I bought this Dovo Prima Silver Steel off of a Facebook post. And of course, it looked better in the pictures than when I got it. There is some sort of corrosion along the edge of the blade. And I am wondering how to fix it. I just took pictures of the front because it's the worst. The back has these same marks but just not as bad. It looks like something may have been left on the blade at one point. Like, shave soap or something. It feels smooth to the touch but when I drag a fingernail across it, there is some slight resistance like it's rougher than the rest of the blade. How do I remove this without losing the decoration on the blade?
How to fix this?
- Thread starter lomfs24
- Start date
It is common to find razors in Antique Stores, where some yahoo dry shaved with the razor and left bits of beard, skin and blood on the edge and the bevel is eaten by rust from years of being stored in a case. But yours looks like much more is going on, it could be Cell rot.
You are going to lose some blade width and if you try to preserve the gold, you are in for a challenge, sanding without removing gold. Tape off the gold and cut off as much of the active rust off with a sharp single edge razor blade,
Tape the spine and see if you can set a bevel or if the edge is too heavily pitted. If pitted, you will need to remove as much of the edge until you get to solid steel.
Then start sanding with some 600 wet and dry and a wine cork backer, take it to 2k and polish with a good metal polish.
You are going to lose some blade width and if you try to preserve the gold, you are in for a challenge, sanding without removing gold. Tape off the gold and cut off as much of the active rust off with a sharp single edge razor blade,
Tape the spine and see if you can set a bevel or if the edge is too heavily pitted. If pitted, you will need to remove as much of the edge until you get to solid steel.
Then start sanding with some 600 wet and dry and a wine cork backer, take it to 2k and polish with a good metal polish.
Before you do anything potentially destructive. Get some "Barkeepers friend" and make a paste with a little water. Dab the paper towel and rub the debris off. You might just find that you are OK. Avoid the gold wash (etching). The mild abrasive in the BKF will take it off.
- Thread starter
- #4
Thanks for the reply. The sad thing is, this isn't even an old blade. The guy I bought it from said it's only about a year old. Can you get cell rot if it's not a cellulose handle(scales I should say)? This handle is ebony. It seems to be a fairly recent blade. When I feel down the blade it doesn't feel to be pitted. If I run my finger along the edge it feels smooth. Only if I drag a nail across the side of the blade do I feel any sort of resistance. So it has to be pretty shallow.
Oh, and in the one picture, it looks like the edge has rust on it. That is just the lighting. It doesn't appear to have rust on the edge.
- Thread starter
- #5
Thanks, I had thought about Comet or Ajax as well. But I didn't know how destructive that would be to the edge. I'll sure give this a try first.
Comet or Ajax will likely have chlorine (corrosive) as an ingredient. I would avoid them.
It kind of looks like rust that someone has already scraped off.
Tape the gold on the blade with scotch tape, then tape over with good electrical so it over hangs the scotch tape a bit and is secured to the blade. This way you are less likely to rip off the gold when you remove the tape.
Cut off all the rust with a single edge razor blade, see what you have to work with. The sooner you stop the rust the better you chance of getting to solid steel.
Put it on a 1k and re-set the bevel, see if you can get a pit/chip free bevel. If the scales are Ebony, it’s not Cell rot unless it was stored with an off-gassing Cell Rot razor. Most probably put away dirty.
But yes, you can get cell rot on a razor even if the razor does not have Celluloid scales. I once saw a case in an Antique store with a razor off gassing. I told the shop employees what was happening. Returned 3 months later and everything in that case that was metal had been attacked. The razor and a hand full of others were trashed.
Cell rot will usually attack the thinnest metal first, the edge.
Cut off all the rust with a single edge razor blade, see what you have to work with. The sooner you stop the rust the better you chance of getting to solid steel.
Put it on a 1k and re-set the bevel, see if you can get a pit/chip free bevel. If the scales are Ebony, it’s not Cell rot unless it was stored with an off-gassing Cell Rot razor. Most probably put away dirty.
But yes, you can get cell rot on a razor even if the razor does not have Celluloid scales. I once saw a case in an Antique store with a razor off gassing. I told the shop employees what was happening. Returned 3 months later and everything in that case that was metal had been attacked. The razor and a hand full of others were trashed.
Cell rot will usually attack the thinnest metal first, the edge.
Are you sure that it is corrosion and not just some kind of schmutz? Have you tried soap and hot water?
Not sure how much experience you have with straight razors, but you do not want to get water on/in the pivot pin, so handle with care and dry the blade thoroughly with a cotton cloth/towel or paper towel.
You might also want to try Mothers or Flitz metal polish putting a piece of tape over the gold wash.
And welcome to Badger & Blade, @lomfs24.
Not sure how much experience you have with straight razors, but you do not want to get water on/in the pivot pin, so handle with care and dry the blade thoroughly with a cotton cloth/towel or paper towel.
You might also want to try Mothers or Flitz metal polish putting a piece of tape over the gold wash.
And welcome to Badger & Blade, @lomfs24.
Is this your first razor? Do you have any stones or experience honing a razor?
If it is your first, you may not want to learn on this one, it is a fairly nice razor or could be once cleaned up.
If it is your first, you may not want to learn on this one, it is a fairly nice razor or could be once cleaned up.
- Thread starter
- #11
Thank you for the welcome. I am pretty sure it's not just some schmutz. I did try hot water with just like some mild soap like hand soap. This is my first straight razor, but I have researched enough to know that I shouldn't get the pivot pin wet and to keep it dry while not working with it. I will try some metal polish on it.
