DIY razor handles

[les24preludes]

I couldn't see any other likely place to post about DIY razor handles so I hope straight users will forgive me for posting here. Maybe we can use this thread for all kinds of DIY handles - I hope so.

In my case I wanted to make some handles for DE or AC or GEM 1912 razor heads. Problem - I don't have a lathe or room for one. Solution - fix a live centre to the table of my drill press. I have around 90 copper blanks which are 85x12.8mm and threaded for M5 (originally remaindered heatsink parts). I haven't got as far as knurling so used a hand-held hacksaw blade to make rings, and this turned out to be quite grippy. This is the first handle I've made and it turned out OK. It would probably look better with the 1912 head if the copper was aged rather than bright, so I can look into that as well. The handle transforms the 1912 into quite a beast. It's now 97g and another level of efficiency. Shave went very well. Feeling happy! And now on to refining the design and looking at some more sophisticated tooling. The drill press turns at 515rpm and is 220W so it's in the ballpark for machining, even though a lathe would be so much easier. Early days!

Comments welcome, and please post your own DIY handles.

 

[Jim99]

Very nice! I have the tools to make my own handles, but never considered it. I might change my mind.

What is your source for the blanks?

 

[les24preludes]

Very nice! I have the tools to make my own handles, but never considered it. I might change my mind. What is your source for the blanks?

The blanks were a one-off job lot on eBay UK. They were a custom order for heatsinks that probably never got off the ground. I jumped on it since the blanks were ready threaded for M5 and just the right size, and copper is easy to machine. Quite easy to make handles on a good lathe, but needed some blue-sky thinking with a drill press. I'm considering a hand-held knurling tool. Knurling would make a difference, though the rings are grippy enough not to really need any knurling.

If you started from scratch with a metal rod, aluminium would be the easiest though a bit light. After that it would depend on what access you have to lathes. Fun making handles!

 

[bluesman 7]

When I saw the title I thought, "What a noob. He thinks straight razor scales are handles." Opened the thread and saw that I was mistaken.

Putting the live center on the drill press is ingenious. I've never heard of that before. Good on you! How did you hold your tooling?

Enough straight users also use DEs that you might see some traffic here. As things stand I can't think of a better place for the thread.

 

[les24preludes]

Putting the live center on the drill press is ingenious. I've never heard of that before. Good on you! How did you hold your tooling?

Still very basic - I held the files and the hacksaw blade in my hand! I'll have to invent something a bit more clever. It did work, though. Workbench seriously needs a tidy. Very cramped - I build tube amps as well. Here's the drill press and live centre. Bought it cheap on eBay. I padded the pillar out with electricians tape so it was a tight fit in the centre hole of the table.

Adjustable Double Bearing Precision Live Center Revolving Wrench Lathe | eBay

 

[FarmerTan]

I couldn't see any other likely place to post about DIY razor handles so I hope straight users will forgive me for posting here. Maybe we can use this thread for all kinds of DIY handles - I hope so.

In my case I wanted to make some handles for DE or AC or GEM 1912 razor heads. Problem - I don't have a lathe or room for one. Solution - fix a live centre to the table of my drill press. I have around 90 copper blanks which are 85x12.8mm and threaded for M5 (originally remaindered heatsink parts). I haven't got as far as knurling so used a hand-held hacksaw blade to make rings, and this turned out to be quite grippy. This is the first handle I've made and it turned out OK. It would probably look better with the 1912 head if the copper was aged rather than bright, so I can look into that as well. The handle transforms the 1912 into quite a beast. It's now 97g and another level of efficiency. Shave went very well. Feeling happy! And now on to refining the design and looking at some more sophisticated tooling. The drill press turns at 515rpm and is 220W so it's in the ballpark for machining, even though a lathe would be so much easier. Early days!

Comments welcome, and please post your own DIY handles.

View attachment 947688View attachment 947690

VERY nicely done!

 

[bluesman 7]

I build tube amps as well.

I've done some 'hollow state' amps too.

 

[Red Rider]

Still very basic - I held the files and the hacksaw blade in my hand! I'll have to invent something a bit more clever. It did work, though. Workbench seriously needs a tidy. Very cramped - I build tube amps as well. Here's the drill press and live centre. Bought it cheap on eBay. I padded the pillar out with electricians tape so it was a tight fit in the centre hole of the table.

Adjustable Double Bearing Precision Live Center Revolving Wrench Lathe | eBay

Great ideal. I have a drill press but I notice the live centers are all horizontal based. Are these able to be placed vertically as shown in your picture? Thanks

 

[les24preludes]

Great ideal. I have a drill press but I notice the live centers are all horizontal based. Are these able to be placed vertically as shown in your picture? Thanks

As you can see from the photo, it works. I just used electricians tape to widen the pillar to the size of the hole, pushed it in, and it's pretty secure. A metal sleeve would be better, of course. The spike goes up and down by turning the wheel, which is useful. It's a work-around and I might find a better solution, but clearly it works at least.

