Nice. I should find an old blade, cut it down a little and make a fixed handle. This will be my EDC knife. 
Putting my efforts into one sock - Ladykate
- Thread starter ladykate
- Start date
- Thread starter
- #22
This is my latest. I call it Ulu. ;-}
A smiley face curve is harder to hone but this one seems to work ok. Had to taper the spine in the front 1/4 so I could actually touch the edge when I rolled the blade across the stones. I'm not sure it is my favorite design but it is certainly different for me.
A smiley face curve is harder to hone but this one seems to work ok. Had to taper the spine in the front 1/4 so I could actually touch the edge when I rolled the blade across the stones. I'm not sure it is my favorite design but it is certainly different for me.
that is a wild one there partner. i like it!!!!!!!!!!!
- Thread starter
- #24
hokayhay suggested I used stippling for those Gold Dollar handles that I've been repurposing. It seems to work! The total effort takes less time than crackle coating or other dress-ups. I coated the scales with a touch of black to remove some of the solder that managed to get on the scales from the soldering gun (duh) and then sprayed it with a couple of coats of poly to make it easier to clean.
Here is the image:
Here is the image:
Last edited:
Very nice work
- Thread starter
- #26
Thanks, Doc. That is one of your scales in the picture. I like the outcome so far. The grip is, as you would imagine, very secure. I seriously doubt anyone will have one of these slipping in their hands. I want to use it a few times to make sure it works as well as it seems like it will... but I'm testing that Feather blade right now. I might use this one to shave my head today. It is wicked sharp - without shaving with it, it seems to be the sharpest one I've made so far.
The blade looked nicer than other GDs that I received but when I started working on it, it required a bit more touch up than usual. The stabilizers were really in the way and the spine had been rolled on the grinder by the little Chinese girl so it looked funky as hell when it was honed. I was just going to use the generic blade but ended up doing the normal - cutting scallops to hide defects, etc. I'm getting very quick at modifying these things to this state. I only use the Dremel for polishing the bench grinder/belt sander scars and then 10 minutes on the buffing wheel. Takes an hour or so - makes a nice 5 foot blade (looks nice 5 feet away).
The scales take about an hour to make (and another couple to dry from the overcoat).
Last edited:
the stippling is awesome...
Nice work ladykate,
Is the tail real thin or a camera trick with the cloth?
Is the tail real thin or a camera trick with the cloth?
- Thread starter
- #29
That's the cloth laying on the tail. I didn't modify it. I just suck at photos. ;-}
I think the photos look great.
- Thread starter
- #32
Thanks for the nice compliment. I don't make scales for others - this is a hobby for me so I don't sell things as a rule. I have other hobbies that were somewhat tainted when I moved into the commercial side of it. I prefer to play!
However, one theme I've tried to keep was to show that it isn't hard to make your own. The stippled scales are a case in point. If you can re-pin a razor, then making those stippled scales would be dead easy. Just get a soldering gun with a pointed tip, a root beer, and a flat surface and you are in business. The stippling is done by touching the hot soldering iron on the plastic. It happens instantly and, as long as you don't press hard, it will work. You don't have to be a craftsman (I'm not!). I coated it with a spray of poly to prevent greebles from sticking into the divots. The GD scales work for other blades, too. I put washers against the blade on the pivot when I make them and, quite frankly, they are more robust than many commercial examples.
Oh... and I prep the GD scales by wiping them down with a paper towel wetted with acetone. It takes off that funky logo that sheds in your hand anyway.
Last edited:
- Thread starter
- #33
Here is a shorty (made after reading the shorty thread and a post by Kent saying I should make a Western Kami folder). It gave me a good shave this morning but I think I prefer fixed handles on these shorter blades. My hands are just too big.
- Thread starter
- #34
OK... I went back to the shorty folder that I made and it was just too awkward in my fat hands. So I modified it. My choices were to slide the blade back into the handle and fix it permanently, or make a new handle, or leave the blade out a bit. I chose to leave the blade out. That makes the whole thing a lot longer but, like I said, I have big hands and this gives me lots of wiggle room. I also get to keep the tang work out where it can be seen.
