Another French razor, another case of cell rot?

CongaJon · Oct 27, 2020

This one had some black spots that I thought were patina. WRONG! They looked almost like a bad stain, with heavy pitting beneath.

These were after a bit of 120 grit. Note the spot over the bell.

The scales, showing the spot right over the bell.

What do you think? IF I can salvage the blade (and some quick passes on the diamond looked slightly promising), should those lovely scales go? Thanks again for your input!

rbscebu · Oct 27, 2020

Are you any good at surface welding

? The scales should be burnt

If it was me, I wouldn't bother with anymore work on that SR.

LJS · Oct 28, 2020

Maybe. You have some pretty deep pitting on the blade you should be thinking about. Sometimes that rust goes all the way through and deep pitting near the bevel and edge can ruin you.

Could be my eyes or the pics but I don’t see any obvious pattern from the scales which makes it more clearly cell rot vs just nasty rust but those deep pits are suspicious. You can put a piece of clean steel in the scales a few days and find out.

Question back to you is, do you want to put the time into the blade and possibly have it quickly happen again? With your scale making skills? Probably not worth it would be my guess. But like I said, clean piece of sacrificial steel can help you find out for sure if you want.

alla2465 · Oct 28, 2020

The scales can be saved, just sand them on the inside until they look nice and clean.

Doc226 · Oct 28, 2020

I would chuck the scales, the rust spot seems to line up with the scale.

Before you waste any more time on the blade, try to get a nice clean bevel, if you can't, no sense in cleaning anything up

Gamma · Oct 29, 2020

My guts say no to cell rot. But someone has done a lot of sanding on that steel, so it's hard to say with certainty.
I think your bevel/edge will be fine. You'll need to grind the heel back a bit first.
Those scales are really nice... I'd gamble. Quarantine the assembly though, just to be sure.

CongaJon · Oct 29, 2020

As always, Gentlemen, I thank you for your kind responses. Wish I had thought of the painfully obvious quarantine! I chopped them off, but I have a pair in the works that I hope will do them justice! It did seem kind of spotty for cell rot, but I was concerned that all the spots were below the scale line.

CongaJon · Oct 29, 2020

It wasn't my intention to use epoxy on this nice cocobolo, but the inlaid scale was pretty flexy and creaky, even after 4 coats of CA. Here they are, just after the pour. I always like to keep at least a part of the originals, if possible.