Thread: Sleeving or filling an oversized pivot hole

Sleeve is easy, cheap, effective and no mess

Originally Posted by gssixgun

I absolutely disagree here about just leaving it, and yes obviously if I am taking the razor apart to fix it I am a perfectionist.... Dave posted the links for you, the fix is so simple is is scary, in fact I probably could have done three in the time it took to do the math, just slip in a sleeve and be done with it, or do the epoxy thing, either works ... My personal preference is the sleeve but that doesn't really matter...

Originally Posted by Slartibartfast

Sleeve is easy, cheap, effective and no mess

yep and takes exactly 5 min to do, and unlike with epoxy one does not need a drill press to fix the problem.

If they were made that way originally, what's the problem? They seem to work just fine

Ok I'll explain,

These older Sheffields were actually punched instead of drilled, or so the story goes IIRC Alex found that out for us...
They were not that big when they were punched if you look closely you will find that the irregular hole has worn over the years, because it is "irregular" and had the slop to begin with... You need to take apart a few NOS 100+ year old razors to learn this fact, and that is the problem there are just not to many of them out there, so most of what you see is the effect of all that wear and tear...
These holes should never be tight but they also should not be so loose as they allow slop...
You can leave it, there are no rules here, but leaving it allows slop to creep into your system so later down the line don't be surprised when the blade starts to hit things.. Just starting out it also allows the pin to bend way easier too, so yes it does behoove you to fix it while you have it apart...

As always the choice is with the restorer... we can only post what we have found to be the best fixes we have found so far to date...

My personal rule of thumb is, if I can fit the sleeve in there, it needs one, but that is JMHO....

I should also point out the opposite fix too, that you could also just use a larger pin....

For me the decision to use a sleeve becomes more an issue when dealing with a slightly crooked or bend tang. Adding a sleeve can be beneficial but sometimes it makes it even worse as the razor will end up touching the side of the scales even more.

I would however never use epoxy to fill the pivot hole.

Glen:

You brought up irregular pivot holes, and I've got a Torrey that has that exact problem. This is an old model that used by a barber and now I've got a large egg shaped hole. I was gonna run out to grab the tubing, but I'm wondering if that'll even work.

Here is a photo. That is a 1/16" adjustable pin for reference.

Thanks for any tips!

Originally Posted by BingoBango

I've got a Torrey that has that exact problem. This is an old model that used by a barber and now I've got a large egg shaped hole. I was gonna run out to grab the tubing, but I'm wondering if that'll even work.
Thanks for any tips!

I've had a few of those. Tubes won't really work. Drill out the hole and then use a sleeve (or not) or leave as is.

Originally Posted by Maximilian

I've had a few of those. Tubes won't really work. Drill out the hole and then use a sleeve (or not) or leave as is.

+1
also some come with pin holes that are drilled/punched at an angle , for those I redrill to the next higher size and then sleeve them.

The hole isn't at an angle, it's just large and irregularly shaped. So drill a wider, round hole and use a sleeve?

If that's the case, the first step is to find a tube with an ID of 1/16" and an OD that either fits or is really close to the current pivot hole then drill to the OD, right?

Originally Posted by BingoBango

The hole isn't at an angle, it's just large and irregularly shaped. So drill a wider, round hole and use a sleeve?

If that's the case, the first step is to find a tube with an ID of 1/16" and an OD that either fits or is really close to the current pivot hole then drill to the OD, right?

yes I got mine from my local hardware store, the OD is 0.096 (3/32) the id is 1/16