Crazy question: spray painting a razor

I have a Gem 1912 that I paid one cent for on eBay. The razor has a small spot of rust which I want to treat to keep it from spreading.

On top of that, I thought it may be fun to spray paint it and top it with a clear coat. Do you see any issues with shaving with something that has been painted ?

Sluggo said:

I have a Gem 1912 that I paid one cent for on eBay. The razor has a small spot of rust which I want to treat to keep it from spreading.

On top of that, I thought it may be fun to spray paint it and top it with a clear coat. Do you see any issues with shaving with something that has been painted ?

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If you clear coat it after you paint it I don't see a problem. Eventually the clear coat will wear through and you will have to redo it. But that's probably year's down the road. I say give it a try.

Clayton

You own it, do what you want with it, It wouldn't harm the performance I wouldn't think. I don't know how durable the paint will be if sprayed to the plating but I'm sure someone will chime in. Hardcore "purists" may curse you about the originality of the razor but again it's your razor.

Here's my 2 cents:

I bought a 1929 National steel guitar in the late 60s which had been spray-painted green. I stripped the paint off, and applied clear coat to keep it from rusting. 40+ years later, it still looks fine.

On the Gem, you won't be spraying anything that will actually be in contact with the cutting edge, so why not? You'll have a fine old razor that you brought back to life, and a good story and memory. And you only risk a buck.

Go for it!

Codfish

If it helps, your razor is not rusting.
It's made of brass.

amishmotorboat said:

If it helps, your razor is not rusting.
It's made of brass.

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Let's expand on that thought for a moment.
The rust you see was more than likely left over from a carbon steel blade that was left in it and not allowed to dry properly.
This is surface rust and as amishmotorboat mentioned, brass does not rust.
A little soak in scrubbing bubbles (or equivalent) and an old toothbrush should be adequate for scrubbing the rust off the surface.
That's what I do with my vintage SE razors I rescue off ebay.

When I first joined B&B there was a gent discussing some sort of "dip" or spray used for recoating guns. Didn't know anything about vintage razors at the time and still know nothing about gun restoration but almost seems like looking into before spray painting. IIRC you could source this dip/spray at a gun maybe even a hobby store. Anyone else remember that post?

Paint, plasti-dip, nail polish, replate, whatever..

Top row are all adjustables. First three - left to right are same model.

On the left is Plasti-dip. Next is just a normal Slim Adjustable, the Blue white and red is nail polish, the one on the right is a black handled Super Adjustable.

Well I am going to paint it Ford blue with two coats of clear coat.

Sluggo said:

Well I am going to paint it Ford blue with two coats of clear coat.

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Finally made up your mind? Sounds like fun. I'd go with a BMW Jade Grun, myself.

Remember to do before and after pics. Because everyone loves pics.

DEinWV said:

Remember to do before and after pics. Because everyone loves pics.

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I think you can do whatever you want. If you need more encouragement, we really want to see what it looks like after you do what you were hoping to do all along regardless of our responses.

Pics!

The handle turned out great, but the head is a different story. I am having a hard time getting the paint to stick.

Pics!

Did you do any sanding + base coat?

I used denatured alcohol before doing the plasti-dip.

You really want to get any polish, wax, grime, or any film off before painting or applying a new finish.

Even fingerprints can cause issues.

Spray paint is a little thin, if that's the route you're taking.

Maybe for a start spray some paint into a paper cup and use a small brush or Q-tip to get the first coat on?

Several light coats always work better than few heavy coats.

Good luck!!

.. oh yeah, PICS!!

Here is the razor as it stands now; I removed the paint from the head, which was pretty easy to do but I think the handle turned out nicely (other than my crappy iPhone photo).

I did spray two coats of primer, two coats of ford blue, and two coats of clear...but I tried getting cute and effed up the head.

I shaved with it this morning, a great two pass experience!

That looks pretty good!

Sluggo said:

Well I am going to paint it Ford blue with two coats of clear coat.

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Which Version?. Lite or dark Ford Blue. Either one ought to look pretty cool. However Chevy Orange would truly be an eye opener in the morning .

Clayton