Cell-rot and pitting on razors awaiting restoration

I've got a pair of Genco Gold Seals that need new scales eventually, but while I'm getting my act together I'm concerned that just letting them sit in their current condition may cause further pitting to the blades. Here's a shot of the problem:
Attachment 96634

The corrosion is limited to the areas around the pivot-holes; the rest of the blades are in terrific shape. I'm not interested in trying to salvage the existing scales.

So until I find a restorer to make some snazzy new scales for these razors, should I remove the scales and sand the corrosion off? Unpin and leave them as-is? Leave town and forget any of this ever happened?

Looks like gold wash to me :shrug:

No, it's rust under the scales. Outside of the scales is the gold wash. Rust under amber plastic is kind of hard to get to show up in a picture.

Is the rust only at the pivot?

Hard to tell from the pix but I'm not sure that is cell rot. If you're dead set on replacing the scales it really doesn't matter. Who ever had those razors in their long life may have been careless in drying them at the pivot. Accumulated moisture/grunge may be the source of the corrosion. If that is the case dental floss, Q-tips hammered flat on the end to fit into the scales, and a soft tooth brush with metal polish might be a fix. I would start with Scrubbing Bubbles and proceed from there. You'll lose any gold wash with metal polish but that might be all you need.

As J says,maybe not cell rot as I do not think they are celluloid scales,I think they are plastic.
Generate some heat on them by rubbing with a cloth,do you get a champhor like odor?

I think if you lightly oil the pivot and blades you will stop any further deterioration until you get them restored.

Yep. My mistake here is I compressed the photo down to the point where the gold wash looks like rust and the pivot rust doesn't show very well. At 18 megapixels, everything is pretty clear, at 39K, not so much. Next up, photos of these same razors taken from half a mile away, lens cap on, camera held backwards, thumb on lens.

Well, I guess I've answered my own question. Curiosity got the better of me and I took the scales off the worst-looking of the pair. I can confirm celluloid, as evidenced by the scent of camphor and the enthusiastic combustibility of the scales.

The news from inside is better than expected. The brass washers took one for the team, as they were the site of most of the corrosion. On the blade itself, the light rust around the pivot hole cleaned up nicely. I've started sanding the blade to get rid of the little scratches and marks, and it looks like it's going to turn out quite nice. By the time I finish the sanding, it's likely I'll have talked myself into getting some scales and trying to pin the thing together myself, a rabbit-hole I'd hoped to avoid falling into.

When you get ready to pin the new scales.PM me.am just down the road from menlo.Be happy to help out if need be.

I ordered some replacement scales and sanded the blades. It turns out the cell rot had caused quite a bit of pitting along both faces of one blade, so what I'd thought was mostly a buffing job turned into a long evening of sanding (600 through 2000 WD, then a pack of microabrasive pads). There are still a couple of pits on the tang, but they're ancient artifacts rather than active rust, so I'm leaving them for now.

I pinned the thing up (surprisingly easy to do) and it turned out pretty well. I'm not a fan of pakka wood in general, and blue pakka is pretty bizarre, but this is a tool and not a showpiece. Besides, the blue pakka had the virtues of being cheap and in-stock. Also, dispensible, if something went horribly awry. At the very least, I've rescued this blade from certain doom and turned it back into a useful tool. I can always rescale this blade with something a little more upmarket in the future.

Attachment 97080

Its twin brother is presenting a different set of problems. I got rid of all the active rust around the pivot, and cleaned off the residual gold wash. There was no cell-rot on this blade, which saved time, I thought. Wrong! I pinned it in its new stainless-steel scales and all it flopped all over the place. I unpinned it and discovered that the pivot hole is elongated and enlarged almost -- but, crucially, not quite -- to 3/32. The basic brass sleeve trick isn't going to work here, so I'm still pondering my next move. Currently, I'm thinking of making some sort of clenched bushing. It's an interesting challenge.

Drill it out to 3/32 exact,make a bushing to fit.

You're right. I was hoping for one of my usual hideously-overcomplicated contraptions, but I think the only sane way is to just drill the thing out.

Haven't done it myself, but I've read about using JB weld to fill the hole, then re-drill. Seems easier than drilling the tang.

The drilling actually took about 2 seconds. It was no more difficult than drilling anything else, even with my cheap drill. Then I cut and installed the bushing. Sanded and polished the whole blade and pinned it into the new scales. The fit is nice and tight, with exactly as much resistance as I want. Next time I have the scales off the other one, I'll do the same thing to it.

So I think this has been a pretty successful project. I have two new razors in the rotation and picked up some new skills.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by robellison01

Haven't done it myself, but I've read about using JB weld to fill the hole, then re-drill. Seems easier than drilling the tang.

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I have done that, and it's very easy. In fact, before the JB Weld sets completely hard, you can twiddle your drillbit through it with your fingers. I made sure the bit was up against the curve of the hole in the blade to help keep it aligned as it went through.

Drilling the tang took literally all of 2 seconds, not including finding the drill, clamping the blade down, etc. Down, up, done. Cutting and installing the bushing was maybe another minute of actual effort. Although I'm generally in favor of the most complex possible solution, elegance and ease won out this time. The blade no longer wobbles, which is what I was aiming for. The razor is scaled, honed and scheduled for its trial run tomorrow morning.