My first GD reboot... (a bit pic heavy)

[Zamonium]

When I started shaving DE, I thought I'd never get into straights. Then, when I went SR, I figured I'd never get into rescaling. Judging from the way things are going, I will be enrolling in blacksmithing school within a year.

This is my first rescale/modification, so it's a bit rough, but I'm trying to keep it simple. Started from a Gold Dollar #66 from ebay. The scales make it seem like a McDonald's toy.

The first thing I did was to dremel off the Protrusion of Honing Impossibility (PHI) on the heel. Rather than removing this part of the razor entirely, I simply decided to smooth it down. Is that a bad idea?




Then I removed the scales.




Then I figured I'd start making the scales.

 

[Zamonium]

I bought some exotic hardwood for the scales. For my first set I used padauk, a red African hardwood. It is actually quite a bit redder than in these pictures.




I pinned the spacer in after drilling both holes. I don't own a drill press, so you may notice that the holes on the near end in the above photo are a bit crooked. Or, like me, you may not notice at all. They are not crooked enough to cause the blade to hit the scales, so I may just call it good as it's my first attempt.





And here is a photo of the partially shellacked scales:



More to come as I continue... I love constructive criticism.

 

[Khay]

Pretty good job on the PHI (lol) - did you use sanding drums or grinding stones on a dremel to do it ?

Love the wood scales. I wish I could lay my hands on some of that wood, haven't found any place around here that sells it or similar - so I settled for pine - I also did my first set of scales last weekend :

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/301744-Gottlieb-Hammesfahr-broken-scales-salvageable

I know what you mean about the drill press, I actually am lucky I have a neighbour that has one - a cheap simple one, but 100x better than hand holding a dremel

 

[seizure]

Did you buy the scales pre-made? Or did you shape them yourself?

Either way, looking good!

 

[Zamonium]

Yeah, I made them myself. Thanks!

 

[otto76]

Nice! I like the scales a lot and as far as I've been able to tell it doesn't really matter if the shoulder is removed or smoothed out as long as it's out of the way. Yours looks good, I always end up making deep gouges and scratches in mine. I had to buy a mini drill press, couldn't get a straight hole for anything and it was making me crazy.

Constructive criticism? Save yourself some $$ and a whole bunch of free time and quit this now.
Put it out of your mind. Forget all about it! Go outside and get some fresh air and sunshine. Meet a pretty girl.

 

[BakerAndBadger]

It's looking good to me, congrats. I did the same thing with my first GD, ground and feathered it out into the tang. Don't know if you've honed it yet but I had to go back to the grinder as I hadn't gone far enough back to the tang so the heel want touching he stone properly, you might be ok looking at it but maybe check before scaling it up.
Congrats on your first custom blade. Scales look good, I don't have a press either and my second lot of scales were a bit wonky, still they do the job.

 

[ladykate]

The first thing I did was to dremel off the Protrusion of Honing Impossibility (PHI) on the heel. Rather than removing this part of the razor entirely, I simply decided to smooth it down. Is that a bad idea?

Not a bad idea at all. The obsession over the heel is understandable but not as bad as most would have it. I've had many old razors that had a heel that interfered with the honing and many razors that had a nice heel - one that didn't interfere. You can get by without touching the heel but it is a PITA when honing so I almost always smooth it down. I have taken it off on some but I like to leave a smoothed down piece on most of my mods.

 

[Trenton]

When I started shaving DE, I thought I'd never get into straights. Then, when I went SR, I figured I'd never get into rescaling. Judging from the way things are going, I will be enrolling in blacksmithing school within a year.

Lots of great blacksmiths in the Pacific North West. http://blacksmith.org I'm told their conferences are great, and the is one in September.

Nice work on the razor.

 

[Zamonium]

Update:

Just waiting on some new lapping film that is being sent to me. My old film is pretty much all black with use, and doesn't seem to be doing the trick...

I will hopefully get that blade mounted by the end of the week!

 

[johna2231]

SCALES LOOK GREAT!! I know how much work that is. Way to go!

John

 

[Zamonium]

Little update:

I love the scales I made, but the hole for mounting the blade is slightly crooked, so they may go unused (at least for now. I may try to use a larger pin and even out the holes later).

Meanwhile, I'm making a set of scales out of a wood called Wenge. Here's picture of it with the spacer sticking out, as I haven't ground it down to match yet.



I have also (finally) been able to sharpen the blade to my satisfaction. It will probably get dull during the remainder of the reboot, but I just wanted to make sure it could be done before I mounted it, as I'd hate to be grinding it down with the scales hanging off it.

 

[otto76]

Nice! That's neat looking wood.

Edit- Too bad about the first set of scales, but if you aren't super particular some wood glue and a staining pen will fill that hole up, a little sanding and you will hardly see it at all. That will only work for you if you have enough wiggle room either direction to drill a brand new hole.

 

[hokahay]

I think they call the 'spacer' a 'wedge'.

 

[otto76]

Ithink they call it a 'wedge'.

I could be missing something here but I think he is talking about the type of wood he is using

 

[Zamonium]

Nah, just using incorrect terminology. Spacer seemed right at the time, but it's not.

 

[Doc226]

You can make the wedge out of the wenge to really confuse things.

 

[otto76]

Nah, just using incorrect terminology. Spacer seemed right at the time, but it's not.

Okay, I thought he saw "wenge" and thought you meant wedge.

 

[otto76]

You can make the wedge out of the wenge to really confuse things.

Wouldn't it though?

 

[jamesj1578]

wow looks great!!!