Wade & Butcher Shortie

[Bevel]

I've been meaning to do this for a long time and any practice I got here was quite a while ago at this stage.

I got this 1" chopper and it has a lot wrong with it including a bad crack near the toe (Seller made this clear so I knew) a badly damaged heal and warped scales near the wedge. The rest of the scales are solid but it was the warp at the wedge that caused the blade to crack see pic.


Took it apart to inspect. Apart from the above it has a nice deep clear etch on the face and the tang stamp should clean up well.
Out with the dremel and a diamond cut off disc. I cut beyond the crack as cracks tend to have a habit of following you around and I didn't want to deal with that. All in all I'm only missing the last centimeter of blade so I'm happy with it.
Cross-section shows a beefy blade that terminates in a very fine edge


I knew something was missing when I was sanding the blade...Barbers notch. Out with the dremel again.
Neatsfoot oil for the scales


All this was done months ago but I couldn't decide what to do with the scales. They have to be shortened but do I go for the pivot end which is easier or do I go with the wedge end which has the warp and could potentially crack the blade again?

Fast forward several months and I decided to go with the pivot end and I'll straighten the warp. This was done with several heat cycles in boiling water and held in position under a cold tap.

Cut off wheel and as I only took 1 cm off the blade I nipped them at the pivot pinhole for maximum real estate to accommodate new end shapes.


Followed by sanding drum for a rough shape


Hand sand to final shape


and a buff

 

[FarmerTan]

Beautiful work so far. Can't wait for the final product!

 

[Bevel]

Popped the wedge end back together again using all original underwashers and bullseye collars while I decide where exactly to position the new pivot holes


Before I do that I put an exploratory edge on it to see how I'm going to go about it


It's actually not as bad as I thought so I reshape the heal on a diamond plate with a combination of honing and bread-knifing


Once the shape is arrived at I peen it all back together and finish bevel setting


Coticule for mid-range


Yellow Green Etcher for finish (I used Kapton for this)


I had a shave right after as it was popping hairs so well I just couldn't wait.
It is perhaps the best shave I've ever had and is feather sharp, which I thought should be unobtainable, but really smooth.
With a chunky spine of 7.52 and blade of 25.40 the bevel angle is 17.03 degrees

 

[FarmerTan]

Popped the wedge end back together again using all original underwashers and bullseye collars while I decide where exactly to position the new pivot holes
View attachment 1475873View attachment 1475874

Before I do that I put an exploratory edge on it to see how I'm going to go about it
View attachment 1475875

It's actually not as bad as I thought so I reshape the heal on a diamond plate with a combination of honing and bread-knifing
View attachment 1475876

Once the shape is arrived at I peen it all back together and finish bevel setting
View attachment 1475877View attachment 1475878

Coticule for mid-range
View attachment 1475879

Yellow Green Etcher for finish (I used Kapton for this)
View attachment 1475881

I had a shave right after as it was popping hairs so well I just couldn't wait.
It is perhaps the best shave I've ever had and is feather sharp, which I thought should be unobtainable, but really smooth.
With a chunky spine of 7.52 and blade of 25.40 the bevel angle is 17.03 degrees
View attachment 1475882

I'm not sure if I'd change anything. Looks amazing.

 

[Frank Shaves]

Brilliant! Not sure whether to say ingenious or genius .

Nice touch regrinding the notch!

The final razor looks nicely balanced.