- Thread starter
- #12
It's kinda my first one. I have another one that is brand new. I can use it while I am getting this one cleaned up. And I don't have any experience honing a razor, but I have a lot of experience honing and sharpening other sharp things. It is a nice razor, but for the money I have it in, it won't be the end of the world of it goes south on me. I do have stones, and I have a 12K coming in tomorrow.
rbscebu
Girls call me Makaluod
This statement always rings alarm bells to me. To hone a straight razor, you must first unlearn and forget everything that you have ever done when sharpening "other shap things". The only similarity is the word "honing".
You should have @Doc226 hone one of your razors so you know what a good edge is/feels like. I have found that only some shave-ready edges meet the bar for me.
So first accept that honing a razor is unlike honing anything else. Nothing that you have sharpened has likely been put to your face. The goal of honing any other tool is to make it sharp. The goal of honing a razor is to make it sharp and comfortable. Sharp is easy.
If you accept that, you will have success, if not, you will have a difficult time creating a shaving edge. There are many good razor honing videos but finding a mentor to help guide you will cut your learning curve dramatically.
You will need a progression of stones from 1k to the 12k,, good magnification and a decent strop. Stropping itself is critical to producing a shaving edge and maintaining it daily. A single errant stroke can ruin a shaving edge. Stropping can take some time to master.
Even though you do not have a lot of money invested in this razor it is a decent one that properly honed will provide a lifetime of shaving. Buy another decent $20 vintage razor and learn to hone on that.
Which other stones do you have, and do you have magnification and a good strop? Where are you located.
If you accept that, you will have success, if not, you will have a difficult time creating a shaving edge. There are many good razor honing videos but finding a mentor to help guide you will cut your learning curve dramatically.
You will need a progression of stones from 1k to the 12k,, good magnification and a decent strop. Stropping itself is critical to producing a shaving edge and maintaining it daily. A single errant stroke can ruin a shaving edge. Stropping can take some time to master.
Even though you do not have a lot of money invested in this razor it is a decent one that properly honed will provide a lifetime of shaving. Buy another decent $20 vintage razor and learn to hone on that.
Which other stones do you have, and do you have magnification and a good strop? Where are you located.
- Thread starter
- #16
I do understand that honing a razor is unlike sharpening other things. At this point, I am regretting that I mentioned that I have even seen anything sharp in my life. I have watched a plethora of videos and read nearly as many articles and how-tos. At some point, I have to begin. I have a progression of stones, some courser grits that are not pertinent to this conversation, a 1K, 4K, 8k, and a 12K arriving in my mailbox today that I picked up just for this. I have an Illinois Leather strop with a canvas strop. I also have magnification. And at some point, I have to learn how to do this. I could just routinely send them out to be honed, but that would kinda defeat the purpose of getting into this. It would be like a hobbyist who assembled model ships in a glass bottle but that they sent out to actually be assembled in the bottle.
As with most of my hobbies or activities, it would be nice to have a tutor at my side. But living in remote rural Montana, I don't have that luxury. Quite frankly, I don't know anyone who uses a SR, and the barbers that I know who give shaves use a shavette for sanitary reasons so may not be a good resource. And at that, they are booked out 2 months. Getting one to sit down and train you would be difficult at best. So at one point, I have to dive in and learn.
This particular razor is, in fact, a very nice razor. But never once do I anticipate it to be my one and only. I also have a brand new Bismarck that I will reserve until I am better at honing.
In any event, this thread is straying a ways from the original topic of getting the blemishes off the blade.
Most threads go off on a bird walk.
Likely, this razor will need some repair work, which is not Garden-Variety honing, but you will not know that until you try to set the bevel. Just be aware of that.
Put 2 layers of tape on the spine and see if it will hold an edge.
Likely, this razor will need some repair work, which is not Garden-Variety honing, but you will not know that until you try to set the bevel. Just be aware of that.
Put 2 layers of tape on the spine and see if it will hold an edge.
- Thread starter
- #18
I have high hopes for it holding an edge. It seems to hold an edge right now. I will shave arm hair across the whole blade and under magnification you can see the bevel run all the way out to the toe. So I think it will be ok. The blemishes seem to be mostly surface blemishes. When you run your finger over it, it's smooth, not rough like rust. It's only when you run a nail across the blemish do you feel any sort of resistance. I will work with it later today when I get my 12k stone in.
Have you tried using Barkeepers Friend on it yet? It's just a razor, not a Sumerian artifact. If it's superficial like you suspect it should clean up nice.
Honing is not like sharpening but it's not rocket science either. If you can find a cheap antique store razor or even an ebay ugly duckling you can probably learn quickly without worrying about messing it up. And you'll likely learn how to deal with corrosion. Also, you'll probably make some mistakes but learning how to correct them is part of the process.
Honing is not like sharpening but it's not rocket science either. If you can find a cheap antique store razor or even an ebay ugly duckling you can probably learn quickly without worrying about messing it up. And you'll likely learn how to deal with corrosion. Also, you'll probably make some mistakes but learning how to correct them is part of the process.
- Thread starter
- #20
Darth, this is what I suspected. There is a learning curve but not rocket science. And I don't really want to mess this one up, but the fact is, it's not the end of the world if I do.
I have not tried BKF yet. But I am going to try it right now. Maybe pick up a little metal polish afterward if needed. I don't think it's as bad as it looks in the pictures.
I have not tried BKF yet. But I am going to try it right now. Maybe pick up a little metal polish afterward if needed. I don't think it's as bad as it looks in the pictures.
