Another Broken Straight :(

[Scissors]

...and I just bought the darn thing, and it was a beauty, a Heljestrom with clear acrylic scales I got from sooperman on B/S/T:

It was completely my fault, and I'm lucky I wasn't injured.

In trying to remove some minor water stains, I gave the entire blade a water patina by letting it sit in vinegar. I improvised a jig with some magnets and a piece of metal and tried to buff it clean with a dremel and a buffing attachment. I was getting some good results when there was a sudden CRACK! and the result was the broken blade and two shards you see above.

I didn't find the larger chip for a while. It's lucky it didn't end up in my face or neck.

It was a beautiful blade and shaved quite differently from my other razors. It was in fine condition, and the water stains that made me put it in the vinegar bath (something I read could help remove water stains from stainless steel, so I figured it would work on carbon steel—guess that assumption was made of fail, eh?) were my doing.

Lessons learned:

1. If you don't know how to do something, ask them that knows on the board.
2. The Heljestrom is a really interesting razor
3. Luck is not a sufficient precaution when working with power tools, even something like a dremmel.

 

[holli4pirating]

If you were trying to remove water stains, why did you stain the entier blade by soaking it in vinegar?

You've gotta be very careful with all power tools, especially dremels, and especially on full hollow blades.

 

[richmondesi]

If you were trying to remove water stains, why did you stain the entier blade by soaking it in vinegar?

You've gotta be very careful with all power tools, especially dremels, and especially on full hollow blades.

Yes... Dremel + Straight Razor = Dangerous combination... Only the masters should attempt this. Oh yeah, and Seraphims

 

[charismata]

A fine example of why I don't recommend dremmels.

From the picture, it looks like you've lost about 35 - 40 percent of the blade. The other 60 - 65 percent can be salvaged. It would need new scales to fit. I'm sure it would probably be a fine mini razor.

If you don't have available tools, I could grind it down and build a new set of scales for you. I am all caught up on my restorations after the razors that I completed this weekend. If you cover postage for the return shipping, I'll do it for a fellow B&B'er free of charge. You can probably be shaving with it again in a week or so.

PM me if you're interested and we'll work out the details.

 

[SliceOfLife]

Seraph does his mods with a dremel?

Crap. I gotta find his shop and watch him sometime.

Sorry about the razor man. It happened once to me with a Bengall. I was taking out a massive chip from a rusty trashed razor though, so it's not the same as killing one of your shavers. Bury her with dignity.

 

[mainaman]

Did you try a hand polishing ?
When you use dremel you need to pay attnetion to the direction of rotation of the mandrel. Also its possible the steel was weak in that spot and it just broke.

 

[JPM]

That's a shame! Glad you weren't hurt.