[VeeDubb65]

I'll probably just order a set of dovo replacement pins from classic shaving. The come with the little spacer washers, and as a bonus, they are silver which will match the caps on the scales, cs the brass colored ones that are on it now.

I should have plenty of time to do that if I'll be filing jimps and polishing the whole blade.

[smythe]

When you finish cleaning up and about to re-pin… assemble the razor, but don’t start tapping just yet… with your fingers, squeeze the scales at the pivot area so the blade is nice and tight, and check for alignment, this will give you a good idea if the blade will center properly before you even start pinning. If it centers then you may not have any other problems with the blade or scales.

[onimaru55]

A layer of insulating tape over the scales and pins before pin removal saves on errant scratches too.