Thread: Patina - do you need to remove it?

Originally Posted by nun2sharp

That makes two of us, if its an 1800's blade, I love the vintage look, if it's 20th century I will make it shine.

A splendid principle !

It is all about your personal preference.

I tend to take a pinch of cheep bathroom tissue
and a drop of MASS to my razors once in a while.
After a while I get an very even surface. I find
that a relentless small week end application of MASS
in moderation does the right thing.

Originally Posted by nun2sharp

That makes two of us, if its an 1800's blade, I love the vintage look, if it's 20th century I will make it shine.

It was an ex-WW2 soldier's razor. Once it cleaned up there was very little sign of wear on it so I'm assuming its a gift that wasn't used much.

Originally Posted by Pauly

It was an ex-WW2 soldier's razor. Once it cleaned up there was very little sign of wear on it so I'm assuming its a gift that wasn't used much.

Aha... ex-WW2.
A lot of folk switched to double edge blades after the wars.
My Dad did and then switched to electric.

This left a lot of fine razors sitting unused for ages..

Hmmm... an excuse to ramble and muse..

King Camp Gillette - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"In 1918, when the U.S. entered World War I, the company provided all
American soldiers with a field razor set, paid for by the government. It
continues as the Gillette (brand)."

I am partly of the opinion that WW1 and WW2 are the "steel wars".
Where steel and steel making technology emerged from the small
crucible steel pots to mass production. Steel was key to guns, howitzers,
tanks, ships and most importantly rail. In between the wars
razor steel quality went way up.

The best of the small crucible steel used in razors pre WW1 and
pre WW2 are very fine razors. For a while the post war mass produced steel
so dominated the market that quality razor steel was almost impossible
to find. Todays best Japanese and Swedish steel can challenge the
best of the old steel. But old steel does improve with age....
so it is difficult for new to catch up.... although extreme cold tempering
can close the gap.

The other thing that colored razor history was hone technology. The
carborundum hones made the very hard US made razors popular.
Edward Goodrich Acheson - Inventor of Carborundum
"On February 28, 1893, Edward Goodrich Acheson (1856–1931) patented
a method for making an industrial abrasive he called "Carborundum" or silicon
carbide. On May 19, 1896, Edward Goodrich Acheson was also issued a
patent for an electrical furnace used to produce carborundum."

And now there is diamond....

I have a theory on why so many good quality barely used razors seem to come from ex servicemen.

On joining the army, navy, or airforce some kindly relative would buy them a good razor thinking it will help with keeping a good parade ground appearance. Ultimately the rough and ready life of a serviceman was more suited to safety razors so the good razor went to the bottom of the kitbag but was never thrown away.

In knife afficiando circles pre-ww2 steel kitchen knives are highly desirable for the same reason that older razors are desired.

I try and take into consideration the whole razor, especially when I am restoring for someone else. So, if they want the etching preserved like I am doing now, then I remove active rust and then work on the etched area first. Then I look at the overall appearance of the razor and try to make the patina as uniform as possible. I also check the blade against the scales. If a bright shiny blade is going to look out of place with a pair of vintage bone scales, then I will also opt to leave more patina in place.

This is just my general method and not universal or absolute. I have a couple of old W & B blades that have no scales and I plan on taking them to bright and shiny, then making new horn scales.