Franklin Dowd & Blake work in progress

Over the past few months I've been slowly restoring a Franklin Dowd & Blake razor that bought on eBay for less that 10 bucks (shipped).

I'm not aiming for perfection, but for a usable, aesthetically pleasing razor to serve as my entry to straights. Mostly, it's a way fun project...

I had already sanded the blade, so today I polished it with a progression of black emery, tripoli, and white emery compounds (using a dremel).

Not up to the standard of the regular restorers in this forum, but not bad for a first attempt:





I also started to work on the scales today. It turns out that Padauk is harder to work with than I thought, but it's not too bad so far. The hardest part was/is making the wedge (out of purple heart). I decided to just go with a spacer this first time around, but 1/8" looks a little too thick. Next step is sanding it down, then learning to pin!





Thanks to everyone who has shared their knowledge and experience here on the forums!

Looking good, hope my first comes out that shiny

Looks like you are doing a fine job!

Thanks! I'm not sure how well the shape of the scales will work, or how the drilling and peening will go, but I'm happy so far!

Looking just fine !
once you get a hinge pin in there you'll have a better idea of the scale shape . You can also get an idea by just mocking it up with one scale for a quick "look see" to determine the best pin location.

mycarver said:

Looking just fine !
once you get a hinge pin in there you'll have a better idea of the scale shape . You can also get an idea by just mocking it up with one scale for a quick "look see" to determine the best pin location.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the tips! My hope is to be able to mock up (maybe even pin) the razor this upcoming weekend. Once pinned, it's off to a honemeister!

I decided to glue the spacer in, leaving me the option to pin it later if desired. Evidently my attempts at thinning the spacer were not quite successful, leaving an uneven surface and a bit of a gap between it and the second scale. I've filled the gap with wood glue, and will see what that looks like after sanding.

I also drilled the hole for the hinge pin, but ended up drilling it 1 mm or so too far back.

Oh well, it's a learning experience! My next one will be better...

Here's how it looks so far:

And a swing and a miss... today I finished the scales and thought "hell, let's give pinning a go!"

Ended up bending the pin and breaking the scales. Bummer.

At least I resisted the temptation to buy ready made scales from The Superior Shave... I'd be out be out a good chunk of change had I broken those. As it is, I'm out a couple of dollars and a few hours of rather enjoyable work.

A picture of the carnage:



At least I know that I *really* like the way Padauk looks when finished!

Ouch! I have done it too. I have a few things that I do that might help you. Really take your time before you start tapping. Make sure everything is aligned just perfect. Use taps that are smaller than you think you need. Substitute a hundred tiny taps for fewer harder ones. Use leather in front of and behind the pin in between the scales to support the unsupported sections. Cut a very small divot in the top of your peening anvil to sit the pin in while you tap the top. A few turns of a drill bit will do it. The down side of the pin doesn't try to walk and it starts to round rather than peen flat. A couple of pieces of tape close to the pin help guard it from a missed tap. I am no master of this, for that you have to look to Doc and MyCarver, but these are the few things that seem to help me.

Good tips, thanks! I'm pretty sure I was using too much strength. Might have started with too long a pin as well. Rookie mistakes

In the end I ordered some screws and nuts from microfasteners.com last night, and decided that I'm making at least two sets of scales next time. I bought a few boards of 1/8" scroll wood, including some curly maple, so I might as well have a spare or two!

Better off using 1000 light taps vs 500 medium ones.

Here is a vid I made for Mango.

These are ivory scales.

I start the mushroom on the first side by clamping the rod between 2 pieces of wood in the vice and starting the peening that way

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C67ZsTP8loQ

Cool video and thank you. I have the same hammer!

Thanks for the video!