Thread: Electrolysis-Chemicals for cleaning corrosion

I just got this PM and I actually get several of these over the year... I decided instead of just answering in a PM this might be a good discussion in the workshop...

Hi Glen.
I was just reading the thread about cast iron pans and saw a video clip about using electrolysis to clean the crud off an old pan. While I was watching this I couldn't help but think 'Could this be used to clean rust and other gunk from a razor?'

I figure if anyone here knows the answer to that question it is probably you.
So what do you think? Could you use electrolysis to clean a razor for restoration?


My answer:

Yes you can, so can chemicals that remove rust.. I was talking to a guy just 2 weeks ago at an antique store that has his own recipe of solvents and oils in a 20 gallon tank.. He soaks all the Cast Iron stuff in it, and heats the whole contraption gently to remove rust... So the answer is yes

-BUT-

Better than 90% of the razors that have corrosion of whatever variety have pitting under it, so to magically remove the "discoloration" does nothing to heal the metal, to smooth that back out requires either Sanding/Buffing/Grinding or a combination of those...It all really depends on the final outcome you are after... For myself I could "boil a razor in oil" (or whatever) for days to see what I have, or I can take 30 seconds on a buffer and know, or 10 minutes with sandpaper...

-Now-

There are some people that believe in shaving with razors that have Rust/Patina/Pitting/Devil's spit and call that "character" and more power to them.... I am not of that group. I want only clean shiny steel on my face, in fact this is what started me restoring in the first place...

I hope that helps a bit....

I'm not going to bother looking for them, but I recall a few good electrolysis threads a couple of years ago. Some of them had good photos of it being done.

If you ask me it sounds more complicated than it needs to be. I'll stick to the buffer. Thanks for sharing this Glen.

Originally Posted by Utopian

I'm not going to bother looking for them, but I recall a few good electrolysis threads a couple of years ago. Some of them had good photos of it being done.

Here:
http://straightrazorpalace.com/works...ctrolysis.html

http://straightrazorpalace.com/forge...t-removal.html

http://straightrazorpalace.com/works...one-tried.html

http://straightrazorpalace.com/works...ctrolysis.html

Over at the Wagner and Griswold Society (WAGS) they have a lot of good info on electrolysis. It really does seem like more trouble for something like razors than it would be worth. They like it because sanding and wire wheels are not the best things for cast iron. The "peening" it does to the surface of the skillets keeps them from ever turning that shiny black that you look for in a well seasoned pan. The other cleaning method they use is for clearing off the carbon build up you find on old skillets, for that they use a lye mixture. I'm not sure if that would apply to razors unless the staining was a organic build up . The lye doesn't do anything for rust. I've got a lye tank I use on my skillets that I'm going to dunk a old cracked razor in just to see what happens to the staining.