My TX meet build

Well after a first dismal failure I went back to the forge and banged out another. I got the blade ht’d and tempered and finished the hollows at the meet then finished up the sanding and scales at my place.

The tang and spine is hand sanded to 600 then lightly buffed, I left the hollows at 400 and then lightly buffed those. Scales are black horn with a matching wedge. I made a scratch stock for creating the round overs for the scales then wet sanded them out to 3000 then buffed them all the way up to a white compound. I used thrust washers from some long ago restore and stainless washer and stainless pin, a first for me, and a last as pinning took me about 20 minutes. The stainless even after annealing requires a lot of force to get to tighten up. I’ll use nickel silver next time.

Bevel set was a nightmare. The steel on this W2 razor makes American vintage razors feel like a pre tariff Sheffield, on the hones. I was bit scared the edge would chip out as I have never honed a blade so hard before.

Well the moment of truth was last night, the maiden voyage. I was a bit worried I may have ended up with a wind chime or at the very least having to do another tempering cycle to get the edge from chipping out. Under the loupe all looked well, but you never know. Well on the first stroke of the first pass I knew everything had fallen into place. The blade I had been afraid was going to be to heavy for my liking was perfect, the scales in the shaving position are perfect for my hand whilst shaving. The point didn’t lop an ear off, and the edge oh the sweet smooth sharp edge. I think the shave was the best I’ve ever had. The whole process from the beard mapping to the lather are a direct result from my involvement in this forum and the men here, who, so freely give of their experience.

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And a huge thanks to Charlie and Victor for answering all my 10,000 questions.

Turned-up nice, John. I reckon the lessons learned on the 1st attempt were good ones!
IIRC, your first was done more like copying a standard razor.
This one was more hurriedly done and oozes personality. It's You! :beer1:

Your first was not a dismal failure but a learning experience!

:tu

Very nice razor.

Remember, Thomas Edison had about 1000 failures before arriving at a successful light bulb. Considering you achieved a wonderful result after only one failure is a tribute to the great teachers you had: Charlie and Vic as well as your own skills.

Well done!

Your razor looks very good !
I am surprised at how far you have come in such a short time.
Most guys do not leave the razor meet with a completed blade.

Your surprise at how hard the blade was to hone is normal. A properly heat treated razor , made from quality steel, is very different from mass produced razors.

Welcome to the club. :)

Wow, that thing is cool!

Reminds me of those Sheffield humpback razors that I love. This one has an interesting combination of curves and angularity. I also enjoy razors with a bit of heft- I like to let the weight of a razor with a bit of mass do all the work.

Great job on this!

John,

Everything looks beautiful.

There is nothing like forging a razor, making the scales, honing it and then having a fantastic shave. Its truly a once in a lifetime experience that very few men will have.

Congratulations on a stellar accomplishment. Hopefully it leads to many more.

I hope that this was an experience that will insure many more trips to Charlie's Texas Meetup.

Welcome to the club...indeed!

Pete <:-}

Beautiful job. Even the grinding must have been done exactly right as that bevel is so small and clean. Nice job on making your own razor. I just hope the bug didnt bite too much. Next you will be building a place for forging.

Amazing, John. A truly, one of a kind.

No tang stamp, or something to mark your work..!?

I'm just thinking about the guy 150 years from now, going thru that moment we do, of....wonder who the maker/ grinder was, who owned it before me, ect.

I really dig the tail, maybe keep that for future grinds.

Again, congratulations on a gorgeous first, and i know, not the last. I can see an addiction, happening. :w:tu

I wasnt going to say it but Mike did.
Some kinda markings would have been nice. But i dont know what it would have taken to do this on ths spot.

Beautiful work. Would love the opportunity to make my own razor. You must have learned a lot from the first attempt!

Hey! Get a Dremel engraver and put 'Maestro John' on the tang! ;)

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Originally Posted by outback

Amazing, John. A truly, one of a kind.

No tang stamp, or something to mark your work..!?

I'm just thinking about the guy 150 years from now, going thru that moment we do, of....wonder who the maker/ grinder was, who owned it before me, ect.

I really dig the tail, maybe keep that for future grinds.

Again, congratulations on a gorgeous first, and i know, not the last. I can see an addiction, happening. :w:tu

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One thing at a time. I got the sickness bad. Scott said it best “forging, it gets in your blood”. Been thinking about an etching setup but no idea what kind of design or name to use. I really prefer the looks of a stamp but I’m not about to strike a finished razor.

Freehand etching would be a no-go for me. You wouldnt be able to read it. A stamp would be cool. But you would have had to make that first. Might not of had time to make the razor.
But since you have the sickness now, it time to think about that stamp design.

It is not just good, it is SUPERB. Looks like an homage to a fancy Elliot Sheffield blade. Love the elongated and sweeping tail, the diamond point of the spine, and the humpback spine. Just beautiful.
jeff

Nice blade shape. I like it!

Very nice indeed, can't find any fault in it. Something to be proud of.

John's razor is even better when you can hold it in your hand and look at it. I was amazed by the blade after he ground at the shop.

