Thread: Bruno's Blade

A bit of a different project here - one of the guys here (Bruno) forged this blade and ground it up to 80 grit only so that someone could polish it as a project.
The first photo shows it as received then followed by polished. You will notice I modified the heel slightly to tone it down and also just take a fraction off because I couldn't get the right curve on the bottom of the scale. As it was, I was in danger of having a very sharp point protruding below the scale. The scales are rams horn - I usually use buffalo horn but decided to try something different as I intended to leave the ridges - however that wasn't to be so I sanded both front and back.

I really like the rams horn, well done.

Wow...
That looks stunning. Seeing it like that makes me happy. Thanks you for making it look so good. Fills my heart with pride and joy!

Beautiful work, both of you! I am envious.

That Bruno hit a homerun on that one,,,great job dressing her up,,,keep us advised on the shave.

Originally Posted by Hirlau

That Bruno hit a homerun on that one,,,great job dressing her up,,,keep us advised on the shave.

Yes that alway's helps doesn't it. I set the bevel on a 1k followed by Norton 4k and 8k. After that my Jnat with 3 different naguras. Because the blade is wide at 8/8" I used two lots of tape. The shave is very smooth and I took to the blade size surprisingly easy - although I'm glad I muted the heel. I know a lot of people have extreme points at both ends but I just get the feeling that it's easy for one of them to bite whilst you're watching the other one.

Thanks for the comments.

Bruno, seen your listing and think it's a great thing your doing for people who don't have the equipment. I'll bet you're having fun doing it too. I'll be waiting patiently for the next one, nice work!

Originally Posted by Trimmy72

Bruno, seen your listing and think it's a great thing your doing for people who don't have the equipment. I'll bet you're having fun doing it too. I'll be waiting patiently for the next one, nice work!

Thank you.

Correct. I like working on steel. Forging and grinding is my passion. The final polishing and making scales is like doing the dishes after cooking a good meal. And plenty of people have the tools and skills to polish / sand a razor and make scales, but lack the resources to do the forging, heat treatment and grinding. With cooperation projects like this, everybody gets to do the part he likes best and people can make their own custom razor without needing to become a smith.

Btw, the phenomenon of a knifemaker who makes the entire knife is a relatively new thing. Historically, people specialized in certain parts. A smith made the blades, a cutler would do the grinding and polishing, and someone else would make the handles / scales. The same setup exists in Japan, even today, where a finished sword is a collaboration between at least half a dozen people.

I've got a Brunoblade in hand to do exactly the same thing. Can't wait to get started. Thanks for posting because I was also thinking doing something similar at the heel and also considering horn scales.
Very nice finish there. And very nice blade Bruno forged...

Originally Posted by UKRob

A bit of a different project here - one of the guys here (Bruno) forged this blade and ground it up to 80 grit only so that someone could polish it as a project.
The first photo shows it as received then followed by polished. You will notice I modified the heel slightly to tone it down and also just take a fraction off because I couldn't get the right curve on the bottom of the scale. As it was, I was in danger of having a very sharp point protruding below the scale. The scales are rams horn - I usually use buffalo horn but decided to try something different as I intended to leave the ridges - however that wasn't to be so I sanded both front and back.

Your work has proven inspirational. After some correspondence with Bruno, My custom blade is in the works and I couldn't be more excited