High Class Help - A tale of ebay woe

[RumpleBearskin]

I recently purchased a Puma High Class from the bay. And while I thought I was scrutinizing every detail of the photos they posted, I evidently was not diligent enough. When the razor arrived, the spots I had believed to be water marks or surface discolorations turned out to be tiny towers of corrosion (rust?) that turn every surface of the blade into a very effective rasp.

Now, I had figured I would have to do a little clean-up, so I used some CLR and a soft toothbrush and made minor progress in dulling the rasp, but not in removing the corrosion. I next went to WD40 (based on a thread I saw on B&B) and the toothbrush, but without any significant improvement.

After my failed attempts, I gave it a liberal coat of mineral oil in the hope of preventing any more damage.

Here is the current state of the razor.

As you can see, the corrosion spots are all over full length of the blade on both sides. There's also a "spiderweb" of raised corrosion along the spine.

So ... What to do? I am not planning on getting into restoration, and I don't want to spend 3x the cost of the razor on restoration gear. I guess I'm looking for:

1. Suggestions for a good person to undertake this project for me
2. A "guesstimate" on how much a restoration would likely cost me
3. And in the off chance that I have to attempt this myself (please, please don't let it come to that), recommendations on the best way to attack the corrosion (and hopefully preserve the remaining gold wash)

Thanks in advance for any and all help.

 

[Schwabenchris]

I recently had a similar problem.

First it is good that you covered it with oil, that is softening the corrosion a little.

What worked fine for me so far, was taking a piece of old cloth covering my nail with one layer of it, and scratching the raised corrosion off. Don't scratch to hard! I didn't damage the gold wash on my ERN with it.

What is still left, are some spots where the gold wash appears to be darker, I didn't find a solution for that yet, but we will see!

 

[migralda]

Looking at the pics I would be very surprised if you could find good steel anywhere along the whole length of the blade.
The corrosion seems to have affected the entire blade.
I once bought a 7/8ths Marvex Barbers razor that looked lightly pitted in the pics but I ended up writing it off as the edge of the blade crumbled constantly while honing.

 

[Slash McCoy]

Chances IMHO are about 50/50 of ever making a good shaver out of it. Depends on the depth of the pitting. Not worth paying someone to hone. My suggestion is apply a thick coating of petroleum jelly and seal it up in a ziploc bag with all the air squeezed out. Talking deep, long term storage. When you have learned to hone, after your first few successes, revisit this razor. Take it to a Harbor Freight 200 grit diamond plate until you see a bevel that is totally free of pitting at the edge. Don't stop until you see a clean edge. You may take off a full 1/8" or even more, but don't sweat it. It's gotta be done. Then progress as usual. Pitting at the edge is cause for tossing the razor, so if you hone it to a toothpick looking for good steel, no big loss. Of course you COULD find a good edge in there, and then you got another shave ready razor. You can never have too many of them. DO NOT TAPE LOL! When you take THAT MUCH steel off the edge, you darn well better have taken off a proportional amount from the spine, too.

This razor will NEVER be a beauty queen, in spite of some rather attractive scales. So don't fret the "spine wear". Gitter done, or toss it. You can't tiptoe around a razor that needs that much steel removed. You can hone it to nothing, or you can toss it, or you can (maybe) shave with it. You can't make a showpiece out of it, especially if you will be actually using the razor for its intended purpose.

 

[RumpleBearskin]

First, thanks for the advice. It's greatly appreciated.

@Slash McCoy , am I understanding that your recommendation is to:

1. Prevent further corrosion (petroleum jelly and sealed ziploc)
2. Learn to hone (I'm at the attempting to hone with variable results stage)
3. Hone it without worrying about the corrosion anywhere but the edge to see if it will ever shave
4. If it gets to a point where it will take an edge, then worry about the rest of the blade's aesthetics.

Did I interpret that right?

Thanks again.

 

[Slash McCoy]

First, thanks for the advice. It's greatly appreciated.

@Slash McCoy , am I understanding that your recommendation is to:

1. Prevent further corrosion (petroleum jelly and sealed ziploc)
2. Learn to hone (I'm at the attempting to hone with variable results stage)
3. Hone it without worrying about the corrosion anywhere but the edge to see if it will ever shave
4. If it gets to a point where it will take an edge, then worry about the rest of the blade's aesthetics.

Did I interpret that right?

Thanks again.

