I've got a Boker in the post that I got when I bought another straight. It's got a fair sized chip out of it (tip of the blade is missing). I was wondering how hard is it to cut the end off the blade? I know that the blades can be brittle so will it cut with a cutting wheel on a Dremel or is it better to use a hacksaw or something else? I probably need to take 1/2 an inch off by looking at the photo. I though it would be good practise for me to have a go at shortening a blade and the scales to match and then putting it back together.
Sortening a blade. What's the best way?
- Thread starter johnmrson
- Start date
Dremel with the little rigid ceramic cut-off wheels. I have used these to remove the end of a straight razor with a chip out of the toe. You just have to be very careful to keep the wheel straight with the cut. Wear safety glasses. Good ones.
You can do almost anything with the cut-off wheels. It takes a steady hand, though.
You can do almost anything with the cut-off wheels. It takes a steady hand, though.
That wheel will get away from you if you're not careful, it doesn't take a lot to move your hand if it's not leveraged against something.
IMO you're better off sending that to Ray (Thirdeye) from Gentleman's Best to do with his laser. I've had him do work on my razors that had bad pitting at the tip and turned it into a Spanish/Concave Point. It's really inexpensive for what the risk can be.
IMO you're better off sending that to Ray (Thirdeye) from Gentleman's Best to do with his laser. I've had him do work on my razors that had bad pitting at the tip and turned it into a Spanish/Concave Point. It's really inexpensive for what the risk can be.
I usually grind toes down. If it's enough of a removal that a Disc would be wanted, I don't consider the blade worth saving. I use a dremel grinding drum and grind the spine back, then at low speed with very very very light strokes down the toe, bring the toe back to meet the spine, then repeat. Make sure the drum is turning towards the edge. If it's turning away from the edge it could catch it and rip a chunk off (especially on hollow grinds). This means that if you visualize an arrow pointing from the spine to the edge of the blade and an arrow showing the direction the drum turns, at the point where the drum meets the razor, they are pointing the same way.
I'm sure a stationary grinding wheel would be easier to use, but I don't have access to one.
As others have said, wear protection. Lots. Heavy clothes, goggles with side AND bottom protection (mask goggles, not shield ones, but of course impact protection... cheap mask goggles tend to be chemical protection but not impact).
I'm sure a stationary grinding wheel would be easier to use, but I don't have access to one.
As others have said, wear protection. Lots. Heavy clothes, goggles with side AND bottom protection (mask goggles, not shield ones, but of course impact protection... cheap mask goggles tend to be chemical protection but not impact).
It's not a huge risk. Just hold the razor around the blade (it'd be foolish to hold it anywhere else) and you'll feel it heating up. When it gets toasty, take a break for a good bit of time (razors aren't very good heat dissipaters). The edge grinds away so fast that you won't heat the razor up much when you're grinding it, so the only risk is that you heat the razor up enough while grinding the spine that the heat transferred to the edge during grinding causes damage. That's definitely possible, but easily avoided.
- Thread starter
- #8
Thanks for all the tips. I've got another totally useless blade that I can practise cutting on first. I got the razor for free with another one I bought but as it's a Boker, I thought I'd see if I could make it into a useable razor again. It's also good for me to learn how to do these things.
Good spirit!
Just take it slow & be sure to wear protection.
(Useful rule by the way in many, uncertain situations in life)
Similar threads
