1931 shaving article
Re: 1931 shaving article
Thank you for sharing. That vaseline bit is interesting. Did any ever did that?
Jack
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EL Alamein
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- Joined: Thu Jul 13, 2006 7:55 pm
Re: 1931 shaving article
That article has been around forever and has been posted many a time on the straight razor boards. It's great stuff. Take from it what you will but I think these modern forums contain much more wisdom and practical experience.
BUT I will tell you that I did switch (years ago) from oil to Vaseline for preserving blades and edges because of this article. It really does seem to do a better job. To wit - the Chronik/Heinrich-Kline blades I have had for almost seven years now developed a case of scale rot. I had oiled them profusely after all the experiments in the "Fabled Chronik" thread but the oil didn't protect the blade from the fumes the scales were giving off. After wiping the blades clean and apply Vaseline to only the edge I could see the rot continue above the Vaseline line. So I conclude that the Vaseline did a much better job at preserving the steel. I eventually figured out that it was scale rot and removed the scales altogether and slathered Vaseline all over the blades. Years later now and not a wisp of further steel decay. I'll never use oil again.
Now for anyone interested in the scale rot issue with straights it seems that this has only occurred, with me, on razors that have vintage tortoise scales. It's not the first case of scale rot I've encountered as my very first straight, bought in the early 1980's had it and that razor too had tortoise scales. I didn't make the connection to the tortoise scales until this Chronik blade incident but there you have it. In any case it may be wise to replace anything with vintage tortoise scales with new scales as I don't know what sets it off (skin oils perhaps?). The Chroniks seemed much older than my first blade but the rot didn't show up until they were honed and used etc. And by that point I had experienced the scale rot on my first razor and removed the scales years before. So who knows.
Chris
BUT I will tell you that I did switch (years ago) from oil to Vaseline for preserving blades and edges because of this article. It really does seem to do a better job. To wit - the Chronik/Heinrich-Kline blades I have had for almost seven years now developed a case of scale rot. I had oiled them profusely after all the experiments in the "Fabled Chronik" thread but the oil didn't protect the blade from the fumes the scales were giving off. After wiping the blades clean and apply Vaseline to only the edge I could see the rot continue above the Vaseline line. So I conclude that the Vaseline did a much better job at preserving the steel. I eventually figured out that it was scale rot and removed the scales altogether and slathered Vaseline all over the blades. Years later now and not a wisp of further steel decay. I'll never use oil again.
Now for anyone interested in the scale rot issue with straights it seems that this has only occurred, with me, on razors that have vintage tortoise scales. It's not the first case of scale rot I've encountered as my very first straight, bought in the early 1980's had it and that razor too had tortoise scales. I didn't make the connection to the tortoise scales until this Chronik blade incident but there you have it. In any case it may be wise to replace anything with vintage tortoise scales with new scales as I don't know what sets it off (skin oils perhaps?). The Chroniks seemed much older than my first blade but the rot didn't show up until they were honed and used etc. And by that point I had experienced the scale rot on my first razor and removed the scales years before. So who knows.
Chris