Quote Originally Posted by kevint View Post
I don't think the washer can help centering on an oversize tang pivot hole-it would have to be attached to the tang. Nor reduce wear as I dont feel the scale material will care much whether it rubs on brass or steel.
The washers I have seen that are cupped in the middle have a small hole the size of the pin in the centre, so the washers are effectively locked in position cntre-to-centre by the pivot pin, which is held in position by the tight holes in the scales, which in turn are fixed in relation to each other at the wedge end. The oversized hole was then taken up by the opposing cups or bosses in the centre of each washer, effectively turning it about a fixed point - centering it was probably not the best word to use. The last set of washers I saw like this came from a circa 1950s razor and were made of strong sprung steel with a blued finish and were obviously made to do a particular job. I have only seen two or three examples and I kept the washers, preferring to bush the pivot hole with brass tube.

The 'wear' I meant was not at the exact location of the washer, but at the junction of any flared/projecting part of the tang and scale material - by adding clearance.

Like Alex, I don't find the modern use of thick washers particularly attractive. The old ones - from Sheffield, anyway - were made from an extremely thin brass-type alloy called 'latten' (the word itself means 'thin' and comes from the german 'latte' meaning 'slat') - the stuff they used was made even thinner than usual by hammering or rolling.

A small bonus - though I am not for one second suggesting that this is why they were used - is that the copper content of the latten makes it germicidal to some degree - they say that brass doorknobs effectively kill most germs on them in about 8 hours!

I have seen those rasp marks that Smythe mentions, but always thought that they were just last-minute alterations to the inside of the scale to make the blade centre properly, but Smythe might be onto something there as I also find them at the wedge end of old and not so old razors - they certainly help in holding an unglued wedge in place, and all the wedges seem to be used without glue.

Regards,
Neil