Yep I've had exact thing happen to me too on a set of bone scaled I made :-( I was under the impression that it was ok for Ivory though, but I don't have any ivory scale at the moment...
Whats the best way to keep away rust? other than running tissues through it?
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Steve56
Ask me about shaving naked!
Bicycle chain wax. It repels water, lubricates a little, and you're not trying to shave with an oily straight razor tang. !Cheers, Steve
Silicon sleeves from TSS do the trick for me. I always used silicon cloths on my handguns, so I figured something like that would work well with razors.
For as long as people have been using bone/ivory on tools - there have been people for and against this/that treatement. Some say Ren wax is perfect, others say it contains a solvent that is no good. Some say mineral oil is not good, others say it's fine. And so it goes.
I've cut 4-500 nuts/saddles out of both materials, and too many inlays to count - never had any 'problem' with mineral oil and I've used it on every single piece I've cut. Yep - sure - sometimes you get a piece of something that isn't pefectly consistent through and through and it it'll blemish from oil. It'll also stain from just about anything else it manages to soak in; water, soap, grease, grunge, etc. Hell - even corrosion from a pin and/or rust.
Oxalyic (sic) acid can work well for many of those stains. There are 2-3 other acids that remove just about anything else - but I forget what they are. It's been a long while since I had to pull crud out of Ivory.
Never ever heard of soaking it bone/ivory in Naphtha though. Can't imagine I'd want to do that.
Thing is - for every blemish resulting from rehydration or whatever, there's probably 1000 instances of splits/cracks that resulted from excessive dryness.
Hell - people 'antique' ivory by treating it in a hot bath of mineral oil laced with tannin or whatever. I think Doc used a spin on that 'trick' for a 7 day set, and I've seen many Ivory grip sets done similarly.
Sorry - can't rule out a good solid well known/used proven treatment because, on occasion, imperfect piece of bone doesn't look like a museum piece after it was wiped down. What anyone else does is up to them of course - that's how it usually goes.
At any rate - the OP's topic was how to avoid rust - not treat bone/ivory - sorry for the detour.
Back on topic - rust prevention begins with removing moisture. If you're wiping steel down and it's still rusting then you're not getting it dry or the RH is too high and drying the blade isn't enough.
Those cute little booties or cozies or whatever they're called, the one's that look like mini gunsocks - I'm sure they work but I don't like the idea of adding 'slippery' into the mix.
But - whatever works I guess.
I have about 10 steel nails wrapped up in VCI paper in the garage, they've been there since early March. They haven't rusted at all. The control group of nails were tossed out back in mid July, they were covered in rust.
I'm sticking with VCI. But there are people that crow about that stuff too. Whatever.. they can crow away... my blades don't rust.
I've cut 4-500 nuts/saddles out of both materials, and too many inlays to count - never had any 'problem' with mineral oil and I've used it on every single piece I've cut. Yep - sure - sometimes you get a piece of something that isn't pefectly consistent through and through and it it'll blemish from oil. It'll also stain from just about anything else it manages to soak in; water, soap, grease, grunge, etc. Hell - even corrosion from a pin and/or rust.
Oxalyic (sic) acid can work well for many of those stains. There are 2-3 other acids that remove just about anything else - but I forget what they are. It's been a long while since I had to pull crud out of Ivory.
Never ever heard of soaking it bone/ivory in Naphtha though. Can't imagine I'd want to do that.
Thing is - for every blemish resulting from rehydration or whatever, there's probably 1000 instances of splits/cracks that resulted from excessive dryness.
Hell - people 'antique' ivory by treating it in a hot bath of mineral oil laced with tannin or whatever. I think Doc used a spin on that 'trick' for a 7 day set, and I've seen many Ivory grip sets done similarly.
Sorry - can't rule out a good solid well known/used proven treatment because, on occasion, imperfect piece of bone doesn't look like a museum piece after it was wiped down. What anyone else does is up to them of course - that's how it usually goes.
At any rate - the OP's topic was how to avoid rust - not treat bone/ivory - sorry for the detour.
Back on topic - rust prevention begins with removing moisture. If you're wiping steel down and it's still rusting then you're not getting it dry or the RH is too high and drying the blade isn't enough.
Those cute little booties or cozies or whatever they're called, the one's that look like mini gunsocks - I'm sure they work but I don't like the idea of adding 'slippery' into the mix.
But - whatever works I guess.
I have about 10 steel nails wrapped up in VCI paper in the garage, they've been there since early March. They haven't rusted at all. The control group of nails were tossed out back in mid July, they were covered in rust.
I'm sticking with VCI. But there are people that crow about that stuff too. Whatever.. they can crow away... my blades don't rust.
FWIW, my method, in the land of wildly fluctuating humidity levels, is as follows:
-after shaving, rinse blade off with hot water;
-gently wipe off the blade with a bar towel, taking care not to wreck the edge;
-strop 5-10 laps on cotton/linen to dry the bevel/edge, followed by 30-40 laps leather;
-leave razor out opened on its spine on a bar towel for ~1-1/2 hours or all day to air-dry completely;
-upon returning, dip the blade in a solution of 1 pt. USP mineral oil to 4 pts. methyl alcohol, avoiding the scales;
-leave razor out opened on its spine on a bar towel for ~15 mins. to allow the alcohol to evaporate;
-fold razor up and store it away for the next shaving session.
-after shaving, rinse blade off with hot water;
-gently wipe off the blade with a bar towel, taking care not to wreck the edge;
-strop 5-10 laps on cotton/linen to dry the bevel/edge, followed by 30-40 laps leather;
-leave razor out opened on its spine on a bar towel for ~1-1/2 hours or all day to air-dry completely;
-upon returning, dip the blade in a solution of 1 pt. USP mineral oil to 4 pts. methyl alcohol, avoiding the scales;
-leave razor out opened on its spine on a bar towel for ~15 mins. to allow the alcohol to evaporate;
-fold razor up and store it away for the next shaving session.
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VCI works. I'm a razor dunker, I submerge the entire razor when I shave, every time, without exception and have never had a rust issue. When I hone at my sink I wet the razor too, never a problem. I dry the razor with a tissue and squeeze some between the scales, a drop of oil for long term storage if that's the case and that's it. My storage box is lined top and bottom with VCI, but several razors rolls are not, still no rust issues. I'm not recommending anyone dunk but if you happen to get pivot wet it's not the end of the world.
^ agreed. If you use min oil on Ivory, wipe on wipe off. It does not need to sit or soak. Also, I'm one of the lucky ones. Between my water and indoor humidity, I don't get rust at all. I just use the ol lungs to blow water out from between the scales, towel dry, and strop on linen to remove any dead skin/oil. Then just toss 'em in the cabinet until next time.
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I remember back when I used to live in Vegas. Nothing ever rusted. Seemingly impossible to make anything rust. Alas, that is not the case here in Florida.
Nope always happens when bone is left with mineral oil on it... It's the nature of bone... It wouldn't be bone if it wasn't.... Now ivory I have seen hit or miss as far as mineral oil... I just wipe on then wipe off and that's it...
But this discussion is relevant because I've heard some people recommend mineral oil in the pivot inn bone scales
Absence of proof isn't proof of absence ;-)???
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