Thread: Pinning: Tight or loose?

Loose pins are the bane of my straight razor existence.

anytime the scales are loose while stropping I lose control of a 3 inch cutting surface that is sharper than a scalple....thats never bueno....just sayin

Yes, she's going to have to be tight and fit, yeah ... Ohh, you where talking about razors What others have said, tight fit for me - stropping's the most important reason for me, but I don't like a loose blade either, just for the sake of it

Originally Posted by U2Bono269

well ok then. I guess I need to work on my stropping then, don't I?

Have you added a drop of oil to the pivot? That will often loosen
it an also help keep rust from that area.

It will also loosen with use so do nothing special to hurry it.
Strop it slow and smooth and the two of you will find that
good things happen.

Am not understanding a few things about this thread,people actually breaking scales? Holding them while stropping?

Originally Posted by pixelfixed

Am not understanding a few things about this thread,people actually breaking scales? Holding them while stropping?

I am with you, which is why I asked for a Vid or at least a pic, I sure can't do it...

Originally Posted by Maximilian

Loose scales are IMO a death trap for either nicking your strop or cutting yourself when shaving.

Amen- movement equals loss of control.

Think about it. A razor is a balanced item with the blade on one side and the scales on the other, connected by a pivot pin. If the scales move without control, the balance of the razor is lost, as is control. I broke my scales at the pivot by putting pressure on the scales to keep them from moving during rapid stropping. Just that little bit of pressure over thousands of repetitions eventually weakened the scales at the pivot area enough to break.

How else can you take nice SOTD posts without tight scales? Unless you've got a lizard like Mikael?

I like tight scales, I grip the tang with forefinger and thumb when stropping, but the scales are supported by loosely curled fingers around them. One of my razor came with tiny micro nuts and a bolt at the pivot end, which is really cool as I can very easily tighten them up when they become loose. The scales are Canadian Maple, so I guess changes in humidity may cause the wood to shrink and expand. My Burell has scales that loosen at times, and it's really annoying for me to need to tighten them. I'm really bad at any sort of handyman type stuff, and I have very few tools, so get paranoid that I'm going to stuff it up and crack the scales or something each time I do it.

Plus loose scales mess with my OCD big time :-(

[QUOTE=carlmaloschneider;942793]How else can you take nice SOTD posts without tight scales? Unless you've got a lizard like Mikael?

LMFAO I keep looking for something as cool as his lizard....