Thread: My first ever "almost" completed razor . advice needed

Hey everyone,

Well, probably over a year ago I set out to make my own straight razor/razors . This , after learning how to shave with a straight razor , but still learning to hone. But I love to build stuff , and have experience with other media , such as wood . As well as most forms of Art and such . With that in mind here is my first ever straight razor made by me . it is just over 8/8 . The scales are "sapelle" wood . One of the pics shows a snare drum that I build . "Stave constructed" as well as segmented hoops that I built. I belonged to a drum building forum that is, sadly, no longer in existence . Anyway, some questions that I would have to experienced builders are this.

But first details on my build. I used a cheap 'O" belt sander / grinder with various grit belts to get it down to 10 thousandths of and inch throughout the length of the blade edge . But I think it needs to go thinner ? I tried setting the bevel last night on a Norton 1000 hone, and I will post pics tonight of the bevel later tonight . It is uneven so I think I need to grind more ? I say uneven but when a bevel on a straight razor is so thin, how much of a difference does it make ? One side of the blade the bevel is so small, the other side small but much more noticeable . Understand also that I am a noobe to a large degree. So, questions for this are these.
I own a sears wet grinder . Should I put the blade to the grinder and thin it in order to make the bevel more even and thus ensure a better bevel set ?
How long to set a bevel on a custom razor that has never been honed ? hundreds of strokes ?

So , the steps I have left are these.
polish it up, polish the lacquer on the scales . Trim the micro fastener pins , which I love by the way. easy on and off in case a new guy like me messes something up , get it honed and shave ready , test shave .

any and all input welcome

thanks,
drmccubx

How thick is the razor? That plays into it as well. The thickness / width ratio should be between 1/3 and 1/4
In terms of how long it takes to set the bevel: that depends on your grinding skills, because the blade needs to be thin.
The thinner the blade, the easier the honing. The fact that I can see your edge by looking head on at the point, indicates to me that the razor edge is still too thick.

The razor is 1/4 inch thick at the spine.

Additionally, an uneven bevel doesn't have to be a problem. It is a visual thing. Don't worry too much about it for now. Your grinding will get better with more practice. You can't expect your first one to come out perfect. And when you set the bevel, use a rubbing stone or a diamond plate to raise a thick slurry on the 1K stone. That will vastly improve the honing speed.

Thanks for the words of encouragement. I do not have a multi thousand dollar belt grinder. So working with a cheap, high speed grinder has its limitations. Thus maybe grinding the razor edge with my Sears Grindr which is a wet grinder which runs at a slow speed, would be a better option. Then honing would be easier. I will take your advice on the slurry issue set in the bevil

by the way. This razor was inspired by a razor that was posted on SRP a long time ago. A member talked about going to Italy to see Maestro LIVI. So, as soon as he posted his razor that Livi made I thought, WOW. I love it . So the design was inspired by that one. Well, now , in order to make honing go smoother , I will have to grind more to get the blade thinner . So, now its at 10 thousandths. How thin to go on my caliper . 5 thousandths ? IT was been a long, yet exciting process to see actually something take form . Though after making drums , this is only "so" much different. Though a different animal it is for sure . With quirks and all. The Scales were actually easy to make based on my wood skills. that was fun . Exciting to think , hopefully, before to long, I can shave with something "I" made . How cool is that .

Beautiful work on the razor and the drum.

I think Bruno is dead on. Take your time and it'll get to where you want it to be.

Not many people do that well on their first attempt. Good job.