Hope so looks like your getting the bug back again, I can see many razors in your future. lol
What's on your work bench right now?
- Thread starter Luecke2326
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Hope so looks like your getting the bug back again, I can see many razors in your future. lol
I managed last week to catch covid at the least convenient of moments*. My family are over visiting from the UK and we're currently touring round Tasmania. Which means I've been sitting around around in hotel rooms on my own while the rest of them are all out and about having fun :/
We're quite lucky in Australia that there are a very good amount of nice old Bengall razors available for little money, and just before I started feeling a bit iffy I'd picked up an interesting from an antiques shop for $25. Most of the ones you find are 5/8s, which are very nice, but I grabbed this one because it was noticeably larger. I don't have a ruler on me but from eyeballing it I'd say this is a 7/8, which I didn't have before:
And obviously nobody goes away on holiday without packing some essentials like toothpaste, low grit sandpaper, and whetstones. I only forgot one of those three things, but no matter... one doesn't need clean teeth for an isolation-hotel-room-workbench.
I ground down the curved end a bit for fun on the Coarse India, but got bored before getting to a full square end, then scrubbed the rust off with the green pad.
Razor has what in a knife I'd call an 'S-Grind', i.e. it tapers in, before going out again slightly before in again toward the bevel / edge. Does this have a name in the razor world? It's a bit more pronounced in person that it appears in the pic below, but you can see what I mean.
Then the 180, 240, and 400 grit sandpaper progression, bevel set on the Washita side of the combi, and then honing on the Tam x Woa Dual Hone. Came out pretty nicely I think, and shaves well. The wider spine and tang combined with the hump make this a pretty nice to hold in use. Though the scales are somewhat plastic-y and nasty, so I may have to make some new ones at some point, as I rather the razor itself.
It's not the shiniest atm obviously, as I only had 400 grit paper. When I get round to making a new handle I may tart it up properly, and the rust marks are very shallow and I could get rid of them completely I think
.
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* This isn't a sob story... many millions of people have had this virus far, far worse than I. Being relatively young and 3x vaccinated - it just feels like a nasty cold.
We're quite lucky in Australia that there are a very good amount of nice old Bengall razors available for little money, and just before I started feeling a bit iffy I'd picked up an interesting from an antiques shop for $25. Most of the ones you find are 5/8s, which are very nice, but I grabbed this one because it was noticeably larger. I don't have a ruler on me but from eyeballing it I'd say this is a 7/8, which I didn't have before:
And obviously nobody goes away on holiday without packing some essentials like toothpaste, low grit sandpaper, and whetstones. I only forgot one of those three things, but no matter... one doesn't need clean teeth for an isolation-hotel-room-workbench.
I ground down the curved end a bit for fun on the Coarse India, but got bored before getting to a full square end, then scrubbed the rust off with the green pad.
Razor has what in a knife I'd call an 'S-Grind', i.e. it tapers in, before going out again slightly before in again toward the bevel / edge. Does this have a name in the razor world? It's a bit more pronounced in person that it appears in the pic below, but you can see what I mean.
Then the 180, 240, and 400 grit sandpaper progression, bevel set on the Washita side of the combi, and then honing on the Tam x Woa Dual Hone. Came out pretty nicely I think, and shaves well. The wider spine and tang combined with the hump make this a pretty nice to hold in use. Though the scales are somewhat plastic-y and nasty, so I may have to make some new ones at some point, as I rather the razor itself.
It's not the shiniest atm obviously, as I only had 400 grit paper. When I get round to making a new handle I may tart it up properly, and the rust marks are very shallow and I could get rid of them completely I think
.---
* This isn't a sob story... many millions of people have had this virus far, far worse than I. Being relatively young and 3x vaccinated - it just feels like a nasty cold.
That's what we call a bellied full hollow. Sometimes you'll see one with a more pronounced version called a double concave grind.
Lol yeah I think so. I am working on a Thomas turner at the moment but it has some serious pitting. Having a go at some wood scales with epoxy again as it’s the method I am used to.Hope so looks like your getting the bug back again, I can see many razors in your future. lol
Ah cheers for that info! (Dunno how much of a difference this kind of grind makes, but it does seem to be a very nice razor to use
).Probably had less flex than a non bellied blade that's ground equally thin. Somebody, @Steve56 maybe, mentioned once that the belly was sometimes referred to as a horizontal stabilizer.Ah cheers for that info! (Dunno how much of a difference this kind of grind makes, but it does seem to be a very nice razor to use
Not done yet, but hit a milestone on my latest restore, a Joseph Elliot. The blade has been cleaned up for 1-2 weeks, and I’ve slowly been grinding through the scales. It came with black plastic, but I decided to graduate to black horn for the refit. Started with a slab up to 6.5mm thick. I know 3mm is optimal, but I don’t own a belt sander, so getting slabs down to the proper thickness is a task where I usually throw in the towel too soon. I do feel these are an improvement over my last golden horn scales, I think the final shape Is more like 4-4.5mm thick starting from a thicker blank vs 4.5-5mm on that one. And I got more doming on the sides of the scales.