Pretty much, yeah, except item 4. That razor will never be a showpiece, so don't bother. Just get it shaving if possible and let it just be ugly. Pretty doesn't shave. Sharp shaves.

Try learning to hone by The Method, AKA Newbie Honing Compendium | Badger & Blade. Its the cheap way to get started, and its the fast way to learn, and I don't know of any style of honing that creates a sharper edge, FWIW.

 

[FarmerTan]

That's a pity. But those scales are nice looking.

 

[seattleshaver]

It's not an ugly razor. Just don't worry about the gold leaf. Once it starts to rust and the gold leaf starts to come off, just worry about the rust.

Use some Mother's Polish and polish the sides of the blade and the edges to get off what you can easily get off. The edge may not have deep pitting.

Try to hone it. It's only pitting at the edge that affects the shave. Maybe it isn't that bad. Do a quick honing job and try shaving with it. If it shaves, great! Clean up the sides of the blade and don't worry about the gold leaf and it will be a nice razor.

 

[Rugger007]

I’d use some MAAS, as it has a mild abrasive in it, put on a movie, park my butt and have at the razor. See where that leaves you, if it removes most of the pitting give it a hone. Depending on how deep the pitting is, you may be able to sand it out with 400 wet dry, if it works great, if not I’d unpin and keep the scales and toss the steel.

 

[alpster]

Start with 220 grit wet sandpaper to take off ALL the corosion and keep sanding off the scratches with a progression of 320, 400, 600 and 1000 wet paper. Finish with your favorite metal polish. I have restored much worse blades. Forget about saving the etching/goldwash and make a good shaver out of it. I think its still going to be a fine razor. If you are reluctant to try it yourself, send it to me and I will clean it up for you for the price of postage.

 

[RumpleBearskin]

@alpster thanks for the kind offer and the advice. I very well may be in touch...

 

[Slash McCoy]

Very generous of you, Alpster. You are a true badger among badgers.

 

[David]

Well done, Ronnie! OP I would definitely take Ronnie up on that.

 

[RumpleBearskin]

Update - The seller has agreed to let me return the razor. Despite the most generous offer from @alpster, I believe that if the razor would ever shave, I would be disappointed based on what I had hoped for. That may be childish, but these are the only toys in my toybox these days.

Thanks again for all the help and generous offers. I'm very pleased to be part of this wonderful community.

 

[psfred]

Looks like the celluoid scales are going south. When they deteriorate, they release nitric acid, which both catalyzes further "rot" and eats steel.

Return would be the best option if you are disappointed in the appearance, as it will never be pretty. Depending on edge condition, it might shave very nicely though.

 

[stone and strop]

Looks like the celluoid scales are going south. When they deteriorate, they release nitric acid, which both catalyzes further "rot" and eats steel.

Return would be the best option if you are disappointed in the appearance, as it will never be pretty. Depending on edge condition, it might shave very nicely though.

I don't actually think it is cell rot.
This particular type of scales seem to cause the most cell rot IMO but the rot is generally concentrated where the yellow parts of the scales are.
When the razor is closed the concentrated rust will coincide with the yellow "blotches" on the scales. I have seen several Pumas with this.
This seems more spread out including the rust on the tail which is never in the scales anyway.
A shame none the less.

 

[psfred]

Maybe not. However, the ones I've seen have most of the corrosion where the scales cover the blade, but if it was stored in a fairly well sealed container (tight box, etc) all parts of the razor will have some corrosion.

Sad, it was a beautiful razor

 

[stone and strop]

Maybe not. However, the ones I've seen have most of the corrosion where the scales cover the blade, but if it was stored in a fairly well sealed container (tight box, etc) all parts of the razor will have some corrosion.

Sad, it was a beautiful razor

Yes you're right, it is always worse where the scale covers the blade but it is generally more concentrated at the yellow portion of the Tortoise shell style.
Puma seem to have used it more than others but I have seen Kama and a Dovo's with the same scales.
It happens really fast and out of the blue. Don't know what triggers it some 50 years later.

 

[psfred]

Cellulose nitrate isn't the most stable substance known to man, alas. Same problem with nitrate film base.

 

[stone and strop]

Yep, I had a horrible experience with it once.
I was trying to heat up a blade handle to fix the warp and it burst into flame. I couldn't even blow it out. I had to run it under water to put it out. It was like a kids sparkler on the forth of July. Unbelievable tenacity of the flame.
Scary stuff!