My 6th W&B blade

[mycarver]

OK,, not what you thought but it is a W&B blade. I just scored 20 or so DE's ( sorry no straights this time) and after scurrying back to my burrow to look over my hoard one of the razors gave up this blade. Now there is much I don't know about all the facets of this hobby but this surprised me for some reason. This might be better in one of the DE threads but I figured with all the research some do on straights somebody might have come across a tidbit of info on W&B making DE blades.
Were or are these unusual to any degree? When were they made?

The blade is at least twice if not three times thicker than a standard Gillette and is pre-curved. It doesn't bend or flex at all. And as you can see it has quite a wide edge to it.
I thought it was interesting.

[barneykiller]

2 or 3 times as thick? Could they possibly be resharpened? Also I had no idea that W&B manufactured DE blades. Very cool find Mark

[mycarver]

It probably could but I think as you sharpen it will get narrower exposing less of the edge and may affect the ability of the razor to shave as the edge recedes under the head of the razor.
But I thought it was very cool too. They might have been common,, maybe it's rarer,, I have no idea.

[whavens]

Oh man, I need one of those for my W&B Open Comb razor. I have only found one other and they wanted $20 for it. I'd love to make a template from it so I could make a punch to modify new blades to fit this razor.

[mycarver]

Oh man, I need one of those for my W&B Open Comb razor. I have only found one other and they wanted $20 for it. I'd love to make a template from it so I could make a punch to modify new blades to fit this razor.

Two things,
One , I'd love to see the razor,, any pics?
Two,,, I'd be happy to make a template for you.

[whavens]

I just checked and I do not have pics transferred onto my laptop yet. I will take pics tonight and post. It is an interesting razor I got from Amish Motorboat a while back. The auction was closing and I hurried to bid on it, as I am a huge fan of W&B razors. I didn't read the full description that it took propriatary blades. Strictly my fault. I am thinking of cutting off the tabs on a regular blade to see if I can get them to work. I was thinking of having a friend make a punch that I can put new blades in and then punch out the extra steel to make them fit. when I get home I will try to post pics.

[mycarver]

No problem, I'm looking forward to it.
I happened to have some old blades in the shop with me and so I made one to fit. Took around 3 minutes with a Dremel type tool. I put a 13/64 drill bit to locate the center hole and then could see just how much of the small tabs that had to be removed. Using a small bit I just ground away a little at a time until I had a match.
One thing you'll have to be careful to watch is that the tabs are removed evenly. If not you run the risk of having the blade skewed in the head with one end of the edge sticking out further from the other.
A punch might work but there is so little to remove and the process of aligning it, holding it, then punching it out without a jig of some sort might not yield the results you want.
If you have access to a Dremel I'd start there and as you can see before and after pics.. there is really very little to remove. You just might be able to trim and test fit and keep repeating this process using the razor itself to test the fit and see just how the blade needs to be trimmed to get it to fit perfectly.
And I did check the thickness and it is exactly 3 times as thick. Shouldn't present a problem though as the concave side is perfectly flat and it's the convex side with the bevel grind which "should" keep the edge in the same relative position to the original.

[tomjr]

that is very unknown and unusual find i think. tom

[whavens]

Thanks, I will break out the Dremel and give it a whirl. I was thinking of having a jig made to hold the blade in position with a punch to remove the excess metal. I have a friend that should have the skill and equipment to do it. But first I will give the Dremel a try.

[mycarver]

You could especially if you plan on making many blades. It would have to be quite an exacting jig and punch system where a few minutes with a Dremel can produce quite a few as you only need to remove approx. 1/16 th inch from a little blip.

[whavens]

Yeah, but I like giving him challenging projects. It will drive him nuts until he gets it right. Will give him a chance to play on the Bridgeport milling machine and the surface grinder. Here a couple of pics of it.

[mycarver]

Yeah, but I like giving him challenging projects. It will drive him nuts until he gets it right. Will give him a chance to play on the Bridgeport milling machine and the surface grinder. Here a couple of pics of it.

Now THAT is SWEEEET! Have you been able to find out anything of it's history or when it was made besides the usual W&B info? I'm sure you don't being a fan of their stuff, but if you ever want to part with it I have a place for it in my collection.


A milling machine and a surface grinder? Nice tools to have but that's like using an air to surface missile to kill an ant.

Seeing the shape of that head now, it shouldn't pose any problem just setting the blade in place and gradually working back the little tabs. Grind, test, grind test. Just keep it even as I mentioned.

[danielghofrani]

That is cool, I did not know W&B made safety razors

[whavens]

Yeah, but just think how cool it would be to be able to just drop a blade in and set the top on, hit it with a hammer and have blades ready. BTW, I looked at your pics, great resto work. You have a lot of talent.