But of course one lesson relearned - with solid black scales there is NO place to hide your errors. I will be re-using the old metal wedge (pewter? Lead? Don’t know), so in theory the next session should see it completely peened and then its off to honing!
Update,
Now pinned, next step is the honing. The blade is a Joseph Elliot 3/4 full hollow. Per Lummus 1821-1854, per Tweedale 1822-1856 (after that it was Joseph Elliot & Son). Not an expert but to me the blade shape corresponds less to styles from 1820, and more likely styles post-1830. The scales that came with it were black plastic and warped so badly that they touched mid-way between the pins. No idea if they were original, so they got replaced. I kept the wedge, which is metal (no idea if lead or pewter). A key piece of advice from the forum that I followed - if the horn has some existing warp in it, make the scales with the warp facing inwards. I did that and pinning went quite nicely. Silver nickel for the pins and collar washers.
2nd coat of epoxy went down today. Scales soon to be ready for a Thomas turner I’m restoring.
OK, so this has nothing at all to do with razors, but it was on my workbench today and I used some of the same skills and tools that I’ve been using on razors.
Helping my mother unpack some boxes from her recent move, we found an utterly black cup… After some elbow grease and Flitz…
Helping my mother unpack some boxes from her recent move, we found an utterly black cup… After some elbow grease and Flitz…
Not on my work bench, but on the bench of the very talented and gifted @Doc226. I was very fortunate to have Alfredo design, craft and install these beautiful Horn Scales on my vintage LeGrelot 5/8 Hospital. The original scales were basic black and had become a bit loose at the pivot pin.
To have Alfredo work on one of my razors is an honor.
I am looking forward to having one of my favorite razors back home in the stable.
To have Alfredo work on one of my razors is an honor.
I am looking forward to having one of my favorite razors back home in the stable.
That is lovely. It's somehow reminiscent of a finely-painted automobile from a bygone era.
I love the blond horn! Great job, one day I hope to make horn scales that look like this!
Not a major project really. But I have had this 5/8 Bengall laying around for probably 7 years. it was an antique store find that my Aunt gave to me. The blade was pitted and heavily tarnished and the scales were flopping all over the place. So, I never dealt with it.
Today I spent an hour with the wine cork, elbow grease and 1000, 1500, 2000 and 2500 grit paper and have the blade looking good. Some of the pitting scars remain but I didn't go any further. I want it shave well and show it's age too. Besides, I don't like doing anything past hand sanding and polishing.
I tightened up the pivot pin and plan to set a bevel in a little bit. My work isn't on par with some of the true artisans here but, I get by.
Today I spent an hour with the wine cork, elbow grease and 1000, 1500, 2000 and 2500 grit paper and have the blade looking good. Some of the pitting scars remain but I didn't go any further. I want it shave well and show it's age too. Besides, I don't like doing anything past hand sanding and polishing.
I tightened up the pivot pin and plan to set a bevel in a little bit. My work isn't on par with some of the true artisans here but, I get by.
A third Sheffield 7/8 near wedge square point arrived - in this case, a Wade & Butcher.
Someone tried to grind both faces. Here is the back face after a little steel wool and WD-40. What were they thinking, right?
Here is the razor after less than two hours with 100-grit wet/dry with the savage grind marks now gone.
Still plenty of meat on the blade.
The scales cleaned up pretty easily. Steel wool after a nice soak in 100% pure neatsfoot oil (not the compound).
But something seems to have eaten two holes from the inside side of the scale on the right. The plan is to use the scales as is and then to contemplate making replacements.
The rest should be straightforward - 240, 400, 800 and 1200 grit wet/dry plus a little Mothers. The scales are now on their second soak in the neatsfoot.
Someone tried to grind both faces. Here is the back face after a little steel wool and WD-40. What were they thinking, right?
Here is the razor after less than two hours with 100-grit wet/dry with the savage grind marks now gone.
Still plenty of meat on the blade.
The scales cleaned up pretty easily. Steel wool after a nice soak in 100% pure neatsfoot oil (not the compound).
But something seems to have eaten two holes from the inside side of the scale on the right. The plan is to use the scales as is and then to contemplate making replacements.
The rest should be straightforward - 240, 400, 800 and 1200 grit wet/dry plus a little Mothers. The scales are now on their second soak in the neatsfoot.
Attachments
@Frank Shaves are the damaged scales wood? If so, there’s a fairly straightforward fix.
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They are blond horn. I have tried to fill holes in horn with epoxy and was not happy with the results that I got. Could very well have been how I did it.
OK. Sawdust mixed with wood glue makes a nearly undetectable paste. In your case, baking powder or soda applied then leveled; hit with a drop of CA glue will fill the divots, but might be barely visible.
