Rust on an Ralf Aust

[Gamma]

Yeah, wet shaving plus steel gear = some rust sometimes. Water gets into places on its own it seems, condensation for example. Two blades sitting out, one rusts, one doesn't. No one knows why.
Dust is evil, it absorbs water and it sits on the surface and acts like a little sponge glued to the blade.
The good news is that 200 yr old razors with rusty pivots still shave well... And your rust is manageable.
I always unpin so I can get inside the pivot and kill all the rust.

 

[TSENG]

I would use electrolysis to remove rust.

 

[Tomo]

Yeah, you can’t really blame Ralf for that one. It looks like you dripped some water into the pivot at some point. You should be able to polish it out easily enough with metal polish or fine grit WD paper. I’ve saved a lot of rust buckets that were in much worse condition than that. It’s annoying but it’s not the end of the world.

Humidity plays a big part in rust prevention but it’s not the whole story. You can get rust even in low humidity environments. If the temperature fluctuates you will likely get some level of condensation on the steel. Contamination and salt from your sweat plays a part too. Personally, I oil all of my carbon blades with Balistol after each shave. That might be as little as a wipe down with an oily rag after I dry them (thoroughly with a piece of toilet including between the scales). Occasionally I’ll put a drop of Balistol into the pivot and work it in. Oil is your friend.

If you want to take the low maintenance route there are plenty of good stainless steel blades around. Ralf offers them as an option on all razors. I have one and it’s a good razor. I also have a Henkles Friodur that I use for travel. I can’t understand why the stainless blades aren’t more popular. They shave pretty good for me.

 

[Eastcoast30]

I have an additional point here. Much of this thread deals with water in the pivot area. And I did say earlier that it is impossible to be careful while shaving day after day and year after year. Water is gonna get in there.

But the additional point is that beard hair, dust, possibly lint will also make their way into that pivot. Now you have a trap for moisture. That is why I thoroughly rinse the pivot after each shave and then dry with moisture absorbing paper, like toilet paper.

Remember, you said you leave the razor standing straight in a glass jar. Pivot up or pivot down, you are not protecting from dust, etc. That is another reason to store in the original box, or in a sleeve. Wrapping in VCI paper first does not hurt.

 

[Loner16]

Steel and water, moisture, humidity do not play well together. Some alloys are a bit more prone than others, but none are immune. Even some "stainless" alloys can oxidize.
I would not even think of returning that razor.. that damage is due to carelessness.
Send it out to your artisan of choice for new scales, have the tang cleaned up and mirror polished.. so there is less space for moisture to hide. Be sure there are washers on the pivot pin at the new scales... and be careful in the future.

Chalk it up as a lesson learned.

 

[Tomo]

I have an additional point here. Much of this thread deals with water in the pivot area. And I did say earlier that it is impossible to be careful while shaving day after day and year after year. Water is gonna get in there.

But the additional point is that beard hair, dust, possibly lint will also make their way into that pivot. Now you have a trap for moisture. That is why I thoroughly rinse the pivot after each shave and then dry with moisture absorbing paper, like toilet paper.

Remember, you said you leave the razor standing straight in a glass jar. Pivot up or pivot down, you are not protecting from dust, etc. That is another reason to store in the original box, or in a sleeve. Wrapping in VCI paper first does not hurt.

I’m very surprised to hear that you rinse the razor pivot after each shave. I would think that it’s nearly impossible to dry the hole where the pin goes through the razor. It’s just not possible to get in there with the scales on. It seems to be working for you but it sounds quite risky for me. I don’t have any problem keeping the pivot and tang dry while shaving. I do tend to steer clear of runny lather though. I can’t bear it when lather runs down the blade. In the rare event that the pivot needs a rinse out I flush it with Balistol.

 

[Kyle89]

Ralf Aust, more like Rust Aust (ohhhh).


It's carbon steel. It can rust. I've seen some pretty shotty blades be restored into great shavers. Sometimes lapses in maintenance happens and it's not the end of the world.

None of our razors are impervious.

 

[TSENG]

Yeah, you can’t really blame Ralf for that one. It looks like you dripped some water into the pivot at some point. You should be able to polish it out easily enough with metal polish or fine grit WD paper. I’ve saved a lot of rust buckets that were in much worse condition than that. It’s annoying but it’s not the end of the world.

Humidity plays a big part in rust prevention but it’s not the whole story. You can get rust even in low humidity environments. If the temperature fluctuates you will likely get some level of condensation on the steel. Contamination and salt from your sweat plays a part too. Personally, I oil all of my carbon blades with Balistol after each shave. That might be as little as a wipe down with an oily rag after I dry them (thoroughly with a piece of toilet including between the scales). Occasionally I’ll put a drop of Balistol into the pivot and work it in. Oil is your friend.

If you want to take the low maintenance route there are plenty of good stainless steel blades around. Ralf offers them as an option on all razors. I have one and it’s a good razor. I also have a Henkles Friodur that I use for travel. I can’t understand why the stainless blades aren’t more popular. They shave pretty good for me.

Because the stainless steel razor needs more experience to handle to enjoy a comfortable shave. It cannot be handled with a carbon steel razor.

 

[Possum092]

I wipe my RA down with baby oil. Cheap and never had any issues with rust. Bonus you can swallow baby oil without any issues, so I never swipe off the oil; just go straight to shaving.

 

[Eastcoast30]

I’m very surprised to hear that you rinse the razor pivot after each shave. I would think that it’s nearly impossible to dry the hole where the pin goes through the razor. It’s just not possible to get in there with the scales on. It seems to be working for you but it sounds quite risky for me. I don’t have any problem keeping the pivot and tang dry while shaving. I do tend to steer clear of runny lather though. I can’t bear it when lather runs down the blade. In the rare event that the pivot needs a rinse out I flush it with Balistol.

I don't think there is adequate entry geometry for water to get into that hole. The toilet paper is absorbent and takes out water by capillary action once it is deep in the pivot area. Once that is done, I lay the razor out for several hours to thoroughly dry before putting it away. I lay it below a large computer monitor that throws heat. I'm convinced the razor is thoroughly dry before I put it away.

 

[TSENG]

This balloon tool can blow out some water, wait for it to dry before oiling it.