 

[novitiate]

I've done some 'hollow state' amps too.

Oh, you're one of "those".



/so am i...

 

[novitiate]

Still very basic - I held the files and the hacksaw blade in my hand! I'll have to invent something a bit more clever. It did work, though. Workbench seriously needs a tidy. Very cramped - I build tube amps as well. Here's the drill press and live centre. Bought it cheap on eBay. I padded the pillar out with electricians tape so it was a tight fit in the centre hole of the table.

Adjustable Double Bearing Precision Live Center Revolving Wrench Lathe | eBay

I like that! How did you secure the center on the table underside? Is the knob rammed up to the bottom and the bracket taking up the slack? Did it stay put when you put side load on the work? (Always looking to extend my DP usefulness.)

(Not related to razors but I use my DP to roll rivets. I use a 1" bolt tightened into the table center hole with the head drilled to hold a rivet set. The other set goes into the chuck. It works great on aluminum & copper rivets.)

 

[les24preludes]

I like that! How did you secure the center on the table underside? Is the knob rammed up to the bottom and the bracket taking up the slack? Did it stay put when you put side load on the work? (Always looking to extend my DP usefulness.)

I just pushed it in - I kept taking off short lengths of the electricians tape I'd wrapped around the pillar of the live centre behind the fixing bracket. Eventually it was a tight fit and I rammed it in. Nothing holds it underneath. It stays put when you use a file or a hacksaw blade, but they aren't much of a side load. Well, the file maybe.

 

[Red Rider]

As you can see from the photo, it works. I just used electricians tape to widen the pillar to the size of the hole, pushed it in, and it's pretty secure. A metal sleeve would be better, of course. The spike goes up and down by turning the wheel, which is useful. It's a work-around and I might find a better solution, but clearly it works at least.

Will pick one of those up. Thanks for the quick reply and link.

 

[Red Rider]

Previous handles with two for espresso tamoer and one for razor that I use with a pre-war Tech. Made these at son’s college with the great assistance of a mechanical student.

 

[AimlessWanderer]

Not made anything yet, but I plan on making a custom handle for my birth year Super Slim Twist later in the year. I have a cherry tree (on dwarf root stock) in a large tub in the garden, and last year it was starting to look a little sorry for itself. It had to have a heavy prune due to dying branches.

As we get nearer spring, I'll have a look at how many buds are forming, and if there's not much change from last year, it might get "harvested" and seasoned. I quite like the idea of the handle being made from something I've grown, rather than something i've bought or scrounged.

 

[DCRIII]

Nice looking handle! Very creative!

 

[Ricksplace]

Nice work!

 

[les24preludes]

Step forward today - got a hand knurler in the post, and it's absolutely brilliant. Just put the handle in the vice and turn the knurler round and you get just the effect you need. My handle blanks are copper and it works fine with that. I haven't tried it in my drill press yet - that'll be the next step, to see if I can run the knurler up and down the handle. Very pleased with this. Just seeing what effects I can get without a lathe, just using my drill press. Better designs come later!

 

[les24preludes]

I tried a continuous knurl in my drill press, but it wasn't powerful enough to turn the piece with the knurler gripping tightly. So back to putting it in my vice. Not sure how to get a continuous knurl in my vice - this is my first attempt, but it comes out in lines where the knurler turns. Not altogether unpleasant. Clearly needs some power to turn a tight knurler. But this does show that a hand knurler can give you a pretty decent handle. I used a Bulldog style here.

 

[Ricksplace]

Try this:
1. Engage enough pressure to start to form the knurling and give the tool a few turns around to seat the wheels in the grooves but don't tighten it anymore.
2. Since the tool is turning around the handle pretty easily, try to move the tool down the workpiece a little while you're turning. You will have to search for how much bite you can put on the wheels, and still be able to move the tool down the workpiece as you turn it.
3. When you get as far down the handle as you want, tighten it a little and work your way back to the start, always turning in the same direction, and ensuring the wheels stay in the grooves and don't double track.
4. Repeat 1-3 until the finish is how you like it.
I have no idea if this will work, but it emulates what occurs when I knurl a workpiece in a lathe. The knurling isn't formed in 1 pass. Even soft aluminum takes multiple passes to get a finish you want. Where have I heard that before?
You should have the workpiece slathered in oil. The tool will perform much better than dry.
Take a block of wood and drill a hole in it the same or slightly smaller diameter than the handle. Cut the block in half with a wood saw (wider kerf than a hacksaw), the length of the hole. Place the halves around one end of the handle and squeeze the block together in your vice. Then oil it up and have a go.
Good luck!