Thread: Old rodgers, cracked at hole, advice needed

I just recieves this razor today off an internet auction, it is an old rodgers.



I depinned and cleaned it up, scales were bone but so thin they practically fluttered in the wind, so I discarded them. The blade came out really nice from just a touch of autosol, but cleaning it also did disclose a crack in the steel. It kinda looks like it was there from the manufacturing, and I am half thinking not to worry about it at all, but wanted to ask the advice of some of the more knowledgeable folks out there. Also it looks like they missed on drilling the hole, or maybe adjusted the position after experiencing a crack? There is a half finished drill hole, right next to the one going all the way through. You can see it in the pictures below.




It is a hairline fracture, and only on one side of the pin hole. You can see it clearly in the picture, it is going from the pin hole towards 2 o'clock. The other side appears to be totally undamaged. I confess to trying to break it with my bare hands, thinking if it would not withstand this simple test I would not bother working with it at all. It did hold tho, so now I'm leaning towards it meaning nothing.

Anyone got some advice? Not to worry or what?

I lean toward "not to worry." If it does not deform with pressure in your hands, then the pressure exerted on it when pinned in scales and in use should not affect it either.

Edit: Another disparate thought: Some restorers fill in pinning holes with "something" and then redrill a smaller hole. If you did that, then that "something" should add some extra support.

That is old, from the reign of Queen Victoria! If you didn't already know, that is what the 'V R' is for. Possibly a regrind, I think so anyway. I am with the Utopian on that, if it is stable, leave.

You didn't damage the scales depinning?

Utopian,
thanks for that filling-the-hole idea! The pin hole is not huge like on some of the really old ones, but still quite a bit larger than the 1/16 needed. If I decide to try to go down this route, what should I attempt to use for "something"? My initial idea upon hearing this would be some modern metal clay or something but I don't want to use that on an old razor.

Scipio,
Yea, I was aware it was old - Goins’ Encyclopedia lists it from 1837 to 1901, but all listings there say there should be a star and cross on back of tang, which mine does not have. Also, the barber's notch seem a little close to the edge, almost leaving it a spike point, further supporting your regrind theory.
The scales I still have but they seem useless to me. They are a little less than 1/16 thick and very very flimsy, and not very nicely made either. I half considered trying to reuse them with some aluminum lining or something along those lines, but we shall have to see. They did not fit the blade well either, the blade actually peeked out on the bottom below the scales, as you can see in the pic. It was clear they were old tho, no washers and the wedge was lead.

I wrote "something" because I cannot remember what others have used. I've never done it, but I've read of it in this forum. Hopefully someone else will chime in or else you could try contacting a few restorers or you could try Mike Blue.

If you don't want the scales, I'm sure others would. They appear to be carved bone. I would think that they could be bleached and cleaned up nicely. The liner sounds like a good idea if they feel flimsy.

I've heard of people filling the holes with anything from epoxy to JB weld and then re-drilling a hole

personally? I say just leave it, maybe brass-tube sleeve your pivot pin to increase surface area... Should be fine.

I would bet that crack is older than most if not all of us and maybe even a few of us added together! I really don't think it is something you should be concerned with. Did you ever try to bend a piece of metal equal to the side of the hole that is not cracked? If you like yo may consider cleaning in the crack with scrubbing bubbles or the like and just putting some thin CA in the crack to seal it off and prevent anything from growing in there. CA has a high tensile strength but a low shear strength.

The 'something' I have heard of using to fill the pivot hole is brass tubing with an ID slightly larger than the pivot pin epoxied into the pivot hole in the blade. I think this is not needed and may cause the razor to close off center or tilted if yo don't epoxy the tube in straight.

I also go with bleaching the bleaching the original scales but I like original if at all possible.

Good luck.

The scales I still have but they seem useless to me. They are a little less than 1/16 thick and very very flimsy, and not very nicely made either. I half considered trying to reuse them with some aluminum lining or something along those lines, but we shall have to see.

Aluminum + steel + water = battery = metals getting eaten away.

I'd worry about corrosion. In marine applications, when you put a stainless-steel screw into an aluminum plate, the plate starts to corrode around the screw.

A non-conductive (any kind of plastic) lining would be much better. IMHO, of course.

Charles

Thank you, very good advice there! I was not aware of this but will keep it in mind - I was just starting to look for aluminum plate to use for lining but now I'll consider brass or perhaps look into some plastic material.