Thread: What is this phenomenon?

Greetings, gents.

So, what is this?

Is it discoloration, pre-rust, ...?

Does it prevent my blade from getting to shave ready? Can I hone it like this without sanding it?

I can't quite make it out on the pictures, but if it's just a discolouration then it's patina. There won't be any pitting under it, it's just change in colour on the metal.

If it's a thicker black crusty stuff then it's devils spit. There probably will be pitting under that.

Either way though it doesn't appear to be on the bevel so it won't affect the shave and you should be able to hone her up.

If you get patina on the bevel it's not so much a problem as it's literally just a surface thing and normal honing will remove it.

Devils spit you have to get off the bevel and make sure you're down to clean steel before you progress with the honing.

Hope that's of some help!

Edit: just had another look at the picture and I can see something on the bevel. The most important thing is to make sure you get down to good clean steel the whole way along the bevel when you hone her up. If you don't then the edge won't be shaveable.

Good luck and keep us posted!

It looks as though something has been spilt on it and sat there for a couple of decades. You should be able to hone it up without cleaning it off, but I would at least try some metal polish on it if your not comfortable sanding. I would have a hard time living with it like it is, but thats just me.
Grant

I sanded 1.5 razor until now, but I wanted to practice honing only, as I need a travel razor for next week-end, and this one seemed to almost fit the bill. It just has a little rust at the pivot and of course these huge stains. So I wanted to know what more experienced people thought of it.

Is it patina? It's not like a deposit at all, it seems to be coloring the metal.

I finished honing it (I hope) from 1 to 12k. It pops arm hair and passes the other thumb-tests. The problem is that when I strop it, it feels as if a burr was switching side...? Could this be felt? And wouldn't a burr affect the other tests?

Originally Posted by Fredo456

I sanded 1.5 razor until now, but I wanted to practice honing only, as I need a travel razor for next week-end, and this one seemed to almost fit the bill. It just has a little rust at the pivot and of course these huge stains. So I wanted to know what more experienced people thought of it.

Is it patina? It's not like a deposit at all, it seems to be coloring the metal.

I finished honing it (I hope) from 1 to 12k. It pops arm hair and passes the other thumb-tests. The problem is that when I strop it, it feels as if a burr was switching side...? Could this be felt? And wouldn't a burr affect the other tests?

it could be the edge but that discoloration or whatever it is looks like it extends to the part of the spine that touches the strop too, so it could be that your feeling whatever is on the spine when your stroping

Try some metal polish and see if it cleans off. If that doesn't work, a quick scrubbing with #000 or #0000 steel wool will probably take most of it off.

Good luck!

looks like a spill of something acidic has eaten a bit of steel. i don't see how it will affect your edge, all the damage is near the spine and the changes in geometry seem insignificant from what i can see.
hone away if that's what you want, or sand and then hone if you want it to look better.

you already have plenty of damage along the edge to clean up, so i'd just hit the low grit hones.

It would take a LOT of work to get this razor to look new again, but more than likely it can be restored to be a workhorse/daily shaver no problem. There is a bit or work to be done at the bevel as Gugi mentioned above. What I would do is start with some tape on the spine until you get to good steel, then remove the tape and hone as usual. The tape just keeps the spine wear down until you get to healthy steel using coarse stones. I have a 320 shapton that I specifically use for this type of problem. Some use diamond stones, but the end result is the same...taking a lot of steel off until you get to good metal. Something else that I have played with is cold blueing on a razor like this...it helps to hide some of the uglyness if it bothers you. For me, the only ugly razor is one that doesn't give a good shave...

Thanks guys for all the tips. I successfully honed the blade (I didn't remove the stains, because I need a blade for next week end and didn't have time to sand it). I used it yesterday and it did a decent job.

I'd need a microscope or magnifiying glass to make sure that I have only good metal on the edge, because as of now, I can't be certain. It's interesting to see that the bevel on my new TI is about 1/16" and the one on this razor is about 1/4 of that (I'd say 1/64", but didn't measure). That's why it's hard to see the quality of the edge.

For now it shaves. I'll attack the stains in the near future.

Originally Posted by Fredo456

I sanded 1.5 razor until now, but I wanted to practice honing only, as I need a travel razor for next week-end, and this one seemed to almost fit the bill. It just has a little rust at the pivot and of course these huge stains. So I wanted to know what more experienced people thought of it.

Is it patina? It's not like a deposit at all, it seems to be coloring the metal.

I finished honing it (I hope) from 1 to 12k. It pops arm hair and passes the other thumb-tests. The problem is that when I strop it, it feels as if a burr was switching side...? Could this be felt? And wouldn't a burr affect the other tests?

It is corrosion without cleaning it you will not know
how bad.

In general you will want to simply rub it off.
Start with something like MAAS and perhaps 2K wet dry
3M paper.

You only need to sand it down to the point that
you can get the blade sanitary and see
what you are doing. I have found cracks
and pits that stay hidden until cleaned.

Once the blade is clean and it need
not be all bright steel -- hone away.