Straight razor - small chip at the heel - maybe rust - how to fix

[gaben2345]

Dear everyone,

I am new to the straight razor business. Got a "new" little puppy (as long as you can call new a 60-70 years old razor) but upon inspection I noticed a 2mm x 1mm chip at the heel. Maybe it even started rusting. Do you have any suggestion what I should do whit this? Not much equipment I have home but I have a Naniwa rust eraser although for this jobbie maybe something else needed.

As this is a fresh buy from eBay and I have not used the razor yet + the razor was advertised as new (never used, so that also means I paid good money for this) I am thinking of sending it back although I really don't want that .

I found it impossible that this damage happened during shipping. I checked the eBay images and this chip is not visible there however the seller "relisted" the item (so that means he has more of the same razor) and he used the exact same picture as on my ad meaning the original ad did not have the pictures from the actual item either unfortunately.

https://imgur.com/Cgpip6d

 

[rbscebu]

I doubt that your "chip" is corrosion. Looks more like an inclusion that was originally in the steel and became evident when the blade was ground. Aside from it affecting the looks of the razor, it shouldn't affect the blade's shaving ability. If the straight razor is otherwise good, I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[gaben2345]

Thank you for the answer. Indeed this won't affect the shaving quality. I am not a metallurgy expert and I was worried that this "chip" can open up the possibility that it starts rusting in the future and on long term I'll have serious problems. Not to mention this little sexy razor cost me ~300 EUR . But other then this if this is just a cosmetical problem, I'll keep it for sure.

 

[trentr]

So I would call it cosmetic and use it. If you were concerned about it holding moisture/soap/crud in general and rusting or whatnot....I wonder if some clear 2 part epoxy would be "noticeable" if used to fill it? Or I believe pc17 is grayish. These things would not polish or shine, but no bigger than the spot is??? May be worth looking into. Or...if seller has relisted same item, will not hurt to shoot a message over and see if he would swap you out for another.

 

[Slash McCoy]

Was that a buy it now listing, or an auction? Can't post links to an open auction but once it is closed, you can, and a BIN listing you can, also. So a link might be good to post. That price is, er, "interesting". The chip is no biggie but I wouldn't expect to see that level of finish on a $300 Euro razor. Also maybe some overall pics of the razor you received, with any stamping or etching clearly captured for our viewing pleasure.

 

[gaben2345]

Of course I am more than happy to oblige . Sorry for the colors, it is getting late here. It is not visible because of the bad colors but there is a golden colored coating running through the spine, tang and tail which is a pretty nice touch I would say.

https://imgur.com/a/ExfHHYW

 

[Slash McCoy]

Of course I am more than happy to oblige . Sorry for the colors, it is getting late here. It is not visible because of the bad colors but there is a golden colored coating running through the spine, tang and tail which is a pretty nice touch I would say.

https://imgur.com/a/ExfHHYW

Oh my but you do have something nice there, actually. Anyway it would be easy enough to make that chip go away, but it doesn't really matter. OTOH, you could also send it to me, for free safe disposal.

 

[Bevel]

To be honest if I paid 300 and it had that chip, and you're sure you didn't cause it and it wasn't in the listing pictures, I would ask for a replacement ie the one in the pictures. Every time I picked that up my OCD would zone in on the chip and it would annoy me forever.
If he has a supply of them you can be fairly sure the next one sent will be inspected properly before shipping.