Can this be saved?

I just got this grelot, and it has the most beautiful decoration on the blade, but it has some rust. I sanded out the rust from the tang and reverse, and this steel pits. Deep. I'm wondering if something like naval jelly, rub with an oiled cloth and repeat would get the rust out without destroying the gold, and at leadt let me see if the blade can be salvaged




I can easily sand all this down and get a mirror polish, but I really want to save this goldwork

you can save the razor, but I doubt you can save the gold wash.

^ I agree. Rust is much more stubborn than gold wash unfortunately.

I also doubt that you can save the etching at all...

Before you kill all of the wash, try naval jelly. You may need to ask for it at your hardware store. It is not usually in intuitive locations

Is there really no way to save the gold? ( I have a globusman waiting for restoration till I get some more skills...)

Rogier D. said:

Is there really no way to save the gold? ( I have a globusman waiting for restoration till I get some more skills...)

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Not if you want to clean up the blade.

Very helpful thread. I was offered a straight razor with rust on the gold etching for $10. I'm glad I didn't take it because the gold was the part I liked about the razor and would have been bummed to learn that I couldn't save it. Thanks guys

What is naval jelly, exactly, and why might it be useful in this instance?

ljungberg said:

What is naval jelly, exactly, and why might it be useful in this instance?

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I was wondering the same thing...might go well with belly button lint

On a serious note..I wonder if any one has tried it on a resto project.

http://www.amazon.com/Permatex-81756-Naval-Jelly-Dissolver/dp/B0007TQW5G

It's good stuff. It is a weak etchant acid that dissolves rust. It makes it easier to wipe off, without hard sanding. I use it with badly rusted razors before sanding them, it saves a lot of time

I'm trying to remember the name of the rust remover I used some 20 years ago for removing rust from guns when I was polishing and re-bluing guns. (Full salt bath, HOT - as in the potassium & sodium hydroxide salt solution is so dense it boils at 300 degrees - process with It is NOT a phosphoric acid based solution, and it is done at elevated temperatures - I don't remember if it boiling or only something like 190 degrees... It's been a long time, and I generally just polished out the pits... I want to say the stuff wasn't toxic enough to have to worry about wearing gloves, but I don't remember for sure. It was a clear liquid that was diluted with water. I'm not going to say it won't dissolve gold, but it would likely be FAR more gentle than naval jelly on the gold plating, and if it doesn't say, give them a call, they have experienced gun-smiths there who have used all their products, and I'll almost guarantee you they would know for sure.

I also remember a *wonderful* rust preventative in a pump spray bottle that would keep even freshly polished gun steel rust-free for years with a single treatment, yet washed off completely with just water - no silicone or anything to mess up the bluing process. (Gun steel, coming off of a buffing wheel can show rust spots in less than 30 minutes... So the instant you finish with the final polish you *must* hit it with a rust-preventative, and *anything* with silicone will pretty much trash the bluing process.)

I got it from Brownells in Montezuma Iowa - huge gun-smithing supplier... You can also remove rust electrolyticly with a battery, but that might also "un-plate" the gold from the razor.

OK, I went and found the product, it's called Steel White http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/pid=1084/Product/STEEL-WHITE Doesn't HAVE to be heated, but can be heated to 120 for faster action. Non-toxic, supposed to be safe for soft metals and inlay... Since the stuff is water soluble and needs to be diluted, you are going to want to have ALL the oils off of the blade so the rust remover can penetrate well. If you decide to get it, I'd look into one of their cleaning agents also.

Naval jelly, hmmm, had never heard of it before but sounds like good stuff. Thanks, Rsq!