My first two blade regrinds, a Spanish to Spike and Round to Spanish

I have two razors with broken toes. A Henckels Spanish point 7/8 that the buffer caught while I was putting a final shine on the scales and pins. It got ripped out of my hands and thrown into the garage floor breaking the swell off the bottom of the Spanish point. The other is a Dorko with a fancy spine in round point 7/8 that had a hairline crack in the toe of the blade. Both razors are/were new stock.

So I set up my knife cutting outfit and went at the Henckels to start with. I taped the blade where I was going to cut and marked the cut line using a carpenters square to make sure the cut line was square to the spine. Once marked I turned on the water (constant cold water trickle to provide lubrication and heat control) and gently started cutting the blade with a diamond cutting wheel. I have said it before and will say it again; these blades are made from some hard steel. It took me nearly an hour to cut the new blade tip and grind/sand/shape it.

you have to go slow and pay particular attention to heat management. The blade never got warm during the entire process. I cut the new spike tip with the diamond wheel, then a ceramic grinding stone to even out and square the tip. You also have to roll the edges and bevel the corners to keep everything smooth. After that it is sandpaper working up to 800 grit, then the buffing wheel. I am quite happy with the way it turned out. If you did not know it use to be a Spanish point, you would think it was factory.

Tomorrow it goes into a set of oil finished olive scales. It should be a heck of a looker.

Up next was a Dorko 7/8 round point that had a hairline crack in the toe. This particular razor has a nice engraved spine and is a darn good looker. The crack actually curved inward so I was going to have to cut it down by nearly a quarter inch. So I was sitting there, soak and wet from having finished the Henckels, thinking about what to do. Why not use that curve to my advantage. Instead of squaring the point, make a Spanish point and follow the contour of the crack.

So like the Henckels, I taped the cut point, used the square to mark the cut line and then drew in the curvature for the Spanish point. On goes the water, spin up the diamond wheel and start cutting. The Dorko has noticeably softer steel, it cut much quicker.

Once I had square cut the tip I put in the grinding stone. I slowly ground in the Spanish point. Once it was finished I rolled the spine and beveled the edges then final sanded the cut and took the blade to the polishing wheel. A couple hours of work and I have a truly custom Spanish point fancy engraved spine Dorko. I have not decided what to scale it in yet but I do have a set of Madagascar rosewood scales sitting on the table.

The sun had set so I had to use the flash on the camera so the photos are distorted. Tomorrow I will get these scaled and update the thread with some finished photos.

So how did I do?

Well, that seems like a dumb question but I'll answer it.

Ya done good!

Nice saves there.

Beautifully done.

Awesome work!

Not only did you do well, you're a lucky guy too (with the crack being near the toe, as opposed to being near the heel).

Very nice work!

Verrrrrrrry nice work!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bjrn

Not only did you do well, you're a lucky guy too (with the crack being near the toe, as opposed to being near the heel).

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Yes, I was lucky. That Henckels was scaled and ready to ship but I thought I would give the scales one last pass on some white rogue just to add some extra bling to the scales and pins. You can imagine how I hollered when it hit the ground.
I had to order a new blade and start over. The Dorko was a freebee because it was cracked.

It was actually not that difficult, just time consuming. You have to go slow or you will overheat the blade and game over. If you see sparks while cutting, back off. I was soaked by the time if was finished with both blades. That constant water drip and the flying water from the cutting wheel gets you wet.

Great saves. The Dorko has some nice lines.

:tu

Both look like great saves, and I was happy to see how you finished off the ends to make it look more professional/original (i.e., factory).

Fantastic work! They look great!

X-Rated razor porn...........amazing job(s):tu

The Dorko looked like it had the same backwork I've seen on a couple of Barmann's recently. Great save... thank God.

Never scrap em- great save. Restore and pass along

Well, I scaled both today. The Henckels went into a set of olive scales with olive wedge. The finish is a departure from my usual epoxy resin. I actually made someone a deal on the razor and sold it. He wanted a natural oil finish which works well with olive. The wood is incredibly oily to begin with. So oily that after I resaw some stock I have to take the covers off the band saw and clean the buildup from the blade. I moved the blade hinge pin a touch further down the scale to help make up for the shorter blade.

I used my normal 1/16 inch brass rod for the pins, a brass over stainless washer for the pivot and wedge pin with the third spacer pin having just the brass washer. The smaller washer helps preserve the lines of the scales and lets your eyes flow from one end to the other. I have to hone this one up tonight so I can give it a shave test tomorrow before mailing it out Monday.

The Dorko went into a set of Madagascar rosewood. Like the Henckels, I did these scales in Dutch oil. I decided to try an olive wood wedge to contrast the dark scales. I think it turned out pretty good. This guy gets honed and put into my collection. You can see the regrind on the tip better in these photos.

The oil finish is nice and preserves the feel and texture of the wood and is a heck of a lot easier and faster to work. To give you an idea, it literally takes me 7-8 days to make epoxy resin scales. The oil finish, one day. I still prefer the epoxy personally. I think the impregnated wood develops a nicer color. The kids and wife also agree.

Just great.. can you post Pre-grind pics

Not sure if I have any. The Dorko has a photo of the tip before I reground it. I don’t know if I have a photo of the Henckels. I will look through the camera and see if I have one.

This is the best I have. I happen to have the broken razor in the original scales, which went to the original purchaser once I replaced the blade, in my new TI display case when I took a photo. You can see the lower portion of the tip broken off.

Awesome job! I bow before your proficiency! :bow

Very nice indeed! Great work, they look like they came that way, albeit a tad bit shorter. :tu

-Pary

They still shave like new. The shorter blade is actually kind of nice. I have a beard and shave around it. I keep the cheeks and neck trimmed up. The shorter blade still gives you the heft of the larger razor but it is easier to work around the beard. Quite nice actually.

Nice saves for sure,and beautiful razors. Where do you find all of the varieties of woods that you use for all of your scales?? Local??

Local hardwood store or woodcraft. Wait till you see the epoxy resin olive, very nice looking. I have a full sized Dorko coming just like the one I recut that is going to go in them. It matches well with the ornate spine.

Could you post up the stores name. I'm really not that far away from Dayton, and all the stores down here stink.

Nevermind, there is a Woodcraft 15 min. away. Yellow pages missed them. Thanks!!

Sure, the store name is 'The Hardwood Store' :D They are also a rockler dealer.

They are in Enon, between Dayton and Springfield. 340 Enon Rd, Enon Ohio 937-864-2899

They have a pretty good selection. My dad use to work at Shopsmith so he has a pile of exotic woods that I pick through as well. That is where the Olive came from.

great work i am definetly impressed with the saves and the scales you took something someone was goung to throw away and made it look like a work of art

Very nice work indeed :D, that Dorko looks very nice :tu

i like them better this way better than the round point they look cool in wood nice job on the scales.