The whole package scales and all look amazing. I wish I had your hand eye coordination and talent. Congratulations on the beautiful razor.

Pretty sure he's found his calling.

I know, I keep coming back to look at it, too.

You got scabs on the scales from rubbing and stroking it, John.!?

That’s a sweet rev 2 brother.
Love the profile and the tail.
Great detailer around the stache and goat.
Well done.
Would love to get that far if I make it down next year.
Cheers

That’s a sweet rev 2 brother.
Love the profile and the tail.
Great detailer around the stache and goat.
Well done.
Would love to get that far if I make it down next year.
Cheers

Yeah, incredible result on that blade, especially the tail personality.

More importantly, the overall combination of blade and scales looks to make for a razor that won't give any gruff on the strops. There's nothing quite so disappointing as a custom blade that refuses to behave on the strops due to form over function issues.

Great work, John! Good luck avoiding this natural call to razor making that seems to have already been in your blood well before you arrived at Charlie's

:tu

You guys don't know the full story on this. After John's first try at a full hollow time was short. A late evening quench and overnight tempering cycle gave him just barely enough time to finish this beauty. He was a man possessed that had to be coaxed by multiple people to get off of the grinder to eat delicious meals. At one point I pointed out to him that he was finish grinding at the highest speed on Charlie's grinder. His response was that he did not have time to go slower!

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Originally Posted by spazola

John's razor is even better when you can hold it in your hand and look at it. I was amazed by the blade after he ground at the shop.

The whole package scales and all look amazing. I wish I had your hand eye coordination and talent. Congratulations on the beautiful razor.

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That means a lot coming from you, Charlie. Thank you so much for making your shop and experience available to us.

Sorry for the not sweeping up the wool under the grinder before I left on the last day.

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Originally Posted by Speedster

Yeah, incredible result on that blade, especially the tail personality.

More importantly, the overall combination of blade and scales looks to make for a razor that won't give any gruff on the strops. There's nothing quite so disappointing as a custom blade that refuses to behave on the strops due to form over function issues.

Great work, John! Good luck avoiding this natural call to razor making that seems to have already been in your blood well before you arrived at Charlie's

:tu

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It behaves better than I had hoped. I did some stropping with just the blade before starting my finish sanding to see if anything would scratch the strop. The point was the only thing so I rounded the sharp edges and ever so lightly muted the point while honing. Not a scratch on the strop afterwards.

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Originally Posted by bluesman7

You guys don't know the full story on this. After John's first try at a full hollow time was short. A late evening quench and overnight tempering cycle gave him just barely enough time to finish this beauty. He was a man possessed that had to be coaxed by multiple people to get off of the grinder to eat delicious meals. At one point I pointed out to him that he was finish grinding at the highest speed on Charlie's grinder. His response was that he did not have time to go slower!

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You were right about attempting a full hollow, I had a chance to do all the grinds. The food was definitely worth the lost time.

First attempt:
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That is definitely a sweet razor. Congratulations!

So what was wrong with the full hollow ground razor? If I was to make one I think I'd go full hollow too.

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Originally Posted by Gasman

So what was wrong with the full hollow ground razor? If I was to make one I think I'd go full hollow too.

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He spent hours then ##@#!$%##

I think what he was attempting takes more practice/experience.
John is a go-getter. he wanted it ALL right now! ;)

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Originally Posted by Gasman

So what was wrong with the full hollow ground razor? If I was to make one I think I'd go full hollow too.

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Everything was dandy on the first attempt until it wasn’t, the blade before the hollow starts tapering towards the spine is like .005”, I got a little thinner back towards the heel and about a 1/4 the way from the edge towards the spine and it warped. Learned a new term though, apparently it’s referred to as “oil canning”.

I did get learn a lot from that mistake though which really helped set the table for the second one. My preference is for a more hollowed blade, I would have like a 3/4 or full hollow on the second one but had to settle for a 1/2 as time did not permit the extra work, also a lot less of a chance for things to go sideways.

You really must try and make it, Jerry, the most fun I’ve had with my pants on.

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Originally Posted by jfk742

You really must try and make it, Jerry, the most fun I’ve had with my pants on.

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Yeah, and it lasts 5 days.

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Originally Posted by Gasman

So what was wrong with the full hollow ground razor? If I was to make one I think I'd go full hollow too.

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Reminds me of guys jumping into honing right away as they are learning to wet shave. Why mess with quarter or half hollow? Full hollow or BUST!

:rofl2:

I was one of those guys....

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Originally Posted by Gasman

So what was wrong with the full hollow ground razor? If I was to make one I think I'd go full hollow too.

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I found the post from 1/14/19 where I predicted the exact sequence. https://sharprazorpalace.com/get-tog...ml#post1857715

It surely looked good to a point, John.
I kept looking and you kept grinding.

Knowing where the edge is keeps you from falling-off.
You will get it, I predict!

Then you can send ME this old practice-piece! :w

I didn’t leave good enough alone, should of listened to all you guys before I started in with the last wheel.

Dude awesome razor man. When you get things figured out I’d like to get put on the waiting list. Assuming I can afford something like that.