Thread: Peening with soft aluminium rods

I've been having pretty decent results by peening with some very soft aluminium rods I bought on ebay. I think they are used for soldering normally.

You can see it's softer than brass when you cut the rod (goes through like butter) and when you peen it, goes very fast.

The razor is as thight as with brass rods and I open/closed is maybe 25 times and it did not degrade the peening yet.

But do you guys think that the fact that this material is very soft makes it a bad material for peening? I mean, over the long term.

thanks

Not a bad material for peening, but suspect for a pivot pin, if you are going to have the razor on display only I reckon aluminium would be fine, but for a working razor the hardened metal of the tang will wear away the aluminium pivot pin over time.

IT will wear away brass over time as well. I suspect that if you put a small brass sleeve type bushing over the pivot you won't have any problems. It would also help to re-drill the blade's pivot hole to make sure the hole is round. If the hole is not round it will cause wear prematurely.

Ray

Originally Posted by RayCover

IT will wear away brass over time as well. I suspect that if you put a small brass sleeve type bushing over the pivot you won't have any problems. It would also help to re-drill the blade's pivot hole to make sure the hole is round. If the hole is not round it will cause wear prematurely.

Ray

I like the sleeve idea, aluminium and brass rod is easy to get hold of here but nickel silver is a lot more difficult, I have not tried to drill out a pivot hole yet, is the steel soft enough for HSS drill bits?

Aluminum+Steel+Water+Soap might = a very bad combination

You could possibly cause Galvanic Corrosion there really are several reasons that most razor pins are made from either Brass or Nickel Silver...
Some of the new customs are using SS which we don't really know what is going to happen over the long run...

As to the wearing away aspect, I have pulled apart quite a few razors that are over 200 years old that have Brass or Nickel Silver pins that were still in good working order... Personally if it lasts that long I am good with it

Originally Posted by Jullmg

I've been having pretty decent results by peening with some very soft aluminium rods I bought on ebay. I think they are used for soldering normally.

You can see it's softer than brass when you cut the rod (goes through like butter) and when you peen it, goes very fast.


The razor is as thight as with brass rods and I open/closed is maybe 25 times and it did not degrade the peening yet.

But do you guys think that the fact that this material is very soft makes it a bad material for peening? I mean, over the long term.

thanks

Can't really solder with it, but I did a lot of TIG welding with it. I can't remember the numbers of the different aluminum alloys anymore, but go to a welding supply in your area and ask them. Some of the rods will be a harder alloy, but still should peen pretty good. Longevity may be a little of an issue, but as long as you're keeping the razors, how hard is it to re-pin them. Nothing really lost on giving it a go. Let us know!

Regards,

Howard

Edit: Glen typed faster than me, but he's absolutely right. It can cause electrolysis and corrosion I believe. Been too long and getting too old. I forget about the little nuances.

I have drilled a couple out that looked like they were punched instead of drilled They drilled OK with a cobalt/M42 drill. I don't know if a standard drill would do it or not but I suspect probably so. Most of the razors I have been taking the scales off of have had a hole that was considerably larger than 1/16" anyway so there was room for a sleeve without having to re-drill.

I imagine the tangs probably vary a bit too depending on how they were heat treated. I mean if the blade was held by the tang when quenched the tang may not get a proper quench and could be considerably softer. But... that is speculation on my part.

Originally Posted by gssixgun

Aluminum+Steel+Water+Soap might = a very bad combination

You could possibly cause Galvanic Corrosion there really are several reasons that most razor pins are made from either Brass or Nickel Silver...
Some of the new customs are using SS which we don't really know what is going to happen over the long run...

As to the wearing away aspect, I have pulled apart quite a few razors that are over 200 years old that have Brass or Nickel Silver pins that were still in good working order... Personally if it lasts that long I am good with it

Does soap actually work as an electrolytic medium? I know salt does but I wouldn't think soap would. I guess if the soap had salt or enough free lye in it there might be a problem.

Originally Posted by RayCover

Does soap actually work as an electrolytic medium? I know salt does but I wouldn't think soap would. I guess if the soap had salt or enough free lye in it there might be a problem.

This is one of those things that I differ to the old farts that built razors over the last 300 years, it might not be the only right answer, there might be other ways, but I know for a fact that Brass and Nickel Silver have stood the test of time

Both are easy to find in the right sizes and are pretty cheap, but they are your razors and therefore your choice, let me know how it works out in 200 years I'll meet ya here

Ask any one who ever owned a vintage Aston Martin with the aluminium panels over steel frames if they rust.