McLaughlin's XXX Coffee - England

[The Shave Doctor]

I found this straight while cleaning my Dad's house out.

I did a quick Google search and not much comes up.

I was wanting to know a little bit about it.

It has a chip in the end of the Blade. Is this something that can be fixed or made usable?

I thought about taking a bench grinder or file and trying to just curve off the pointed edges.

Has anyone did this before. Or if you have other suggestions how to make it shave ready let me know.

Thanks in Advance!

 

[Lightcs1776]

It is a significant chip, but you might be able to make a "shorty," since the chip is at the end. Being it was your Dad's, it would allow you to use it even if it wouldn't normally make sense to put the effort into it. You want to be very careful with a grinder, as that can easily overheat the steel. Personally, I'l use a file, though someone here with experience may have a better idea.

 

[Gord A]

The blade is hard and a file would only do further damage. You should use a grinder to remove the chip if you have to.
I would recommend cleaning the razor up, apply some oil to the blade and just save it as a keepsake in memory of your Dad. If you want to get into straight razor shaving there is plenty of advise available on this forum.

 

[captaincaed]

I've restored a handful of razors recently, with varying degrees of chip size or bad geometry. Based on what I've done, the idea of repairing the one you're showing gives me sweaty hands. That represents a lot of work. If you take the entire end off, it may change how the razor sits between the scales, and could even drop all the way through and out the back. Hard to know without seeing it but food for thought.

The tip (toe) of the razor is very useful when shaving, just rounding the corners would make it safer, but harder to shave with.

Hold out of an optimistic assessment though, someone here may be more clever than I, and have a great idea.

It may be worth trying to find an equivalent razor to use, and leaving that one as a keepsake.

 

[Lightcs1776]

The blade is hard and a file would only do further damage. You should use a grinder to remove the chip if you have to.
I would recommend cleaning the razor up, apply some oil to the blade and just save it as a keepsake in memory of your Dad. If you want to get into straight razor shaving there is plenty of advise available on this forum.

Interesting. I would have thought the file would be safer, but I've never done it before. Thanks for pointing that out.

 

[Antique Hoosier]

Shadow box this keepsake

 

[Legion]

Interesting. I would have thought the file would be safer, but I've never done it before. Thanks for pointing that out.

Hard to file steel that is as hard as a file. The only way would be with diamond files, and that would be a mega PITA.

If you want to make this razor usable the only real viable option is to shorten it to remove the chipped area. Can totally be done, but there are a few traps. The procedure has been discussed here a number of times, so hit the search function. I would probably practice on a beater or two, maybe a Gold Dollar, before your dads razor.

 

[Lightcs1776]

Hard to file steel that is as hard as a file. The only way would be with diamond files, and that would be a mega PITA.

If you want to make this razor usable the only real viable option is to shorten it to remove the chipped area. Can totally be done, but there are a few traps. The procedure has been discussed here a number of times, so hit the search function. I would probably practice on a beater or two, maybe a Gold Dollar, before your dads razor.

View attachment 1807835

Yep, definitely learning something today.

 

[Gamma]

Actually pretty easy to do. But also pretty easy to mess up.
There are a million paths to Rome. I'll outline my basics briefly.
I could make what follows longer but it doesn't need to longer.... you'll get the idea.

Short form.
Note - this is dangerous - wear protection everywhere.

Cut off disc on a Dremel to square off the blade behind the chip.
This is dangerous - wear protection everywhere.
Disc rotation MUST be toward the edge from the spine, never toward the spine from the edge.
Why?
If you go 'into' the edge with the disc, the blade can/will shatter and send shrapnel everywhere.
Guess how I know that.
Heads up - all of this process is dangerous - wear protection everywhere.
Flying razor bits are pretty nasty. I put tape on both sides to keep it together in case of catastrophic failure.

Then use a sanding drum on the Dremel to shape the blade's toe to suit.
Be smart, doing this stuff is sorta dangerous - wear protection everywhere.
Steel must be kept cool or you blow the temper. cup of ice water to dunk it into works fine.
Go slow, use minimal pressure.Pressure makes heat and will break discs and wear the drums.
And yes, you guessed it, that's right, cutting and grinding steel like this is dangerous - wear protection everywhere.

Then shorten the scales to fit. Hone. Strop Shave. Done.

 

[Kailand09]

Do you have a bench mount belt grinder? That's how many grind knives down, might be easier and safer than a cut off when. Heat will be the biggest enemy.

 

[Legion]

Do you have a bench mount belt grinder? That's how many grind knives down, might be easier and safer than a cut off when. Heat will be the biggest enemy.

It is. The thin edge on a hollow razor heats almost instantly, and you have no time between dipping it in water and grinding. My grinder is variable speed, so I can turn it right down, but I still avoid putting razors to it, other than shortening tails, etc.

The best way I find is to use a flex shaft on a Dremel, and either keep the edge wet, or resting in ice. I’ll usually make a block of ice and rest the blade on it as I grind. As the razor gets warm it “cuts” deeper into the ice.

 

[Kailand09]

That's a good point. I have only done knives on the grinder, and the water bucket did the trick so the Dremel is probably the better idea for geat management.

 

[The Shave Doctor]

Thanks for all of the replies.

I took it to the bench grinder.

I figured I had nothing to lose if it ended up being none usable.

I am not much of a shadow box guy but it was a great idea.

I went very lightly and slowly dipping in ice water.

Its not perfect but it came out pretty good.

Spent some time honing it this evening.

I use lapping film as I am just starting out.

I started at 1000 grit and progressed to 10,000.

It came out well as far as I can tell.

A shave tomorrow will let me know.

The problem I see is where it gets into the curve where it rounds up.

It is pretty much a straight line across the blade honed and in the curve does not feel as sharp.

We will see.

 

[Legion]

One more try.

That end bit where the chip was has to go. Cut off, or better, ground away. You cannot just make a new bevel on the broken part and expect it to conform to the spine for correct honing.

You need to shorten the razor. And then, ideally, the scales so they match.

See my razors in post #7. They were both damaged in a similar way to yours, got shortened and new scales made. You can cut down the existing scales if you prefer.