First razor project with a GD blank and Titanium .

[wquiles]

I have been shaving for almost 2 months with the Feather AC "system", and recently spend a whole week shaving with only traditional str8 razors (4x different razors). I found the "regular length" of about 3" a bit long, and I prefer the non-folding handle, so I decided to work with a GD blank and try making my own razor.

I started with a GD, and I carefully grind it down to make it into a "shorty" of about 2.3" long:

I then took a rod of Titanium (6al-4v) and used some scans of the CJB and Japanese SS as a guide:

To give the epoxy a good mechanical hold to the Ti, I partially threaded the rod:

I then milled the two flats on the rod:

I then milled some thin grooves on both sides to provide grip:

I cut some grooves on the blade, so that it would provide mechanical grip to the threads in the handle:

I then cut two more grooves in the handle (both sides) for a little bit more grip, and then epoxied the two parts together:

Here is how it looks right now (scans in the bottom, original Ti rod on top):

A little detail on the machining:

How it looks in my hand:

Comparing to my Feather razors:

Obligatory shave area photos:

There are a few things I want to do different next time, but it was a great learning experience. Next I have to hone it, and of course shave with it

 

[otto76]

Really cool! Enjoy all the pictures of your shop and the process.

 

[Legion]

Neat. I wish I had your workshop.

 

[mycarver]

Well now ain't that something! Very cool.

 

[Bhenderson]

Necessity is the mother of invention.

 

[Nxspam]

Very Nice. Some nice toys you have available too.

 

[cardoso5fr]

It's ultra coooooooool. great work.

 

[Lexbomb]

You have some great tools and great talent. Good job.

 

[wquiles]

Thank you guys


Most of my machining and electronics have been on Flashlights and LED's so doing the razor stuff is totally new to me.

 

[Firewalker]

Nice, the angle is perfect!

 

[Doc226]

Awesome.

How is the balance? Seems like it might be handle heavy.

 

[wquiles]

Awesome.

How is the balance? Seems like it might be handle heavy.

Yes, even though Titanium is lighter than the steel in the blade, there is more Ti than steel, so the balance point is about 3/4" into the handle - almost exactly at the middle point of the razor.

I hope to start the honing today to try shaving with it, so although it feels good in the hand, I don't know yet how it "feels" while shaving.

 

[wquiles]

OK, finally - I got it honed over the last couple of days (as we all know these GD's need work!) and today I shaved with it for the first time. I started with a DMT 1200 DiaSharp 8x3" "stone" (Extra Fine), and once I got a bevel set that I could start to shave hair, I moved to the lapping film, 30u, 12u, 5, 3, 1, and finally stropping on leather loaded with 0.5u CrO. Then normal stropping on a black latigo leather.

This being an experiment, and my first ever razor project, I was afraid that the grooving cuts (top & bottom) would be too shallow (those are 0.020" deep), but they turned out to give excellent grip even with hands loaded with soap. I never today felt like the razor was going to slip my hand while shaving. Beguiners' luck!

The razor shaves really, really well. In the hand it has the feel of the Feather's Japanese style razors, but the edge of a traditional str8 razor (meaning it is sharp, but not taking layers of your skin sharp like with new Sharp/Kai blades). This razor ended up handle heavy, but the balance point came out about perfect (again, pure luck), and the length of the edge (being shorter on purpose as I found the "normal" 3" blades too long) worked great to reach all spots that need a little touch ups. The overall ergonomics worked great to give me a nice DFS today. My regular razor now-a-days is a Feather RG Japanese style handle, so (as if I needed further proof to myself) I definitely don't like folding str8 razors.

I will strop it again tonight, and use it tomorrow again for shaving in the morning. Bottom line, the razor worked better than I hoped

 

[Kentos]

Have you ever though of machining DE razor handles? Looks like you have the means to do it. I would envision a fat titanium one .

 

[wquiles]

Have you ever though of machining DE razor handles? Looks like you have the means to do it. I would envision a fat titanium one .

Kent,

To be honest, yes, I have been thinking about making a prototype to play with, and I recently bought a Titanium-specific threading tap, and carbide drill. I still have some Ti rod left from this project (although its diameter might be too big), and doing the turning on the lathe is not bad with the lubrication system, so I just need to find some time to actually build a Ti handle. That said, since my setup is all manual, I am not looking forward to drilling and tapping Ti - it is a royal pain in the butt.

 

[CanonSterVa]

Great work.
I am sure it took a look of patience on this one.
Know how much work goes into a project doing it all manually in the machine shop.

Enjoy the shave.

 

[oakeshott]

Not fair, not fair, not fair. My most sophisticated power tool is a Dremel 3000 and then I open up THIS thread? I feel seriously under dressed.

In spite of the green eye shades of jealousy, that is one heck of a straight razor you made. Do you find that the thickness of the handle, particularly where it meets the blade's toe, gets in the way of shaving? i.e. that it meets the face at the same time as the razors edge?

 

[wquiles]

Great work.
I am sure it took a look of patience on this one.
Know how much work goes into a project doing it all manually in the machine shop.

Enjoy the shave.

Thank you. Last night I hit the 0.5CrO leather strop, and the regular leather strop, and the shave this morning was even more smooth than yesterday - near BBS, so I am pretty pleased.

Not fair, not fair, not fair. My most sophisticated power tool is a Dremel 3000 and then I open up THIS thread? I feel seriously under dressed.

In spite of the green eye shades of jealousy, that is one heck of a straight razor you made.

Thank you. I started with a "small" 7x12" lathe and hand tools. 8 years later, and many projects later, I have a few more tools - the machine shop I have built over the years, nothing overnight. I am lucky to have an excellent machining mentor as well.

Do you find that the thickness of the handle, particularly where it meets the blade's toe, gets in the way of shaving? i.e. that it meets the face at the same time as the razors edge?

When honing of course I have to be careful not to scratch the handle, but while shaving the end of the handle does not get in the way of shaving. If/when I make the next one, I would pick about the same distance between the end of the handle and the blade's toe, or maybe 1/8" longer - either way it works great "as is". Just beguiners' luck.

 

[Tierdaen]

Looks pretty good. I miss having a shop to work in...I'd be doing projects like this myself if I could.

I think the handle looks OK and probably works fine, but if I were doing it, I'd create a slight taper toward the blade (flared butt) and would probably chamfer the edges more to create a kind of flattened octagon cross section. That'd bring down the weight and allow fine-tuning of balance...it'd also look less blocky, which may or may not be desirable.

Hope to see you doing more things like this.

 

[wquiles]

I have been using this razor for 5x days in a row, and so far it is working great. I would like to make another one, so thanks for the great feedback and suggestions