"Almost Custom" 13/16 in Black Micarta & Aluminum

I had this old Sheffield wedge (at least I'm pretty sure it was a sheffield wedge) that had some really bad pitting, and was kinda just "blah"... it was basically trashed. The lines on it were all worn out, the stamp was nearly completely gone, there was uneven hone wear, and it was just in overall poor condition. Even the scales were snapped in pieces on the wedge end. Had I rescaled it in some nice scales, I wasn't feeling like it would have been a really nice razor that would sell well. Heres a pic:

http://www.straightrazoredge.com/200...6%20-%2016.JPG

The other side was the same story.

I decided that this razor just wasn't going to make me happy unless I did some drastic stuff to it. Sooooo..... hows this

http://www.straightrazoredge.com/200...16%20-%203.JPG

http://www.straightrazoredge.com/200...16%20-%205.JPG

http://www.straightrazoredge.com/200...16%20-%207.JPG

http://www.straightrazoredge.com/200...6%20-%2012.JPG


I am really looking forward to honing this one and shaving with it before I sell it.... if I even do ;)

BTW -- YES, IT IS THE SAME RAZOR. I will follow this post up with a step by step process for those interested in reading it. Gonna play with my son for a bit first ;)

That is breathtaking. Really impressive work. Especially seeing the before and after.

Awesome work on this one!!

I love the new look.

Keep up the great restores. :tu

Very nice! I would love to see a "step by step." :)

Brad,
As an aside from the beautiful "restoration" work on that blade, the cuts and texture added to the tang make me think this razor would just be an absolute joy to hold and shave with. Wonderful work.

First, I traced an outline of the blade on a piece of paper, and then within its bounds, I drew a design of how I wanted the blade to be.

http://www.adrian.edu/%7Ebmaggard/142.JPG

Then, I took my pad of paper to my little garage workshop. I used it as a guide, slowly removing little bits of metal. The majority of the metal that I removed was (obviously) on the toe of the blade. I did, however, remove a huge amount from the tang. Notice how on the original blade, the tang has a bit of a "hump" ? I removed it completely. the entire spine had metal removed. I did most of the spine on a belt sander, I re-ground the blade using an 8" 120grit wheel. the entire tang was sanded down on the belt sander as well, revealing new, flat surfaces. I used a dremel with a fairly large grinding attachment to create a rough thumb notch as well. I tweaked my design while I was working on it as well -- I decided the original was a bit much, so, instead of the insane-spanish point I went with a more rounded. Sorry I don't have pics in between, but, after about 2 hours, I had this:

http://www.adrian.edu/%7Ebmaggard/143.JPG

After a bit more dremeling to make the thumb notch bigger, and some more work on the belt sander, I got to this point:

http://www.adrian.edu/%7Ebmaggard/144.JPG

For the spine... I decided to start easy -- just used a small dremel grinding attachment. I got out my ruler and marked where I wanted each of my "dips":

http://www.adrian.edu/%7Ebmaggard/146.JPG

I knew I had to chop into the metal @ the dotted line, and I would grind until I hit the black lines on each side.

Sooo.. I was getting close!

http://www.adrian.edu/%7Ebmaggard/147.JPG

(continued in next reply)

I spent a few minutes checking out my creation, since it was my first time attempting spine work

http://www.adrian.edu/%7Ebmaggard/148.JPG

After that, I took her to the greaseless. this was off of 80grit.

http://www.adrian.edu/%7Ebmaggard/149.JPG

http://www.adrian.edu/%7Ebmaggard/150.JPG

you'll see that I had a bit of pitting still. Believe it or not, even in my final product you can still see about 2 pits in the metal ;) Thats OK -- reminds me of its origin!

After running it through the rest of my greaseless compounds, I was done!

http://www.adrian.edu/%7Ebmaggard/153.JPG


Sooo.. I had about 4 hours into my little project, and the blade was done... ;)

next was the scales...

(continued in next reply)

Scales... oh my. I wanted something crazy but simple, I talked to Slart a bit for advice ;)

I did my typical "draw it on paper" approach, and came up with a shape. I also decided to try some liners. After all, I was destroying a vintage razor, I mine as well pay my respects to Seraphim :)

So, after some work, I had this:

http://www.adrian.edu/%7Ebmaggard/160.JPG

I remembered a while back Glen saying that gorilla glue was the best to use for bonding liners.

So, I used it! It worked great!

I clamped each one in 4 spots. it says on the package the more clamping the better.

http://www.adrian.edu/%7Ebmaggard/163.JPG

So, I cleaned them up a bit, and got to this point:

http://www.adrian.edu/%7Ebmaggard/164.JPG

http://www.adrian.edu/%7Ebmaggard/165.JPG

Clearly the next logical step on these almost done scales.....was to mess them up again ;)

(continued on next reply)

/DROOL!!!!

I went out to my drill press and got me a big'ole bit.

http://www.adrian.edu/%7Ebmaggard/166.JPG

It was scary as hell.

What really sucked was, during the process of drilling these holes, somehow my gorilla glue bond got messed up on one of them. I had to re-bond it, and I didn't take pictures of that ;( cost me a few hours.

Finally, I did a mockup of my newly drilled scales:

http://www.adrian.edu/%7Ebmaggard/170.JPG


I liked it but somethings was missing. so, I took it back outside and found a sharpie, and just started drawing curves on the scales.

http://www.adrian.edu/%7Ebmaggard/172.JPG

So, all I had to do was make the spacer!

