Thread: cant close the razor

Hi
I got a problem with closing some of my straight razors in a 7 day set. It seems that the wedge (is that the right word for the black thing?) is to long on some of my razors so the blade cant be folded into the scales. On the pictures you can see one blade without a problem and one that cant be folded.
Can it be manufacturing errors? seems strange that the passed a control. Can the bone scales shrink after drying for some years?
What do you think i should do to fix it? just try to remove some material from the black plastic piece?
Its heljestrand MK n31 razors, 3 of 7 razors got this problem.
Thank you for your help
/Calle

I had a similar problem with a new Razor. In my case the wedge was a little loose and had partialy rotated around the pin, might be worth checking that.

It's not uncommon. Sometimes the scales warps some and then the blade and the pins that holds the blade pushes forward and all of a sudden the wedge hits the tip (and if the wedge was large to begin with it doesn't need much movement) . If you can file the wedge down, do it (but be careful with the scales, especially so if they're in ivory).

I have now removed some of the wedge. I couldnt find any file that thin so i took a blade from a coping saw. I used a file to smoothen the sides of the sawblade so it souldnt harm the scales. To be extra careful i also taped the scales.

Thats a very common issue if the scales are Ivory.Ivory Expands and contracts as much as .004 dependant on humidity.

Originally Posted by pixelfixed

Thats a very common issue if the scales are Ivory.Ivory Expands and contracts as much as .004 dependant on humidity.

I wouldn't say that the blade wedge trapping the blade or not allowing it to open is common with ivory. I have worked with a very large amount of ivory scaled razors, and the tolerance of the original fitting is very tight - the scales are usually very thin, very close together and the wedge is very thin, leaving very little room for error. I don't think I have ever had one impede the blade.

True, it does contract and expand - high heat/low humidity make it shrink while low heat and high humidity make it expand. It's most often evidenced by cracks at either the pivot or the wedge - the take up of moisture at these points and the differences in thermal expansion between brass pin and ivory scales are the usual culprits. However, if stored at 'normal' (ie constant RH and small temperature fluctuations) the expansion/contraction is minimal.

Over-peening (leading to the pin taking up the whole of the hole in the scale) or a hole that is too narrow to begin with is a sure recipe for disaster if the ivory does expand/contract..

When you ".004" what is the unit of measurement?

Those scales look like ivorene to me - it is hard to tell with CVH as they tens to use washers for the pinning unlike early Sheffield razors, and the wedge is apt to be made from some sort of brown acylic, but these look just a little too thick for ivory to me - might be mistaken tough! Hard to tell from the photos. However, if they are ivorene then this is much more prone to contracting over time, being celluloid based, as well as opening (bowing out) which also makes it shorter.

Regards,
Neil

Ken Powell made me a custom last yr,I supplied the ivory for the stand and wedge.
After 3 days in my local the blade was hitting the wedge (easy fix).
The demension is four thousanths of an inch.(.004)
The brush in the pic Is made from stabilzed gabon ebony and Ivory,I finished it all in one pce so the seam was perfect.
When I lived in San jose Ca. the average Humidity is about 35%.when I moved to Roseville Ca.the Humidity has been around 70/80%,the Ivory top cap is now at least .004 larger than the ebony body (brush is trashed
Of course if the above razor is not Ivory,tis a mute point.

Here is some better pictures of the scales, i dont think its plastic, but is it bone or ivory? And what is the little mark om the secound picture? 6 of 7 scales got this on almost the same spot, and on the same side of the razor.
One more question, anyone know how old these razors are? any way to tell?
/Calle

Well it's certainly a lot hotter and drier there than average! However, isn't 4 1/1000ths of an inch equivalent to 0.1mm? That's 1/10th of a millimeter. The wedge in the OPs pics looks to have moved 3 or 4 mm - that is an incredible lot more than 0.004, a figure with which I have no trouble BTW as it is on the very small side (0.004, that is!).

Pity about that brush. looks classy.

Regards,
Neil

From your pic Calle, I'd say ivorene and that pin-hole is where someone has tested them with a hot pin and they have melted, confirming they are not ivory.

You are supposed to do the hot pin test somewhere that doesn't show - like on the inside of the scales!

Regards,
Neil