new straight razor cleanup help

[Mink]

I couldn't find a good answer in the archives.

I have a new, week old razor with white bone scales. It arrived with a little bit of black oily/oxide residue between the scales and the tang at the pivot pin. I keep wiping it away and it keeps returning. I sprayed some oil (Ballistol) on it and if anything it's getting a little worse - the black is on the bone now.

So, hopefully there's something that will dissolve or clean up the oxidation in some other way.

Help

 

[sanfranciscian]

go down to the ace hardware and get some maas metal polish, a tube ought to last a lifetime. think i paid 5$ not long ago. Good stuff.

Ian

 

[Troggie]

How do you let your razor dry out? If you pat dry and then close it and let it stand any excess moisture will get down there and it will be a continuous cycle. If it is due to this take a hair dryer and use that on the razor for a couple minutes and then let sit on the scales a washcloth or paper towel under it to catch any moisture and see if that makes a difference.

 

[Mink]

After shaving and cleanup, I leave the razor open for 4-6 hours. I live in a dry climate and have gas/forced hot air heating which is also very drying. There was a tiny bit of black right from the start - tiny bit.

I have some Maas, and will try it, but I didn't think it would dissolve the residue....but I could be completely wrong.

 

[sanfranciscian]

I forgot to mention that conventional wisdom here has it that the maas will also remove the gold wash on the front of the blade, so i have been very careful when going there, but it has cleaned up everything else for me so far.

Ian

 

[walto]

If it is a new razor, maybe some grime during the honing process got caught between the scales and the shank. Try dental floss (there is some kind of thicker and elastic floss named bridges & implants) to remove it. An ultrasonic cleaner could also get the dirt.

 

[Mink]

Whatever I can reach with a Q-tip or cotton ball I can clean up with the Maas, but I can't get between the scales and the tang - the scales are very tight (it's new). Anybody ever try soaking in alcohol (70% isopropyl) or barbicide? It's a TI Le Grelot with a mirror finish so no blade etching or wash worries.

 

[dmcconnell]

I find that sometimes I get black gunk / smudging around the pivot as a result of my regular and frequent oiling of the blade and pivot. As such, I usually just wipe it away and carry on knowing that my pivot isn't rusting behind the scales.

I personally would stay away from the alcohol soak - I don't know what that would do to your scales and in my experience makes your blade more prone to rust as it completely dissolves any oil barrier on the steel. If it is bugging you enough and you have the tools, it isn't that difficult to unpin, clean/polish as required and repin. While not risk free (ie: you could mark your scales if you're not careful) I would choose this route over any type of solvent.

Keep us posted.

 

[Mink]

The floss with WD-40 really helped, but it's not cleaned up completely. Moving the scales back and forth to get the WD-40 in and moving the floss between the tang and scales is hard - and the scales have loosened. I soaked it in barbasol for about 4-5 minutes, and it's better, but I'm definitely not there yet. I keep spraying oil on the pin/tang and wipe up the mess with Q-tips.

This razor is absolutely amazing. It's my first 6/8 and it shaves so much better and easier than my 2 5/8 razors that there's really no comparison. What takes 10-20 minutes of careful touchup to get a very smooth result with the 5/8's is a couple of minutes with this razor. I want to get another - soon - at least one more, but this black residue is just making me sick. I will keep it oiled and continue on for awhile, but I'm pretty sure it will require removing the scales and cleaning everything up.

I'd appreciate any recommendations on an oil to keep using with this problem - and as much as I dread it - I may need a recommendation on a razor guru to remove the scales, clean it up, and remount the scales. PM me if you don't want to post. Any and all recommendations, suggestions, or tips are very appreciated.

 

[sanfranciscian]

I know what you mean about the Le Grelot as it is also my favorite and it did not take me too long to purchase another one after that. mine came from martin at rasurpur and i have been using the ballistol he sent with no ill effects.

Ian

 

[Mink]

More clues:

Last night after cleaning up the razor, spraying just a touch of oil on the pivot pin, and leaving the razor open for 6 hours to dry, when I closed the blade, it popped up about 1/2" (toe). When I pushed it back in, it popped up again in about 5 seconds (still does this morning). I also noticed that there are very light scratch marks on the tang near the pin where it rotates through the scales.

This tells me that there is torque acting on the blade at the pivot. Enough torque to cause the blade to move to relieve the pressure. The pivot pin appears to be straight through the scales. So, the mounting of the scales is off somehow. The fact that the tang is showing scratches just from passing through the scales shows that the pin is very tight. The torquing is probably from the scales being bent in to mount against the tang and there is something about the peening that has put a load on the pin or scales or both. The blade is dead center in the scales.

The black is clearly from the rubbing of the tang by the scales or pivot pin.

I don't see how to fix this without repinning. Any other suggestions?

 

[Mink]

Situation under control

Martin at Rasurpur provided a very believable explanation of what's going on and I think I over-reacted. The spacer at the opposite end of the pivot is flat, not a wedge - and less than .080 thick. The tang is very thick and the gap at the pivot pin is .180. The bone scales are flat and stiff so there is pressure against the tang at the pivot pin. The scales are very tight - so tight that I couldn't get floss all the way to the pin between the scales and tang. The Le Grelot blade is older steel and a little more prone to wear than the new steels which generates the black residue. The oil will continue to flush out the residue. As time goes on and I use it more (and continue to oil the pin), the scale tightness will diminish and the black residue will stop appearing.

I think this is also fairly close to the comment above from dmcconnell and it makes sense. Can anybody recommend an oil that I could dip the pivot into?

 

[johnmrson]

Situation under control

Martin at Rasurpur provided a very believable explanation of what's going on and I think I over-reacted. The spacer at the opposite end of the pivot is flat, not a wedge - and less than .080 thick. The tang is very thick and the gap at the pivot pin is .180. The bone scales are flat and stiff so there is pressure against the tang at the pivot pin. The scales are very tight - so tight that I couldn't get floss all the way to the pin between the scales and tang. The Le Grelot blade is older steel and a little more prone to wear than the new steels which generates the black residue. The oil will continue to flush out the residue. As time goes on and I use it more (and continue to oil the pin), the scale tightness will diminish and the black residue will stop appearing.

I think this is also fairly close to the comment above from dmcconnell and it makes sense. Can anybody recommend an oil that I could dip the pivot into?

That looks like a very sound explanation. My hands get covered in a black carbon coating from the steel when I'm honing.

 

[dmcconnell]

That sounds quite plausible. I use plain old mineral oil. It has no colour or smell and I have not seen a speck of rust since I started using it almost a year ago.