Last edited:
Nice work, I'm going to make me a shorty with one of my restoration candidates, it's already been chopped off by the previous owner so just needs polishing and scaling.
- Thread starter
- #36
Be sure to post something when you get it done. I like short blades - my Feathers are really sweet and my own conglomerations are nice, too.
- Thread starter
- #38
I needed one more homemade Kami to round out my collection (wanted seven that I wouldn't be ashamed of showing) so I dug up this. It is asymmetrically ground. The metal is from one of my public factories in China. It was labeled "File" when I bought it. It was the thickest one I could find but it was still thin. I was able to get the right grind on it without much of a problem but honing requires some beefing up of the spine to get the right angle (else it is prone to chipping) but it strops on diamond and leather just fine without tape. I shaved my head with it today. Mild razor but it does the job.
I'm not Paco so I had to make a jig for my grinder so I could put in the proper hollows. Ended up being quite easy and quite easy to use. Essentially, I just hung a piece of angle iron over the tool rest, bolted it on, and adjusted everything so the angle iron was just above the center of the grinder. Adjusted the tool post so I had about 40 thou clearance and used the angle iron back as a brace to pass the blade in. Made for uniform grinds.
Treated it with vinegar to get the patina.
Size is 15/16.
Here is the end so you can see the grind. Kinda delicate because of the thin metal. Delicate for me anyway.
I'm not Paco so I had to make a jig for my grinder so I could put in the proper hollows. Ended up being quite easy and quite easy to use. Essentially, I just hung a piece of angle iron over the tool rest, bolted it on, and adjusted everything so the angle iron was just above the center of the grinder. Adjusted the tool post so I had about 40 thou clearance and used the angle iron back as a brace to pass the blade in. Made for uniform grinds.
Treated it with vinegar to get the patina.
Size is 15/16.
Here is the end so you can see the grind. Kinda delicate because of the thin metal. Delicate for me anyway.
Last edited:
- Thread starter
- #39
I was looking at a used CJB that I got from Paco. It was in great shape so I decided to mess with it. 
I slit the rubber handle with a box cutter and it peeled off easily. To my surprise, the tang on the razor was a freakin folder tang! It had the same dimensions (about) as a Feather RG.
View attachment 261785
I was going to put on a non-folder handle until I saw that what we had was a folder in the making. Casus said that CJB used to have folders but they stopped production. Time to produce one more!
The hole in the tang was not finished so I bored it out a bit to clean it up. I didn't have a large pivot pin so I shimmed the hole with some 5/32 brass with a 3/32 hole in it.
View attachment 261789
Then, because my imagination-fu went to McDonalds, I just outlined an RG folder and used that as my scale template. I added about 3/8" on the back for the wedge.
View attachment 261790
The result looks like... uh... an RG with walnut scales. To make it slightly different, and to give the pinless wedge a little acreage to hold on with, I made the wedge a little differently.
The Feather AC and clones such as this one are a bit heavier than you would think so the scales need to be slightly thicker to balance it. I think I would add a bit more mass if I did this again. Still... it feels good enough. Will shave with it tomorrow.
I slit the rubber handle with a box cutter and it peeled off easily. To my surprise, the tang on the razor was a freakin folder tang! It had the same dimensions (about) as a Feather RG.
View attachment 261785
I was going to put on a non-folder handle until I saw that what we had was a folder in the making. Casus said that CJB used to have folders but they stopped production. Time to produce one more!
The hole in the tang was not finished so I bored it out a bit to clean it up. I didn't have a large pivot pin so I shimmed the hole with some 5/32 brass with a 3/32 hole in it.
View attachment 261789
Then, because my imagination-fu went to McDonalds, I just outlined an RG folder and used that as my scale template. I added about 3/8" on the back for the wedge.
View attachment 261790
The result looks like... uh... an RG with walnut scales. To make it slightly different, and to give the pinless wedge a little acreage to hold on with, I made the wedge a little differently.
The Feather AC and clones such as this one are a bit heavier than you would think so the scales need to be slightly thicker to balance it. I think I would add a bit more mass if I did this again. Still... it feels good enough. Will shave with it tomorrow.
Last edited:
Similar threads
