13/16th Double Arrow Round Point in Quilted Redwood Burl

The famed crapshoot Chinese made double arrow razor. These were stirring up a buzz several months ago but I have not heard anything about them lately. I took a gamble and picked this one up 8 or so months ago. Talk about a jewel in the rough. It was real rough. Lots of grind marks, uneven heal, scales suitable for door shims. But, I got lucky. The overall grind was even, the spine and bevel straight as, well, an arrow. So I decided to finish what the manufacturer started and make it a blade worthy of use. It is an unusual size shooting the difference between 6/8 and 7/8 at 13/16th.

I reshaped the heel, evened out some bad grinding and sanded like nobodies business. This was one of those rare cases where 120 grit aluminum oxide paper was needed. I eventually ended in the 6000 grit range and then ran a buffing wheel progression to get to this state. The quality of the steel in these razors is hit and miss as well. Based on the sanding, the steel was hard but until I took it to some stones to see if it would take an edge.

I had made a couple of sets of quilted redwood burl scales so I decided to put this blade in a set. The coloring on these is quite striking, it is lost in the photo. I gave them a coat of epoxy resin and used a quilted walnut wedge.

The hone went well. The blade took a good edge and is shaving quite nice. I am going to drive it for a few more days to make sure the edge is not going to break down. Based on the hone, I don’t think that will be an issue. It was comparable to other high quality blades. If all goes well, it will end up in the classifieds later in the week.

That razor looked really good! I loved the scales too.

Great looking razor.
I really love those scales they look fantastic.

McKie

Great work! :tu
I think that the blade looks great, but I can't seem to take my eyes off of the scales...

Very well done. I do like the wood. :tu

Did it come with jimps top & bottom?

I thought DAs were jimpless...:shrug:


Razor looks very nice!

I'm thinking about picking up a pair to Frankenrazor myself....


That wood is fantastic!!!

Awesome work,

I like your solution for the heel-issue.
I'm sure the edge will hold up well. (based upon my personal experience with them)

Bart.

That is one good looking DA!:)

Beautiful. I love it when people take value priced goods seriously! And the gloss on those scales is GREAT!

The Jimps are original, top and bottom.

I was thinking of keeping it just because I have so many hours in cleaning up that blade. I will never get my hours back out of it, something like 10 hours or sanding and buffing. I guess that is the nice thing about working razors, I can always make another.

It shaves as good as a Sheffield. 4 days of use and the edge is as keen as the day I honed it. I will be putting it in the classifieds later this week. The scales look better in person.