My first hand made straight.

[Skrymr]

Since I have access to some grinders at work, among other power tools, I asked my boss if I could use them to make my own straight. Once he realized I was serious he said I could. So off to the bay. I ordered a piece of 1095 tool steel at 1/4 in thick and 1 1/2 X 7 3/4. I was hoping to get two razors out of it. Unfortunately the band saw blade at work was duller than dirt.... So I used a sawzall, and got lucky and got two razor shaped objects. I then took the razor shaped objects to the grinders and sanders and they came out looking like this:



Then I covered them in steel blue and scribed center lines on them with a drill bit the same diameter as the steel thickness.



Then off to the surface grinder to take out more steel before heat treating.




Now for the heat treating. I tried Texas Knife Supply, but they don't HT 1095. They suggested Lee Oates. The maker of Bearclaw Knives. So off they went, and when they came back they looked like this.



Back to work with it and I knocked the crud off with a 1" belt sander and then put the first one on the surface grinder. I pre ground a couple washers and cut them in half to act as spacers under the ground side so the magnet didn't pull it down at an angle. I also had to be careful about dressing the grinding wheel. The way it wore while I was grinding worked out well for getting the wedge shape. I got pretty lucky there...


To be continued

[brother cavefish]

we will see

[Skrymr]

Here is a pick of the shape of the blade.



And here is the finished product. The final thickness at the edge wass .010 inches. I had to stop there because I couldn't grind any more without the heat affecting the temper. This made it a pain in the a$$ to hone. I bought a DMT fine/extra fine and was seriously worried about wearing it out. For the next one I'll probably get a coarse/extra coarse. It took a very long time to set the bevel, but I finally got it after three days of working on it. I'll find out tomorrow how it shaves. I shaved already today.









This was a fun project, and I still have one left to finish. I decided to finish one at a time so I could make any necessary adjustment's in my process.

Special thanks to Brian Brown. A true gentleman who answered all my questions, and encouraged me to do this. I couldn't have done this without Badger and Blade and all the member's here who's tips and tricks I used.

Thanks for looking.

[diyguy]

Very cool. I've been thinking about hand forging a razor -- this gives me inspiration. Thanks for posting!

[tomjr]

looking good.

[Obiwan]

Very nice. Thanks for sharing!

[PFP_Dad]

Can't wait to hear how it shaves.

[Doc226]

That looks awesome

[Skrymr]

Thanks guy's. This really was a lot of fun to do. Now I need to figure out a holder for it.

diyguy- go ahead and do it. I would love to see what you come up with.

[Doc226]

Thanks guy's. This really was a lot of fun to do. Now I need to figure out a holder for it.

My vote, wrap in hemp and CA seal it.

[Skrymr]

My vote, wrap in hemp and CA seal it.

I meant something to set it on when I'm not using it. I was going to wire wrap the handle but SWMBO, who never really said much about my razors before, said no. She like's it the way it is. The next one will have a wire wrapped handle and I will coat it with CA, or something else to seal it.

[hokahay]

Thanks guy's. This really was a lot of fun to do. Now I need to figure out a holder for it.

diyguy- go ahead and do it. I would love to see what you come up with.

Robert Williams has a picture of something similar to what you might possibly have in mind.

http://customstraightrazors.com/word...ducing-purist/

[Skrymr]

That looks great, perfect fit, almost like it was made for it.

Yeah, I couldn't have made anything that would have worked this well

Dude....

You made art!.... I would so cherish that.. I love the "faux frameback" kinda look it has....

I am so jealous... Seriously

Thanks Paco. It shaves like almost like a wedge. I wish I could get a good picture of the grind. Do you have a surface grinder at work for sharpening tooling? That's what I did it on. Something like this, without the coolant. http://www.grizzly.com/products/6-x-...-Grinder/G3104

Robert Williams has a picture of something similar to what you might possibly have in mind.

http://customstraightrazors.com/word...ducing-purist/

Thank you, I love the look of that, but worry too much about putting the blade in without it catching.

[paco664]

snip
Thanks Paco. It shaves like almost like a wedge. I wish I could get a good picture of the grind. Do you have a surface grinder at work for sharpening tooling? That's what I did it on. Something like this, without the coolant. http://www.grizzly.com/products/6-x-...-Grinder/G3104
snip

dood... if i had something awesome like that i would rule the earth!!! lol..

i use a regular ole crappy 8" bench grinder...... occasionally i use a 6" belt sander we have.....

i wish i had real tools like that..

[Skrymr]

dood... if i had something awesome like that i would rule the earth!!! lol..

i use a regular ole crappy 8" bench grinder...... occasionally i use a 6" belt sander we have.....

i wish i had real tools like that..

You can do smiling blades you're way. All I can do is straight lines. We have grinders like your's, but they all have tables/rests on them so no smiling blades.

[hig789]

Very nice work. I miss working in a machine shop more and more when I see everyone posting stuff they made. Maybe one day I'll buy my own equipment. Nice job I can't wait to see how it shaves. You could use a wine cork with a slot cut in it to stand it up between shaves. Don't know if this is the best route but I have seen people do it before.

[Trudo1]

You cut '!095' Tool Steel with a Sawzall...They look laser or water jet cut.....How many hours do you have in these ?

[Hammertime1]

Very nice! I been debating about which steal to use for my first one. I'm just going to buy the stuff do my own heat treating. I studies metallurgy and did a lot of heat treating in college. Actually miss playing with metal. I doubt I could have pulled that off with sawzall!

[paco664]

I LOVE IT!!!

i am not the only guy who does this at work when i should be doing something else!!

very nice effort!

[Skrymr]

You cut '!095' Tool Steel with a Sawzall...They look laser or water jet cut.....How many hours do you have in these ?

The pics are after about two hours of grinding and sanding. They looked a lot rougher after I finished with the sawzall.

Very nice! I been debating about which steal to use for my first one. I'm just going to buy the stuff do my own heat treating. I studies metallurgy and did a lot of heat treating in college. Actually miss playing with metal. I doubt I could have pulled that off with sawzall!

You could do it. I didn't take pics after the sawzall work, just after shaping the blades on the grinders and a big belt sander.

I LOVE IT!!!

i am not the only guy who does this at work when i should be doing something else!!

very nice effort!

Thanks Paco. You're the one who got me off my dead a@# to finally do this. I love you're work.

I forgot to put the blade dimensions in the description. It is 7" long, with a 1" blade width.

Thanks for all the nice words everyone.