Thread: 10/08 O1 Barber’s Notch with Spalted Maple

Greetings everyone,

Here is a razor I just finished up (although I still need to hone it).

This 10/08 Barber’s Notch blade is made from 3/16” O1, and is about 3 inches long. The handle is spalted maple that I found in my wood pile and sent out to K&G Finishing Supplies for stabilization. The wedge is Olive, and the pins and washers are all stainless.

That is a HUGE razor! How does it shave?

Well, I haven't honed it yet and I have a full beard so, at the moment, I don't know. I'll probably hone it up tomorrow and see how it does.

Absolutely love it!

Lovely job there ,a wee bit big for me but I am seriously impressed by you craftsmanship.
Cheers Paul

Time that full beard went Chris, and that's the tool to do it with!

The jimping is incredible: how did you do it?

Nice looking blade. There is a lot of wood there. How is the balance? Make your pins shorter so they don't split on the edges.

Thanks guys!

Maladroit, I did the jimping with a checkering file that I got from that I got from MidwayUSA.

Karlej, the balance is pretty good. The blade it 3/16" wide at the top edge and is fairly heavy, so the wood balances it out.

Thanks for the peening tip. Is there a rule of thumb for how much pin to leave above the washer before peening? I've mostly used nickle silver in the past, so I never really encountered the splitting. Somewhere around, I have one of those head spinner things for a drill. If that doesn't help, I may redo the pins.

Welcome to the Workshop: How do I / Where do I / What do I / answers are here Lots of good stick and rudder here on pinning razors.
I don't leave much material above the collar when pinning. Maybe 1/3 the diameter of the pin. Maybe even less. Strike on the edges of the pin. Never in the middle. Go easy you don't want to bend the pin. Start one side of the pin head by holding it in smooth vise jaws and tapping around the edges to form the mushroom shaped head. Then install the pin with washers/collars, cut off the opposite side protruding pin close to the collar, file the surface flat down to what you think is the correct protruding amount and finish peening. Once you get it right you'll quickly develop an eye for what is the correct amount.
GSSIXGUN has a well done video showing all the basics. Certainly worth viewing if you have not seen it.

I hope you mean 3/8 instead of 3/16? Because at 10/8 it needs to be 3/8