Saving a Filly 14 - Start to Finish

Ok - so, what does one do with a blade that's totally trashed - one that is so bad that Heeso cried when he saw it?

The really twisted part is that this was never honed. Like - NOS. Zero exising bevel/edge. Weird stuff.

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Well - you get the dremel out and you get to work.

A mason jar of ice water to keep the steel from going 'rainbow' and a cutting disc for the dremel. Tape the 'good' part off so I know where to cut.



Done deal. Gotta luv the dremel.

Luv the dremel but finessing things isn't one of it's charms... so - out comes the 6" bench grinder to reprofile the toe.
Sorry - next time I'll get a clip of me actually doing this part. It's a little tricky but not terribly so. Gotta watch the temper, and not grind across the blade. The general idea is to grind spine-to-bevel going against the wheel's rotation.
I went for a reverse French Point. Ok - I just made that up - there is no such thing as a reverse French Point.



But - the grinder isn't exactly a finesse monster either - so, to clean it up - some 220x-600x w/d does the trick.
Voila - a decent looking profile! Looks pretty good too.

So - you're probably wondering why I'm doing this. Well - I have a dopp kit that hase these vertical slots to hold stuff, but the kit isn't large enough to accomodate an 8/8 FBU. So - I figure I'll make an 8/8 shorty. SHAWTY.

Ok - back to our regular programming now.

Gonna need scales. Sooo.. lets use the original pants for this puppy eh?
But - I'll need to cut them down a bit I think.



I know - heresy - I cut them down with flush cutters. I shoulda used a band saw.
But - I don't have a bandsaw. And the plastic was pretty flexy and cutting them like this worked.
Hard plastic would have shattered, so don't try this on bakelite or stiff stuff.



That flat end is pretty ugly - some 220x w/d fixed that up. I'm saving those two bits for something at the end - stay tuned.

Not only do I not have a band saw - I also don't have a drill press.
Don't need one. Get a pin vise, they work great and cost about 5 bucks.



The hole is drilled, and the pin is in. I put brass washers on the inside so the tang doesn't wear the scale and the fit gets nice and snug. I like to say 'comfortably snug'.

With the blade taped into place, I know I'm peening the pin in with the blade centered.
I use console tape - comes off easily, leaves no sticky stuff behind.
You can see the washer sitting on the pin, ready to be pushed down to the scale.
I used a ready-made Dovo pin here. A hand-made pin is more elegant, but it's also more time consuming and I'm pretty sure I won't be putting this on display any time soon. So - ready-pin it is.



The excess pin is cut off - flush cutters again - and then I file the cut end down a bit so it's pretty flat.
These cutters always leave a 'nib', and that's a pita to peen down evenly. So - a small needle file takes care of that.
Note - I should have the area around the pin taped. But - I don't. So, well - whatever.
Tape would keep the hammer from leaving marks on the scale, and possibly stop me from gouging the scale with the file if I slipped.
I didn't slip with the file, and I'm going to sand the scales down a bit more anyway. so the black hammer-dots don't matter.
You should use tape here though. Trust me on that.



The pin is peened down and it looks pretty good. I can clean this up a bit but for right now it's fine.

I don't know if you noticed - but the blade is pretty wide. Was over 8/8 originally. Well - I knew there was going to be some juggling to do because of the blade's width and the fact that I've totally changed the razor's fit into the scales.
So - as it is now - the blade sticks out a bit. While dragging my finger over the bottom of the scales, I can feel the blade.
You can see how close it is here..



The other thing is - and I'm ticked that I forgot to photograph this - is that the blade isn't sitting in the scales how I want it to; it's too low and I don't like the profile there. The scales are a little wonky, ok - they're cheap - and the wedge is a hair too thick. So - what I need to do - is either get the scales to sit closer to each other, replace the wedge with a thinner one with less angle maybe, or...


Well - what to do? Remember the two ears I cut off the end of the scales? I glued them together and squared off the resulting single piece. Then - I sanded and filed it to fit inside the scales. Then - I positioned this little block of plastic so it sits up against the tang right at the heel.
A dot or two of CA glue held it in place, out comes the pin vise and a hole for a 3rd pin installation is born.
Note - check tang clearance here. I had to cut a groove in the block so the blade could flip through.

Here's the 3rd pin awaiting it's fate; clipping and peening.



Ok - you can see the 'block' inside is a little rough, but I filed and sanded that down a bit to make it presentable.

What's next?
Honing - well, actually - setting the bevel. This took some time.
The blade was NOS, with no existing bevel or edge. And - there was a good amount of micropitting there. Like - a lot.
So - it took a bit of work to get the bevel set. More than expected given the grind and geometry, but not too bad.
Gotta love the 1k C... a honing we will go...

Ok, so it's not 100% finished here but it's done enough for the photo.

I've been shaving with this one for a couple of weeks now, and I'm loving it.
It's weird - sure. The blade is short and wide. But - I kinda like weird stuff sometimes.

Look - it's not a showcase piece. It was a cheapo from fleapay and a total gamble.
But - chasing this one to the finish was fun.
And - now I have a pretty cool shorty.
I've named her 'Little Whale'.



I made a video clip of the stills too... click here if you want to check it out.

Bravo, sir! Well done!

Wow. Beautiful razor resurrection and tremendous skill, Gamma. Excellent pics and verbal descriptions as well. Congrats all around.

Very nice sequence of events. Thanks for posting. I wonder if changing it into a 3/8 or 4/8 rather than a shorty would have been a viable option. I'm also curious as to the rpm/type of grinder being used.

Very Slick! Good job! Its fun to toss the rules, have fun and see what happens sometimes. I love it!

Good save, but man that first picture is PAINFUL

WOW!!!! Excellent Work!!! Might not be a "Filarmonica" Show Piece to you or many others but to me I think it looks incredible given the damage involved to begin with. I think Heespharm will be dry eyed again when he sees this one

Stunning save! Fantastic ingenuity! AND, your finished product is a very nice shorty and looks like it might make the ideal travel razor! As a nod to my British birthplace; Good show old chap!

Thanks for the kind words everyone. I had fun doing this one.

Alum of Potash said:

Very nice sequence of events. Thanks for posting. I wonder if changing it into a 3/8 or 4/8 rather than a shorty would have been a viable option. I'm also curious as to the rpm/type of grinder being used.

Click to expand...

The grinder is a cheapo homeowner grade 6" Craftsman, 1/5 hp, 3450 rpm - not variable.

I don't like 3/8 or 4/8 razors - so that idea, while possible, wouldn't fly here.
Even if I did want to do that, getting the bevel angle right would be a pita.

Thanks. I do like 4/8s, but yeah, that angle would be pretty steep here now that you mention it. Great job all the same, and great sequencing as to presentation.

I've had my eye on the Craftsman variable for many years (nearby Sears a few blocks down the street), but never have gotten around to picking one up. Glad to know that 3450 rpm is doable.

Very nice save. Well done.