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DIY razor handles

Ah - this is helpful and covers a few points. I noticed already that I needed some cushion in the vice otherwise it flattens the knurling. I also forgot to use oil. I'm wondering if it would work in the drill press with oil, but I suspect it doesn't have the power anyway. So yes - I'll try your procedure and report back.

This is useful information for any handle hobbyists, since hand knurlers are still available (though sometimes expensive) and many of us have a vice or could get one to use on a kitchen or garage table.

The other technique I covered earlier is making rings in the handle with a hacksaw blade and a drill press. That's always an alternative to knurling, but it's nice to have both choices in design terms.

As you say, aluminium is something to try. 5/8" or 16mm is a good size for a handle and if you use tube it can be weighted on the inside to bring it up to the desired weight. With a tube an insert could be glued into the top with an M5 thread, and a metal bung used at the bottom to close the tube.
 
Update:
I tried moving the hand knurler down the piece when held in a vice, and it didn't work - even with oil sprayed on it. Just ended up a bit of a mess. What does work is consecutive knurls touching each other. That looks OK as well. You can see in the photo how I started at the top and when it didn't work, I used consecutive knurls which are cleaner. I have to put more attention into keeping the knurls clean - using a brush of some kind probably. Suggestions?

This copper blank I'm using is 84mm long and weighs 84g and I want to bring that down a bit. I drilled the interior out to 6mm and that brought the weight down to 70g. The diameter is 12.8 so I could drill out to 8mm quite easily, but probably not more since I'm using a hand drill and the hole may not be perfectly centred. I hammer in a piece of copper rod to seal the end and then smooth it off with an angle grinder before buffing up in my drill press. I also use the angle grinder in the drill press, followed by filing and sandpaper, for making a nice conical end where the handle fits into the head. Making gradual progress.

MyCu 4.jpg
 
Got it right this time! Drilled it out to M6 and fitted a copper bung in the end which is practically invisible. The knurling came out nicely with my hand knurler. Size is 80x12.8mm and 67g.

MyCu7.jpg
 
That knurling looks nice! Clean and symmetrical. That's a nice handle you made (without the use of a lathe!)
Please keep showing us your work.
 
Does working up the nerve to shorten my RazoRock 100mm Ti Halo handle to 78mm count as DIY? I like short handles. RR has never offered a 3” Ti Halo to my knowledge.

BB83F04C-86F8-482C-BED0-E672E4C8B9CD.jpeg


I have a pen chuck for my wood lathe, so I taped the handle and chucked it up in the lathe. Everything I read and watched indicated that cutting Ti would be very difficult.

I spun it at the lowest speed to start and simply used an ordinary hacksaw to cut at my chosen narrow spot. I moved the saw back and forth to avoid overheating the blade. It took some time, but neither the tool nor the work got hot at all. I moved up to a mid-range RPM for the bulk of the cutting, then finished with the lathe stopped.

After I got the cut finished, I used 220 grit aluminum oxide sandpaper spinning the work at top RPM to smooth the butt end. Here is a picture of the sanded and unsanded sides of the cut.

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All in all, much easier than I had been expecting.
 
Nice work. I use my drill press and a hacksaw for shortening handles, and like you say some sandpaper to smooth it off. Works fine.
 
I have a new project - a 5/8" diameter handle, i.e. 16mm. Titanium would be ideal but not for DIY with basic tools. So I'm thinking an aluminium tube with a brass or copper insert. Aluminium on its own would be too light - I'm shooting for a weight between 50-60g, as titanium would be. This comes from liking my Wolfman Guerrilla handle, which I just gave to my son. That's 85x16mm x 63g, and in this case hollowed out SS. I'd like to replicate it (or buy a replacement if anyone has one they don't want).

So the idea is:
- 85mm x 16mm OD aluminium tube. ID is 9.3mm
- inner brass/copper rod 9mm, length to be determined by weight
- some kind of M5 fixing. This needs some creative thought, and there are ready-made options like brass threaded hex spacers.

What do you think so far? Haven't bought any parts yet, but should be fairly easy to work on.

Wolfman Guerrilla1.jpg
 
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Back to the Guerrilla handle. I have a prototype with the glue just drying ATM. My tools are a vice, hand drill, angle grinder and drill press plus the usual hand tools. When I was making 12.8 (1/2") handles they fitted into the 13mm chuck on the drill press, but the 16mm (5/8") aluminium tube I'm using for this handle requires a B16-3-16mm chuck, Morse taper. I'll either get one used or order from Hong Kong.

The weight is going to come out just right for me - I can vary between 50-65g. So it will be just like titanium, except easy to work. I just love the feel of a 16mm diameter handle in my hand. I can see myself playing around with different versions of this. Will post more pics when I can finish it better.

Wolfman MyGuer03.jpg
 
That project moved right along! What part(s) worked for the M5 female thread?

The aluminium tube is 16mm OD and 9.3mm ID. The picture shows a round zinc coated threaded spacer, OD 8mm. Next I'll try a nickel coated brass hex one, OD 9mm across edges. The weight in the tube is made up of a M5 threaded rod with nuts threaded onto it as required. The threaded rod fits into the F-F spacer. I also have some 9mm brass rod to seal the bottom end and I'm getting some 9.5mm aluminium rod. The heart of this is the aluminium tube 16mm OD and 9.3mm ID. I don't have a lathe, but with a lathe aluminium would be very easy to work. I'm getting a B16-16mm chuck for my drill press.

I really like 16mm diameter handles, and aluminium is nice to hold even without knurling. Doesn't seem to slip in use.
 
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