thinking about trying to repin one of my str8's and was wondering if anyone has used regular aluminum rivets that you can pick up just about anywhere.my idea is to cut them down to size and pean as necessary.anyone see any problems with this?has anyone tried?
aluminum pins
- Thread starter balaban9331
- Start date
My concern would be aluminum is harder than brass and thus would take longer/be harder to mushroom.
Where did you get that idea? Aluminum is a soft metal. Unless you harden it, and only certain types of aluminum alloys can be hardened.
I've used aluminum for pinning straight razors and it works just fine.
Isn't there some metal problem with the aluminum and the steel and the water and the soap??? Seems to me I read something about the steel and aluminum not touching...?????? and I am asking not telling..
- Thread starter
- #5
if you use aluminum rivets on steel projects which i've done,i haven't had any problems with that even though the aluminum is touching the steel.now would it be different with a razor that is in contact with water?i don't know.
You're thinking of galvanic corrosion? It can happen with any two disparate metals, and requires salt water. Unless you plan on shaving using salt water, it shouldn't be a problem.
I was unaware the OP was referring to pure aluminum.
To the OP:
A better solution to your problem is just buying brass rods and #00 (or is it #0?) washers. 1/16" thick rods. Or, if you want a shiny metal appearance, you can get nickel silver rods. Both of these are widely used and work for razors.
- Thread starter
- #8
where would you find these rods and such small washers?
I actually forget where to get Nickel Silver rods. Glen has a couple websites for the N/S rods. SS washers can be bought from microfasteners.com. Brass washers too for that matter.
For rods and washers, you can buy both from mcmaster.com
OR I hear you can get some from Ace Hardware.
I have never worked with pure aluminum. The alloys I have worked with have all been softer than brass. I don't know what aluminum alloys you have worked with... Airplane alloys?
As for silver steel and brass rods - I would get those from knife making supply stores, as they are used a lot for pinning scales to full tang knives.
I have never worked with pure aluminum. The alloys I have worked with have all been softer than brass. I don't know what aluminum alloys you have worked with... Airplane alloys?
As for silver steel and brass rods - I would get those from knife making supply stores, as they are used a lot for pinning scales to full tang knives.
Brass comes in softer alloys as well. Either case, I'm not going to get into some pissing contest on the internet over something so stupid. I concede the point.
Hmmmmmmm Interesting thread now..
Minstrel: I would love to see all your restores using aluminum pins BTW...
I am going to go back to a very simple adage here and you all can make up your own mind then OK???
For over 200+ years two types of pins have been used for razors, Nickel Silver and Brass.... I know these two materials work the best because I have restored 100's of razors that still have them working just fine before I pop them and replace them with nickel silver or brass pins...
I have honed 1000's of razors that have these two materials as pins that they are still working just fine...
Out of all these razors both Vintage and Custom I have never seen an Aluminum pin.... So IMHO aluminum pins would not be a good choice but hey YMMV
For info:
Texas Knife Supply has both types of rod and any hardware store that has a KOSS metals display will have the brass rods...
The washers are #0 and #0W in brass and #0 in SS from Microfasteners.com
Minstrel: I would love to see all your restores using aluminum pins BTW...
I am going to go back to a very simple adage here and you all can make up your own mind then OK???
For over 200+ years two types of pins have been used for razors, Nickel Silver and Brass.... I know these two materials work the best because I have restored 100's of razors that still have them working just fine before I pop them and replace them with nickel silver or brass pins...
I have honed 1000's of razors that have these two materials as pins that they are still working just fine...
Out of all these razors both Vintage and Custom I have never seen an Aluminum pin.... So IMHO aluminum pins would not be a good choice but hey YMMV
For info:
Texas Knife Supply has both types of rod and any hardware store that has a KOSS metals display will have the brass rods...
The washers are #0 and #0W in brass and #0 in SS from Microfasteners.com
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I was researching on if I could use Aluminium rods for peening so I found this thread.
I hope it is OK if I dig this old thread out.
Probably Brass and Nickel Silver work best, but there are a lot of normal pins available when it comes to normal peening which are made form Aluminium.
Also it was never as cheap as it seems to be now. There were times when it was more expensive than gold.
For me it is better available than Nickel Silver.
I will try Aluminium pins in the future, but I already know have a much better argument against it than "I've never seen an Aluminium pin".
The fact that the range of different kinds of Aluminium that is available, you will never be 100% certain which one you get.
I hope it is OK if I dig this old thread out.
Probably Brass and Nickel Silver work best, but there are a lot of normal pins available when it comes to normal peening which are made form Aluminium.
Also it was never as cheap as it seems to be now. There were times when it was more expensive than gold.
For me it is better available than Nickel Silver.
I will try Aluminium pins in the future, but I already know have a much better argument against it than "I've never seen an Aluminium pin".
The fact that the range of different kinds of Aluminium that is available, you will never be 100% certain which one you get.
Slash McCoy
I freehand dog rockets
Corrosion will be an issue where the pin is in contact with steel. Ixnay on Aluminumway.
I could be wrong but I am fairly certain that typical carbon steel and most common aluminum alloys are near each other on the anodic index, making them less probable to cause corrosion issues when/if they are touching each other. Brass is further up the scale, more cathodic, and is the most dissimilar to the other metals, which increases the possibility of galvanice corrosion when in contact with carbon steel or aluminum. IIRC, the potental for corrosion is greater with steel/brass then steel/aluminum. But adding a 3rd metal, to the aluminum/carbon steel combo, stainless steel or brass, would change the equation somewhat.
That said, a strong electrolye must be present for electrons to flow; conditions favoring that reaction, while theoretically possible during shaving, would be extremely uncommon in my home. Surface polish and the presence of lubricants factor in also, mirror polish wold be less problematic, a coating of oil would stop or impede the flow.
In theory, ambient conditons such as air, humidity, pollution and such could all combine to allow galvanic corrosion to occur. But, I think 100s of years, at least, would have to pass before anyone found a razor suffering from galvanic corrosion from typical ambient conditions. Unprotected carbon steels rust on their own in the presence of humidity and pollutants, and I would expect that to be the main hurdle to deal with there.
Brass washers on carbon steel blades have been extremely common for centuries - we do find rust in pivots but I am more inclined to think it's mostly due to typical oxidation, and not galvanic corrosion. I would not expect an aluminum pin on a carbon steel blade to be any more problematic, possibly less so actually. But the presence of brass or stainless pivot washers/collars in that assembly would, in theory, present a different set of possibilities.
Hahaha... just realized that Glen's post above was written in 2009.
That said, a strong electrolye must be present for electrons to flow; conditions favoring that reaction, while theoretically possible during shaving, would be extremely uncommon in my home. Surface polish and the presence of lubricants factor in also, mirror polish wold be less problematic, a coating of oil would stop or impede the flow.
In theory, ambient conditons such as air, humidity, pollution and such could all combine to allow galvanic corrosion to occur. But, I think 100s of years, at least, would have to pass before anyone found a razor suffering from galvanic corrosion from typical ambient conditions. Unprotected carbon steels rust on their own in the presence of humidity and pollutants, and I would expect that to be the main hurdle to deal with there.
Brass washers on carbon steel blades have been extremely common for centuries - we do find rust in pivots but I am more inclined to think it's mostly due to typical oxidation, and not galvanic corrosion. I would not expect an aluminum pin on a carbon steel blade to be any more problematic, possibly less so actually. But the presence of brass or stainless pivot washers/collars in that assembly would, in theory, present a different set of possibilities.
Hahaha... just realized that Glen's post above was written in 2009.
