Another new project

[WynnKnives]

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At this point in time I think I could say I'm almost excited as I was the first time I made a real knife. Due to customer request I'm making a straight razor, which led me to thinking. Why haven't I already done this? And, why am I not shaving with one of my own razors?! So I figured I would share my excitement and adventure (if anyone is interested along the way). Also if anyone has any tips or pointers that has made them before I'm all ears.

Thanks!

[Ray Rogers]

I know people used to shave with those things all the time but I still have to say be careful. Making one of those is is a lot of work and a really roundabout way to cut your own throat. Be careful!

Since I make so many Rayzor folders I've gotten lots of requests for shaving razors so I did a good bit of reading on the subject. I learned that if you really want to be taken seriously as a maker of shaving razors you need to learn a lot about what goes into the design of a good razor. In that regard, they are much like professional kitchen knives - people who use them and collect them have specific characteristics they look for in the design of the blade. Being sharp isn't enough....

[WynnKnives]

Ya, I definitely agree with EVERYTHING you've said. But as you've said there is a LOT that goes into it. And honestly I've always been one that's up for a challenge. Maybe that's why I'm so excited, I've done alot of researching and I told the customer that it would be an even longer wait time than normal and gave him a really good price, so that I know I have a good product. I even enlisted one of my buddies that uses a straight razor. But as always thanks for your insight and concern.

I did some research awhile ago about them and they really fascinate me, maybe like you said it's because they have such a stigma and they really do have to be held to a higher standard, especially in the "sharp" category.

[R. Yates]

Now this would be a good KITH to work on and I would Not mind doing one .

Sam

[WynnKnives]

That would be a sweet KITH but I feel a lot of "newbies" would be excluded. I know you can do a wedge Razor so you wouldnt have to worry about the hollow grind, and some people prefer that, but just the hones to finish the sharpening on one your looking at over $100 alone, whereas these aren't necessary for a using knife. But I would def be interested in doing it as they really don't take a lot of time or resources (besides the hones)

[Icho]

I've been doing some research the past few days on straight razors because I am just about to cut out a blank. I'm looking forward to see how yours turns out. Keep us updated.

[WynnKnives]

Well I got both of them HTed this after noon (both O1), I have two that I'm doing at a time a 5/8 and a 6/8. The 5/8 is going to be the test piece I'm going to have my resident professional straight razor user test out. The 6/8 is intended to be the customers, which I don't have the handle material for yet (it's coming with the hones that I ordered).

Here is the 5/8 it's only been ground up to 100g (long way to go), and the scales are far from finished as you can see, they are Honey Ox horn.

So far the biggest challenge has been the grind, I'm using a 5" wheel and am not used to getting such a deep grind and having that very tall very thin edge. That and making sure everything is very straight, where on a normal blade it wouldn't be a massive deal, I think its a good idea to keep everything as flat, straight, and perpendicular as possible since this edge is going to be by a jugular.

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[Fulmaduro]

I am not a hollow grinder, usually just flat grinds.

I would imagine a blade that thin would be hard to grind and not ruin the temper. I doubt I would have the patience to attempt something like that!

Looks great by the way!

Tony Z

[WynnKnives]

The initial grind went really fast and I thought, wow this is going to be alot easier than I thought, but you hit the nail on the head. Obviously you can't grind this blade to almost finished before HT, and when it's so thin the temper can be easily ruined. So I've been grinding it bare handed and when my fingers start to burn then I know to dunk it :-P

[R. Yates]

that is looking very Good !

Sam

[Doug Lester]

You might even want to make a couple of passes on the grinder and then cool in water and not wait until you burn your fingers. You also need to watch the pressure and the speed a which you move the blade because it's rather easy to get thin steel to glow just from the heat of friction. Once that happens there's nothing to do but repeat the heat treating.

Doug

[WynnKnives]

I'm running my grinder at it's slowest setting, and I get about 1-2 passes before it gets hot then dunk it. I was only half joking about the burning my fingers part. I'm grinding it holding the tang the with my other hand resting the tip on my forefinger while keeping the pressure even with my thumb. So it gets warm pretty quick, so it take quite awhile to grind a blade like this. But the last thing I want to do it ruin the temper, I feel that if you ruin the temper at this stage the entire thing is ruined. I don't see a blade this thin holding up to a HT, especially not coming out straight. And that, would defeat the entire purpose.

[Doug Lester]

Ya, I know about the half joking part. It's surprising, as in dang that's hot, how fast a blade will heat up just by friction with the belt. I've repeated the heat treatment on blades with a a fine edge but you have to bring them up to heat slowly and carefully or you end up with something that looks like a potato chip. You might as well give it a try the worst that you can do is ruin a ruined blade.

Doug

[WynnKnives]

Originally Posted by Doug Lester

You might as well give it a try the worst that you can do is ruin a ruined blade.

Doug

You make a good point sir

[Ray Rogers]

I always grind bare handed without regard to how thick the blade will be - if it's too hot to hold, its just plain too hot! I didn't see any mention of your 'belt fu' but, especially on a project like this, you should be using nothing but fresh, sharp belts especially on the finer grits. Sharp belts run much cooler than dull ones. When you're putting the final finish on the blade you could try most any belt you like but when you're in the earlier stages still trying to remove scratches you should probably stick with ceramic and zirconium belts rather than structured abrasives.

Treat belts like they are free and you'll have less heat and better control. The cost goes into the final price of the knife just like any other consumable supply ....