Thread: discoloration of scales

Hey folks,

I recently purchased a Bengal razor from a vender on Ebay. He advertized it as having buffalo horn scales. When I received it, I thought, "Well, I suppose they're buffalo horn." But somehow they did look smoother than the horn scales I've worked with before. Anyway, today I set about cleaning this razor. Working in a school of optometry, a co-worker suggested that I place the razor in a vibrating bath, used for cleaning glasses. I did this for 5 minutes, just to see what would happen. Well, it really did clean up nicely. I am almost finished, now, using a dremmel and some metal polish. However, the scales went from black to brown. Is this normal? I got this for my wife's birthday, and I know she's not going to like this color. Am thinking of applying black shoe polish. Any suggestions?

Thanks,
George

could be they used a dye to darken it... I've seen dyed bone. The liquid shoe dye might work.

Could be Bakelite or something similar, could you get us a picture?
Grant

Hello George,

I think that they were made from bakelite.

Bakelite is a type of plastic made from fillers (mainly woodflour - a very finely milled sawdust, sometimes powdered asbestos) and resin. The top surface of the bakelite is shiny because it has a very thin film of the resin on the surface, giving depth and lustre. If you rub this away (dremel!) you reveal the powdered wood - this is the brown colour. It is very hard to cure this condition - the surface goes brown and often looks mottled with tiny open pores. You can expose the filler a bit more to get past the oxidised top surface, using a fine cutting agent like tripoli on a buffer or a car paint cutting compound. I suggest you go over the whole surface of scales to get a uniform colour. The cutting agent will be fine enough to give a nice smooth finish. With a bit of luck you may have exposed more pigment of a darker colour - if so just use some form of wax finish to get it glossy. You could also try a dye - shoe dye (which sometimes leaves an irridescent surface if you apply too much at one time) or the stuff they sell to renovate scufffed shoes. It isn't a permanent fix though and the scales will have to be re-finished periodically.

Regards,
Neil

Thanks guys, Neil, from your description, I believe you're right. I'm still going to give this E-bay vender a good review. I was very impressed with his historical research, and, I believe this was an honest mistake. Now, after my mistake, I believe the right thing to do is to make the best of the situation. I once had a 4/8" J.R. Torrey with a handle which looked very similar. I was never quite sure what that material was. But this explanation makes sense. That other razor was a great shaver. I eventually gave it to a newbie.

I never applied any abrasive to the scales, only letting it sit in a vibrating bath with a couple mild cleaners. But apparently, something in there dissolved the black coloring.

It may take me some days, but I will try to post a picture.

George