Ooops. I should have caught that in the drawing post #4. You can shorten the edge length. Most vintages have a 2.75" edge length.
Time to expand a Hobby?
- Thread starter frozenoak
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Ooops. I should have caught that in the drawing post #4. You can shorten the edge length. Most vintages have a 2.75" edge length.
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- #22
Thanks for the advice. I will make the changes when get back to the house.
The three random razors I had here at my recliner were all right at 42mm from the pin to where the edge begins at the heel with various heel shapes and designs. Pin to shoulder or stabilizer distance was different for each ranging from 36mm to 39mm
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- #25
So, I made an adjustment. The pivot is now closer to 1 9/16" from the heel
and then added my Spanish Notch, and rounded the corners, more or less.
I think the next step will be to refine the shape some. I think the tail needs to be thinned out and that Spanish notch is ugly. Regarding the Bevels, what inclusive angle should I be aiming for?
I also updated my model in SolidWorks for future efforts. Am I measuring from the heel to the pivot correctly?
and then added my Spanish Notch, and rounded the corners, more or less.
I think the next step will be to refine the shape some. I think the tail needs to be thinned out and that Spanish notch is ugly. Regarding the Bevels, what inclusive angle should I be aiming for?
I also updated my model in SolidWorks for future efforts. Am I measuring from the heel to the pivot correctly?
rbscebu
Girls call me Makaluod
The included bevel angle has a lot to do with personal choice and steel hardness/grain size. Much below 15deg in considered rather accurate while much over 18deg is considered rather obtuse.
I prefer closer to 18deg on my high carbon steel blades as that tends to hold its edge better. For harder steels I drop down to about 16deg.
Probably best if you aim for say 19deg. You can always reduce the angle but increasing the angle takes some expert steel work.
If you are going to hone with tape 15º works well IMO, because the tape will add ~1º
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- #28
I made progress!
I broke out the Dychem and made some marks
Then proceeded to stand at the belt sander for several hours to come up with this. I think my 40 grit belt is toast. I'm approximately half done with the wedge.
And selected a nice looking piece of Teak salvaged from a table I disassembled 5 years or so ago.
One may notice that I stopped grinding before I reached my line. I'm trying to decide how best to grind into the tang. It gets funny when trying to maintain a bevel and adjust for the tang mid grind. I may be going to files from this point. Also, I don't know how I'm going to make a good looking hollow grind so I may leave this one as a full wedge. I would appreciate some feedback on both of those fronts.
I broke out the Dychem and made some marks
Then proceeded to stand at the belt sander for several hours to come up with this. I think my 40 grit belt is toast. I'm approximately half done with the wedge.
And selected a nice looking piece of Teak salvaged from a table I disassembled 5 years or so ago.
One may notice that I stopped grinding before I reached my line. I'm trying to decide how best to grind into the tang. It gets funny when trying to maintain a bevel and adjust for the tang mid grind. I may be going to files from this point. Also, I don't know how I'm going to make a good looking hollow grind so I may leave this one as a full wedge. I would appreciate some feedback on both of those fronts.
Slash McCoy
I freehand dog rockets
What are you using for a grinder? A 6" to 8" wheel would make a hollowground possible. I don't have a proper bent grinder but I have a 4" x 36" stationary belt sander (actually I have three, but two are going to be used for a twin hollowgrinder when I get around to it) and a portable dragster type belt sander (actually I have two of them) and carefully used, either one will do a hollowgrind if I am very careful. The nose roller, of course, not the platen. I did a lot of GD regrinds on the dragster sander.
It doesn't take a lot of grinding to turn a full wedge into a near wedge or a 1/4 hollow. A true full wedge is a PITA to hone.
With a steady hand and a good eye, you can fair the grind into the tang, if you want to go shoulderless. You can use the belt sander, or a dremel knockoff and the sanding drum tool. Those sanding drums are the bee's knees. My first regrinds and attempts at "barbecue razors" made heavy use of the Dremel, both the real thing, and the bigger heavy duty knockoff sold by Harbor Freight.
Without the "right" tools, it is pretty easy to sink 100 or 200 hours into a razor. And also pretty easy to destroy it in a split second when you are nearly done with it LOL! A wedge is easier to grind, yeah, but like I said, harder to hone.
If you are going for a true wedge, you need to be looking for a bevel angle of about 13.5 to 14 degrees, to leave room for tape on the spine. You will definitely want to hone a wedge razor with tape for the working bevel, and 2 or even 3 layers for a microbevel finish. A wedge, well honed, with a final microbevel of 16 to 16.5 degrees is an awesome shaver, I have to admit, even though I don't personally like wedges.
It doesn't take a lot of grinding to turn a full wedge into a near wedge or a 1/4 hollow. A true full wedge is a PITA to hone.
With a steady hand and a good eye, you can fair the grind into the tang, if you want to go shoulderless. You can use the belt sander, or a dremel knockoff and the sanding drum tool. Those sanding drums are the bee's knees. My first regrinds and attempts at "barbecue razors" made heavy use of the Dremel, both the real thing, and the bigger heavy duty knockoff sold by Harbor Freight.
