Honing & shaving with the Puma Microtome

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01-09-2009, 04:48 AM
JimmyHAD

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Honing & shaving with the Puma Microtome

So I got this Puma microtome on ebay thinking it was a regular straight razor. There is more about that and what a microtome is here. I finally got around to honing the bad boy and began with a Norton 1K. In doing a few bevel setting strokes on the wedge side I could see I would end with a very wide bevel. I already had my customary one layer of tape on the spine and added two to the wedge side only. So now I have three on the wedge side and one on the hollow side.

I set the bevel using both circle and back and forth (A.K.A. Livi) strokes and X pattern. I was fortunate in that while it didn't come to me sharp enough to shave the edge wasn't damaged at all. I had to work on the wedge side for quite awhile as there was no bevel at all. I finally got it to where it looked good under magnification and passed the TNT.

I began using the 4/8 pyramids. I honed this razor both at home and at work when I had down time. I used the Nortons , Shaptons and the coticule blue and yellow. It depended on my mood and whether I was home or at work. Last night I used the coticule. I was passing the TPT and popping hairs off of my leg to beat the band so I stropped and shaved.

The first pass was okay but nothing to brag about so I rinsed re-lathered and went to the new Lynn Abrams felt hanging strop with the diamond spray for 20 round trips. The second pass was real good but I knew it could be better.

Tonight I did maybe thirty of forty round trips on a Shapton Pro 12K. If it being a microtome wasn't bad enough they had to make it stainless too. It says in the FAQ on the Shapton USA website that the 12K pro is meant for stainless. Anyhow I figured I was where I wanted to be so I went in and stropped 50 linen and 50 leather. It passed HHT and I went in and shaved. Got bbs easily in my regular two passes.

The poor photos ( sorry 'bout that ) show the razor with the layers of tape and after honing. The wider shiny spot shows where the bevel might have been if I hadn't added the other two layers of tape to the wedge side. Happy to say that I made lemonade out of what would have been a lemon. :tu
01-09-2009, 05:00 AM
nun2sharp

That rocks Jimmy! I bet you had your heart set on that PUMA! Great save!
01-12-2009, 06:44 AM
Utopian

I know what a microtome is. Hell, I've used microtomes. In fact, I had a lab that almost burned down because a microtome-cryostat caught on fire at 1:30 in the morning and would have burned down the whole building if I hadn't been working late. What I don't understand is why any microtome used for tissue preparation would have any actual practical application being configured exactly like a straight razor. Can anyone explain this???
01-12-2009, 07:51 AM
Quick

wow, that's a great question.

Here's my guess for the contest. Circa 1930's? The great depression. Razor sales drop dramatically. Steel is scarce. Puma figures to tap the medical market and uses the razor blanks they already have and are tooled for...
01-12-2009, 01:10 PM
JimmyHAD

Quote:

Originally Posted by Utopian

I know what a microtome is. Hell, I've used microtomes. In fact, I had a lab that almost burned down because a microtome-cryostat caught on fire at 1:30 in the morning and would have burned down the whole building if I hadn't been working late. What I don't understand is why any microtome used for tissue preparation would have any actual practical application being configured exactly like a straight razor. Can anyone explain this???

Ron, I wondered the same thing. I had never heard of one until in getting the Puma I did searches on shaving forums. Here is an example of a "hand microtome" currently for sale. I guess it is for less precise applications where saving $$ is an issue. :shrug:
01-14-2009, 01:50 AM
Utopian

Thanks for the info Jimmy. That microtome cost 600 times less than mine that caught on fire! I have seen budget microtomes before but never one that had a blade that looked like a straight.
01-18-2009, 07:37 PM
portal5

I have sold several of these blades before finding out what they were for.
If I get another I will offer it at cost + shipping

A pair of 13/16” Straight Sectioning Razors. NR

Manufacturers Info.
Flatters & Garnett Ltd
Manchester. C1900
History
http://www.msim.org.uk/media/161951/...%20garnett.pdf

These razors have a 13/16” Hollow ground blade on one side
& flat on the other.
They have a type of Cream plastic scales with an integral spacer.

