My first......not my last. 1095 and paduak

I have been working toward this for quite some time.
1095 steel
6/8 width
Paduak scales
Copper and nickel pins/washers.
1/4” spine thickness, ground on a 6” wheel. Would that be a quarter hollow?

Bevel progression 1k,3k,6k,8k,12k then strop.

First shave in the next day or two.

I did not take it to full final finish sanding (too excited to see if I can get one to hold and edge and shave well). I am also not a great fan of mirror finishes, will be looking into distressed/blued finishes.

Edge shows some irregular bevel thickness likley from my poor grinding technique.

Let me know what you think!

Attachment 327950

Attachment 327951

For a first effort, I'd say it looks great. A simple design is the way to go.

Congrats woodscavenger! Yep, quarter hollow.

I’d say that’s a very nice begining.

Congrats on a fine first. Now put an edge on her and give it a try. I hear it takes practise to get the grind just right to get a perfectly straight bevel. You will get it.

That's well done for a first razor. Clean and functional.

Beautiful job.
Congratulations and enjoy!

Pete <:-}

Nice first, hope the edge holds for ya.

Nice work, round the heel a bit more, it is already getting pointy and will continue to get sharper with honing. Not only will it cut you, but it can also trash a strop.

Looks like a spacer, wedges do have a purpose, thinner scales and a wedge that matches the tang taper will keep the pivot pin in tension.

There is a lot of design consideration in the tail taper and matching wedge taper, it is not just to keep the blade from poking out the bottom. There are tons of post on the subject.

Thick razors are clunky and difficult or uncomfortable to hone, strop, and shave with. As you open and close a razor the scales go through a lot of tension. Maintaining the tension and flexibility it the rub in scale design.

You can only get wood so thin, which is why razor makers of the past used other strong flexible materials like horn, Ivory, and plastics.

Rather than reinvent the wheel, look at well made vintage razors and copy their taper angles on the tang and wedge, it works as a system not just a style cue. There is a reason why so many used the same proportions, they work.

I like the dull finish. I think it looks pretty good.

yes,l would be pleased if that were my first razor. NIce job.

Thanks for all of the critiques and tips.

I will round the heel.
There is soooo much information about making these I have not even broached the subjects of wedges and matching tang tapers. I will add it to my research pile.

The wood durability and flexibility I understand. I was too excited to get some basic scales on this first try to see if it was shaveable.

First shave was not the best I have had but was as good as several other blades from my vintage collection. I will take it back to the hones and try again.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by woodscavenger

Edge shows some irregular bevel thickness likley from my poor grinding technique.

---

Looks fairly good from here, even if you are grinding using a rest you won't get the bevel absolutely even all the way along the edge, I mean you could if you wanted to spend an inordinate amount of time for something that doesn't affect function. Back when razors were freehand ground they didn't bother setting a bevel and then grinding into it, they took the edge all the way to an apex, the bevel that you put on a razor like this ends up being so narrow than any irregularities are tiny compared to the overall bevel width.