Another Batch of Custom Straight Razors in the Works
- Thread starter BillEllis
- Start date
Holy crap! Going from 2-5 razors a year to full production!?!?
Wowza.... looks like someone's gonna put the other custom makers outta business!
Wowza.... looks like someone's gonna put the other custom makers outta business!
Gzzzz Ellis, what's that? A new style called the ragity edge? Just kidding. I see you flame cut the blanks. You should let me know what steel your using and send me blank tha has been shaped. I'll bet I can cut a box full in about 10 minutes for you. I'd have to use on of our big lasers, not the marking lasers you had looked at...Just a thought.
Plasma would work quite nice and you can get pretty damn close the better you get at it.
where's the fun in that though?
Whatta got there 10-12 razors? What kind of steel are you using?
Looking forward to seeing these progress!
What do you mean, whats the fun in that for using a plasma? They are quite fun. Im going to assume you meant a computer controlled plasma cutter while I meant a hand-held version...
- Thread starter
- #9
This is the next stage. Steel is ATS-34 stainless. Blade configuration is my own design with a slightly less exaggerated "hump" as my standard for this shape.
Blades are now profiled, tangs are tapered, and I'm ready to work on the master grind. The master grind is the lingo for shaping the 1/4 hollow grind of the blade. I will only take the thickness of the cuting edge down to about .035 because the steel would warp in heat treatment if I go much thinner. After the blades are heat treated, then I finish grinding with zirconia sanding belts and take the thickness to about .008. This is thin enough for maintaining the edge, yet strong enough to attack the thickest of beards.
Blades are now profiled, tangs are tapered, and I'm ready to work on the master grind. The master grind is the lingo for shaping the 1/4 hollow grind of the blade. I will only take the thickness of the cuting edge down to about .035 because the steel would warp in heat treatment if I go much thinner. After the blades are heat treated, then I finish grinding with zirconia sanding belts and take the thickness to about .008. This is thin enough for maintaining the edge, yet strong enough to attack the thickest of beards.
I'm writing all this down, Bill.
Are pre-orders available?
Are pre-orders available?
+1
Damn it Bill, I can't afford to follow this thread.
Thanks for sharing the process with us, this is some great stuff and makes me want to get one...
Thanks for sharing the process with us, this is some great stuff and makes me want to get one...
- Thread starter
- #14
Are pre-orders available?
These were spoken for long ago. Except one. Ebay maybe for that one, unless a bone razor doesn't show up where I sent it and I have to relinquish it to him ~ if he's interested in a different one, of course.
Not to worry. You'd have a almost a year to save for one unless you bought from one of the other guys.
I'll have to remember to steal the second photo from the first post, for my "Suicidal SOTD" post.
Wow. This thread is a treat. Thanks.
- Thread starter
- #18
Once the blades have been tapered, the master grind comes next. That is simply another way of saying the hollow grind. Because the curvature of the concave surface is one smooth transition from spine to the cutting edge, it is considered a 1/4 hollow grind. If the grinds have compound, or staged, curvatures, then you get the 1/2 hollow to full hollow grinds and all those inbetween.
Compound hollow grinds can be accomplished on a single wheel, but are usually not all that accurate. In order to get the really thin cutting edges with some width to them, two opposing grinding stones are normally used. An outfit that could do that would have to be made as there are no tool stores that have them. Some of those folks in and around Solingen might be lucky enough to find one of these abandoned machines from an old factory. This first pic shows what they look like.
I use a single wheel and grind all my blades by eye. I use a set of tapered vice grips with leather to protect the tang of the blade as I grind. Doing this also gives me the twisting/torque control I need to take material off the part of the blade that needs it the most. It is a relatively slow process. The other little gadget in the second pic is a twist-on file handle that you could find in any store. I notch it so that the blade rests in the "L" and it allows me to push as hard as I want to into the grinding wheel. It looks pretty much like the third pic. It keeps me from burning my little fingers.
The last pic shows the contraption I use to collect most of the grindings. The first is a strong magnet that sits right at the mouth of a funnel that is hooked up to a vacuum cleaner. The system works pretty good at keeping the metal particles from filling up my workshop.
Compound hollow grinds can be accomplished on a single wheel, but are usually not all that accurate. In order to get the really thin cutting edges with some width to them, two opposing grinding stones are normally used. An outfit that could do that would have to be made as there are no tool stores that have them. Some of those folks in and around Solingen might be lucky enough to find one of these abandoned machines from an old factory. This first pic shows what they look like.
I use a single wheel and grind all my blades by eye. I use a set of tapered vice grips with leather to protect the tang of the blade as I grind. Doing this also gives me the twisting/torque control I need to take material off the part of the blade that needs it the most. It is a relatively slow process. The other little gadget in the second pic is a twist-on file handle that you could find in any store. I notch it so that the blade rests in the "L" and it allows me to push as hard as I want to into the grinding wheel. It looks pretty much like the third pic. It keeps me from burning my little fingers.
The last pic shows the contraption I use to collect most of the grindings. The first is a strong magnet that sits right at the mouth of a funnel that is hooked up to a vacuum cleaner. The system works pretty good at keeping the metal particles from filling up my workshop.
Fascinating!
Bill, since you have the one-wheel contraption rather than the 2-wheel contraption, do you try for those compound hollow grinds, or aim for 'thicker' results?
I like the magnetic grind catcher
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