iwasaki tamahagane western straight restoration.

Hi, I recently had both my Iwasaki Tamahagane & Iwasaki Carbon steel razors restored. The restorer had a problem with the Tamahagane razor. Upon restoration a green/red steel discoloration appeared. It shows on both sides near the bevel. He was not sure what it was and stated that he encountered it maybe once or twice before with a vintage razor made from a particular steel. He looked at it with a magnifier and stated that it looks like some kind of peeling or anodizing of the top layer. Has anyone come across anything like this? Is there anything that can correct this? I would appreciate anyone's help on this. Thank you.

Other than that, and I do not blame him for the discoloration, he did an excellent restoration on both razors.

Never seen those colors but I would worry the temper was shot.

What was he doing when he noticed the discoloration? Buffer?

How did he restore them? Looks like buffer for me as well. If this is noticeable from both sides, can it be because of overheating?
If razor is overheated, future honing will be really tricky if possible at all.

That is some really weird discoloration. Doesn't look like heated steel to me as green would be a really weird color.

edit - wrong link

AFAIK color depends from the temperature and from the metal as well. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bismuth

I believe he was buffering when he noticed the discoloration. I will reach out to him and find out. He seems to think it is a peeling or anodizing of the top layer. Not sure what that means or if it could even be corrected.

Eathvy said:

I believe he was buffering when he noticed the discoloration. I will reach out to him and find out. He seems to think it is a peeling or anodizing of the top layer. Not sure what that means or if it could even be corrected.

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That doesn't sound correct at all... Be prepared.. I see dark clouds in the horizon... But then again I'm a prepper so I always see dark clouds

Eathvy said:

I believe he was buffering when he noticed the discoloration. I will reach out to him and find out. He seems to think it is a peeling or anodizing of the top layer. Not sure what that means or if it could even be corrected.

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If it happened during buffing blown temper is likely, that is likely toast. Something that thin can't be reheat treated.

Do you have a before pic of that blade?

it doesn't look like standard buffer overheating to me. Usually it looks like a blueish petrol stain on the blade. Never seen that before.

johnmrson said:

it doesn't look like standard buffer overheating to me. Usually it looks like a blueish petrol stain on the blade. Never seen that before.

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This is what I keep thinking. Doesn't look like a heat mark.

johnmrson said:

it doesn't look like standard buffer overheating to me. Usually it looks like a blueish petrol stain on the blade. Never seen that before.

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paintflinger said:

This is what I keep thinking. Doesn't look like a heat mark.

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I agree but the only thing that comes to mind is a blown temper, the timing of it sounds right

Doc226 said:

I agree but the only thing that comes to mind is a blown temper, the timing of it sounds right

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I keep just thinking it is jewler's rouge and CromOx somehow baked onto it. Silly, but they are the only two things I'd see being that color. That said, they'd come right off with any effort.

As far as the original post goes, from what I understand about anodizing steel (had to look that one up), it would be a black color or just normal rust.

"Iron or carbon steel metal exfoliates when oxidized under neutral or alkaline microelectrolytic conditions; i.e., the iron oxide (actually ferric hydroxide or hydrated iron oxide, also known as rust) forms by anoxic anodic pits and large cathodic surface, these pits concentrate anions such as sulfate and chloride accelerating the underlying metal to corrosion. Carbon flakes or nodules in iron or steel with high carbon content (high carbon steel, cast iron) may cause an electrolytic potential and interfere with coating or plating. Ferrous metals are commonly anodized electrolytically in nitric acid, or by treatment with red fuming nitric acid, to form hard black ferric oxide."

Its possible that the steel is delaminating there (not sure if that's the right term) - and green/red rouge worked into the creases.
That's why I'd like to see a before pic - if there was a lot of corrosion in the same place, that might be the story.
The flaking seen by the restorer speaks to this.
I've seen similar on a Kamisori, rust got in between the folds and there was a similar type of coloration weirdness near the bevel.

The discoloration was there prior to the restoration.
It just became clearer and more defined after the restoration.

Well, it doesn't look good.... He should try to hone it up and it'll be obvious if it lost its temper or not. I've had that on one razor and it simply wouldn't hold an edge, the steel would bend instead of set a bevel.

Eathvy said:

The discoloration was there prior to the restoration.View attachment 531639
It just became clearer and more defined after the restoration.

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That looks heat.

The gentleman that I purchased the razor from, Takeshi, has asked me to send him the razor for inspection. He states that if it is something that he cannot repair he will send it to the Iwasaki factory. If it becomes something that is irreparable he will refund me my money. Great service. Takeshi is very honorable. I am curious to hear what his thoughts are.

In the pre-resto pix, the discolor kinda looks like someone cooked it with a buffer, but the blade does not look like it's been touched by a buffer. Very strange.