Engraved on the tang are the words
“Flatters & Garnett Ltd Manchester”

On the reverse is “Made & Ground in Sheffield England”
Mislaid the pictures
03-22-2009, 04:40 PM
hoglahoo

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Quote:

Originally Posted by portal5

On the reverse is “Made & Ground in Sheffield England”
Mislaid the pictures

I came across some old notes that had been scanned and put online that referred to this grind as a section grind, which makes more sense to me when you mentioned that these are sectioning razors

Here is a head on shot of mine that is only stamped "Made & Ground in Sheffield England"
06-20-2009, 05:24 PM
portal5

If anyone is after a Microtome I have one!
A link to the pictures *Taylors1000 Straight Razor ebay sales
http://i.ebayimg.com/20/!BU)3+ogBmk~...YlIUdg~~_1.JPG
I will place a link to the sale in the auction talk Forum.
06-21-2009, 06:45 PM
hi_bud_gl

if you shave with this one that means steel is good enough to take the edge. i guess sharpening was PITA. Great job getting done JIMMY
06-21-2009, 07:01 PM
JimmyHAD

Quote:

Originally Posted by hi_bud_gl

if you shave with this one that means steel is good enough to take the edge. i guess sharpening was PITA. Great job getting done JIMMY

I have gotten great shaves with it a few times without needing to retouch it Sham. It was a job to hone it but it was also a challenge so it was fun. One of those where I succeeded ...... the thrill of victory rather than the agony of defeat. :)
06-23-2009, 07:24 AM
m0isty

You can shave with these things? I was disappointed when my ebay bargain Geo. Wostenholm IXL turned out to be a sectioning razor. I put it back in its coffin as soon as I saw the flat side and sulked. I sulked even more when I lost the auction on a lovely wosty pipe that I was bidding on to cheer myself up with too. :(

Maybe I could forgive the poor thing? Have I been too harsh on it?
06-23-2009, 02:22 PM
JimmyHAD

Quote:

Originally Posted by m0isty

You can shave with these things? I was disappointed when my ebay bargain Geo. Wostenholm IXL turned out to be a sectioning razor. I put it back in its coffin as soon as I saw the flat side and sulked. I sulked even more when I lost the auction on a lovely wosty pipe that I was bidding on to cheer myself up with too. :(

Maybe I could forgive the poor thing? Have I been too harsh on it?

Well I have honed mine and shaved with it as posted in the OP in this thread. Whether you want to go through the hassle or not is the question. It is an interesting project, at least it was to me. Once honed and shave ready it has the stiffness of a full wedge even on the hollow side. Mine got super sharp with that good Puma Inox steel and 7/8 blade. I had no use for a microtome as I haven't cut up tissue samples lately nor do I foresee the need so it was a case of honing it up and giving it a go or throwing it in a drawer and considering my $50.00 down the drain. Wostenholm didn't make any bad razors so I bet it could be made into a good shaver if you wanted to give it a shot. :gl:
09-27-2009, 05:46 AM
rickboone

What is the tape for?
09-27-2009, 01:56 PM
JimmyHAD

Quote:

Originally Posted by rickboone

What is the tape for?

If you look that the microtome from the front of the blade you'll notice that the spine is not as prominent on the flat side.

By using layers of tape you increase the width of the spine to decrease the bevel angle. I used three on that one. If I had it to do over again I would probably have used four. The idea being to create a bevel on the flat side that is symmetrical with the bevel on the hollow ground side.
10-05-2009, 08:01 PM
MichaelP

Funnily enough, I have shaved with an all-metal wedge microtome last night... it's a heavy blade at 85g but it shaves beautifully. The bevel on mine is asymmetrical, by the way
10-24-2009, 05:04 AM
FreyGrimrod

With that flat side were these intended to be sharpened japanese style? (for cutting actual thin sections though 10 micron thin sections of 100 micron thick hairs could be amusing....)

Anyone know?
10-30-2009, 02:34 PM
L R Harner

could it be that the razors ground like this were also used liek the JP. style razors (by say a doc prepping the skin pre OP.)
or is the blade ground the wrong side for that
10-30-2009, 02:38 PM
JimmyHAD

Quote:

Originally Posted by L R Harner

could it be that the razors ground like this were also used liek the JP. style razors (by say a doc prepping the skin pre OP.)
or is the blade ground the wrong side for that

Dunno but if you go back to the OP you'll see photos of the grind on the Puma. :shrug:
10-31-2009, 02:06 AM
AirColorado

I guess I'm also an unintentional member of the microtome club here. I just found this thread or I'd have asked about mine here. I picked up a Rodgers that I thought had a half-ground job - meaning I thought someone had reground the face side to about a quarter grind and left the reverse as a wedge. Looks like I bought a microtome. Here's a link to the auction and the thread I started - does this look like it could be one?

http://straightrazorpalace.com/honin...re-ground.html
10-31-2009, 01:05 PM
m0isty

Could I just point out that a microtome is a device for holding the material whilst it is being sectioned with a microtome knife (razor), rather than the knife itself. Here is a very simple version of one:
http://blog.makezine.com/archive/200.../microtome.gif

Microtome - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Microtome Knives - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It's possible that some of the wedges we love so much could also have started life as microtome knives too.

Sorry for being pedantic!