Is this the start of cell rot?

[RumpleBearskin]

Posted a picture on a FB group and someone commented that the scales were going and cell rot was starting. On closer inspection I see hazing along the heel. But not sure if it's the dreaded rot...

Looking for opinions from those more knowledgeable.

Also, if the consensus is cell rot, I'm interested in what, if anything, I can do to clear the blade after changing the scales.

 

[stone and strop]

A little hard to tell from the photo but yes it looks like it.
The swell in the blade damage matches the swell in the "grain" of the scale. Yellow is the worst culprit.

 

[Legion]

Cell rot usually looks more active, like red rust pinpricks. That almost looks like it could have been the start of cell rot, and someone has polished it off, and you are seeing the scars. But it could also have been plain old rust from if the blade was left wet.

Either way, I would probably quarantine the razor from your others and keep an eye on it. If you see active rust magically appear get those scales off asap.

 

[RumpleBearskin]

Follow-up ...

I spent some time with the razor this afternoon. Tried to polish the discoloration (what do I call it?) out with Flitz. No luck. I don't want to go to W/D at this point since I'm not really sure the steel is degrading.

There's no "rust" there, so I added a layer of RenWax to hopefully seal everything but the bevel and spine contact point. Honed it on the Les Lat with a light slurry diluted to running water. I'll give it a bit of time to see if it progresses.

Still keeping it away from its brethren.

 

[stone and strop]

Hopefully it will be ok.

 

[Legion]

You put Ren Wax on and then honed it?

 

[RumpleBearskin]

You put Ren Wax on and then honed it?

Yup. May be backwards, but my reasoning is that I don't want anything on the edge after it's been honed.

 

[Legion]

Yup. May be backwards, but my reasoning is that I don't want anything on the edge after it's been honed.

Yeah, but now you have a little ren wax clogging the stone, and if it is cell rot then it will still be attacking the edge, which is the last place you want it.

Personally I would have left the blade free of protectant so you could keep an eye on it, then discard the scales if it gets worst. If it didn't get worse with an uncoated blade you could assume the scales are good and stop worrying.

 

[Njguy1977]

Alan, I would look at the blade under a 10x or a 20x loupe and see whats going on. I had a blade fall victim to cell rot, basically started out as pin pointed black specks and was only where the scale area was on the blade and edge. When in doubt, best to ditch the scales for a trusted set. Once I did that, my issue with that blade was eliminated and so far so good.

Larry