Without the "right" tools, it is pretty easy to sink 100 or 200 hours into a razor. And also pretty easy to destroy it in a split second when you are nearly done with it LOL! A wedge is easier to grind, yeah, but like I said, harder to hone.
If you are going for a true wedge, you need to be looking for a bevel angle of about 13.5 to 14 degrees, to leave room for tape on the spine. You will definitely want to hone a wedge razor with tape for the working bevel, and 2 or even 3 layers for a microbevel finish. A wedge, well honed, with a final microbevel of 16 to 16.5 degrees is an awesome shaver, I have to admit, even though I don't personally like wedges.
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- #30
I have a harbor freight 2X36 upright belt grinder. The bottom wheel is accessible but there is no support so I'd be trying to freehand it. The wheel is about 2.5" but is probably metric. I also have a 6" angle grinder that I may try to jimmy rig into some type of hollow grinder. I also have several half round files that could be put into service for this purpose. I don't know their radius. I'll check in the morning.
Thanks for the help,
Dale
Thanks for the help,
Dale
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- #31
I was at the Vet for a large portion of the day yesterday so I didn't make progress on the razor. Back at it this weekend. I think I have decided to use the belt grinder to finish the bevels, being careful to not destroy the tang, and then file any gouges out of the tang as I shape it. I am also brainstorming options for creating a rest below the grinder for the purpose of using the drive wheel for the hollow grind. I don't need much, just enough to make honing easier.
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- #32
Just had a thought about scales. I have a very nice piece of jade, that I have no idea about shaping, that could be turned into scales. I wonder if it's a valid thought. The scales would have no flexibility but they would look amazing. Is it possible to use rock as scales?
Could you? Probably.
Should you? Probably not.
You can shape the wedge with just enough taper to just be open enough for the tang—BUT— if your tang is tapered the scales might crack as the blade opens.
If your tang is straight and your wedge is a spacer then that solves that problem but you then have another. Your tang and wedge would have to be the same width or you would bow the scales. If the tang and width are the same width the blade would simple fall through the scales.
Take a razor with a proper wedge and watch what the scales do as you open and close the blade.
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- #34
That's kind of what I thought. It'd take a special blade to allow for stone scales and it probably wouldn't be worth trying. Certainly not on a first run.
If you want Stone I would look at TruStone - https://www.makermaterialsupply.com/collections/trustone lots of suppliers for it for making Pens Bottle stoppers, shave brush handles, knife scales and gun handles.
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- #36
Thank you. I have their Banded Malachite that I used for a pairing knife scale a while back. And, your right, that might be a good fit for this project. They are a great company.
I've made pens and a few other things out of TruStone some of the varieties are harder to work with than others but the end result has always been fantastic. They may still be a bit on the brittle side for razor scales but definitely better than actual stone. Although jade is quite durable and an amazing natural material it probably would be a bit heavy as a scale material. I have thought natural Amber would make a beautiful razor handle or scales but again probably not practical.
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- #38
I am leaning heavily towards impractical and will probably stick to using the Teak. It was just a thought.
Any way you go with the scales I look forward to seeing the finished razor.
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- #40
It ain't pretty but I made some questionable progress.
The front went fairly well. I mounted a wood block under the power wheel and ground it from the back of the machine. It's a crowned wheel so it was difficult to get a clean straight grind but it looks like I'm on the right path. I did bugger up the toe but I'm hoping that'll come out with files after the heat treat.
And then I tried to do the other side. That didn't go so well. First, I tried to lay it flat on the board as I had for the first side but it (quite predictably and I was trying to be ready for it) grabbed pulled the razor under the belt and shot it out the back. I was braced for it but it was still unpleasant. So, I tried to free hand it against the wheel but due to the crown I just couldn't find my groove. I'm going to have to think about this one.
It's dark now but tomorrow, I'll investigate the protective covers to see if they are intrigal to the structure of the machine. If not, I will probably remove the shroud and build a guide to use the top wheel. It is flat and should work much better, and the motor wont be in the way so I can work both sides of the blade with the same set up.
Oh, and I added the 1\8" pivot hole.
Regards,
Dale
The front went fairly well. I mounted a wood block under the power wheel and ground it from the back of the machine. It's a crowned wheel so it was difficult to get a clean straight grind but it looks like I'm on the right path. I did bugger up the toe but I'm hoping that'll come out with files after the heat treat.
And then I tried to do the other side. That didn't go so well. First, I tried to lay it flat on the board as I had for the first side but it (quite predictably and I was trying to be ready for it) grabbed pulled the razor under the belt and shot it out the back. I was braced for it but it was still unpleasant. So, I tried to free hand it against the wheel but due to the crown I just couldn't find my groove. I'm going to have to think about this one.
It's dark now but tomorrow, I'll investigate the protective covers to see if they are intrigal to the structure of the machine. If not, I will probably remove the shroud and build a guide to use the top wheel. It is flat and should work much better, and the motor wont be in the way so I can work both sides of the blade with the same set up.
Oh, and I added the 1\8" pivot hole.
Regards,
Dale
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