This was what I wanted the shape to be like. It was not easy in any way to match it up.

http://www.adrian.edu/%7Ebmaggard/171.JPG

Sooo.. I chose black acrylic, and I went ahead and worked on it for like 30 minutes! most of the time spacers dont take that long for me. :O

Anyway, after the spacer was done, I pinned up the wedge end, and took the scales to the buffer for a good buffin' ;)

I was finally ready to pin the blade in.

I wanted this razor to be nice and snug..but the pine hole on the tang was that of a 1800's sheffield wedge still. it was huge!

Here is my solution:

http://www.adrian.edu/%7Ebmaggard/175.JPG

I did a brass tube overtop of the 1/16" nickel silver rod. the blade fit snug ;)

(continued on next reply)

So, I was finally done. Here are more pictures if the ones above weren't enough. the major things I left out of my "write up" was the INSANE amounts of sanding that was done. EVERY step of making the scales required tons of sanding afterwards. All of the cured excess glue...all of the drilling..etc...everything had to be nice and rounded off.

http://www.straightrazoredge.com/200...16%20-%204.JPG

http://www.straightrazoredge.com/200...16%20-%208.JPG

http://www.straightrazoredge.com/200...16%20-%209.JPG

http://www.straightrazoredge.com/200...6%20-%2013.JPG

:dropjaw::dropjaw: Very impressive,nicely done!!!

Fantastic Brad. very well done

Beautiful work, Brad. Inspired enough to dust off my old projects and get started back up on them. Keep it up!

That's so perfectly done, I don't even mind that you modified a lovely classic blade (I'm a bit of a stickler for vintage blades looking their age). Love how those scales compliment the blade, and the holes in them somehow add something to the worked back. That's the sort of razor I'd ask for if I was rich enough to buy me a custom, only I might ask for a monkey tail as well. Thanks for posting detailed pics too, helps n00bs like me see how it's done, sorta.
Great work, can't wait to see your next one.

Fantastic work. I especially like the pronounced irish point.

Well done with impressive results. The custom work fits the blade well. Enjoy your shaves with that baby!

Very nice I like what you have done to the blade and the scales look fantastic. The write up is very well done as well. I have some old no name razors that you have made me want to attack with the dremel.

That is some drastic stuff, but the effects are amazing. Highly desirable razor now!

Hey Brad,

I really appreciate you taking the time to document your progress on this restomod. It lets us see that it's not unattainable, but more importantly, that it's really tough to get the kind of results we see regularly here in the gallery!

Thanks for sharing your wisdom with us. That is an unbelievable transformation and one good looking razor. Ive tried some holes in acrylic scales before and am in the middle of making a couple more at the moment. the biggest pain i found was polishing the holes after drilling. i wrapped progressive grits of wet n dry round a small round file and twirled away. Effective but very slow. Do you have any better ideas?
Gheers
Grant.

So you got two pages about that razor overnight?
I guess its good then :D

Even phantastic, hehehe

lol Olivia...half of the replies was me! :)


baldy: Yes, I did the same thing. I used a file /w sandpaper wrap inside the holes. Ick! ;)

seen it and enjoyed the pics! ;)
and I forgive you for having slaughtered that old blade. .... wich happens actually quite scarce!

beautifull work love all asspects of the razor I hope One day to make a customish razor half as beautifull as this one

Very nice work! Thanks for the step by step.


Take Care,
Richard

Oh my....I think my keyboard is about to short out from all the drool!! Thanks for such a detailed account of the steps it took. I hope I'm that inventive some day!

Jer

That is a true piece of art! Absolutely gorgeous. I know nothing about restoration since I have only two razors and have only used them about four months so this may be a stupid question but did all that sanding and machine work affect the metal's temper?

It would have...had I not been EXTREMELY careful. Basically, I would do about 5-10 seconds on the sander or grinder, and then dunk it in ice water, and let cool for 20 seconds. Then repeat.

I never had any color changes in the metal while I was working on it.

I honed it up tonight, along with 3 other razors..and when I was in the bathroom, I reached for it first... I ended up having half my face done before I remembered I had 3 more to test. hehehe. It took an amazing edge.


http://www.adrian.edu/%7Ebmaggard/176.JPG

Oddly enough, my favorite razor of the batch was the faux abalone Joseph smith that I chopped down to 2.5". It was an absolutely phenomenal shaver, a perfect size, and a pleasure to strop and maneuver with.

Too bad its the only one that I've already sold. hehe.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Undream

Oddly enough, my favorite razor of the batch was the faux abalone Joseph smith that I chopped down to 2.5". It was an absolutely phenomenal shaver, a perfect size, and a pleasure to strop and maneuver with.

Too bad its the only one that I've already sold. hehe.

---

Hey, you've got that one 'till Wednesday, my friend. Then it's hands-off my JS! :)

That's the most amazing transformation I've seen. What an awesome piece of work. I want one!

Only two things to say:

1. Excellent job! :tu

2. I bet you got extra credit in school for showing your work on exams! :D

Vandalism!


How could anyone take a dremel to a classic razor such as that! Unheard of! The society for the preservation of antiquities will surely be notified!:nono:





Or so I've heard!:p


As a fan of razor modification, I fully applaud your work! Clean, crisp lines. You have taken that 19th century razor and brought it fully into the 21st century, and perhaps a bit beyond!!!

Excellent! I look forward to future works!

Man, that it really amazing! I've seen many razors, but this is by far the best regrind I've seen so far. My compliments!

I must have missed this thread earlier.

Brad, that's a fantastic job with the razor, it looks great. I really enjoyed the step by step photos and explanations too. http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f2...ns/thumbup.gif

Beautifully done !!!!!!!!!

Makes me think "I want one I want one I want one I want one I want one I want one I want one I want one I want one I want one I want one I want one I want one I want one "

That is exceptional work. I never could have looked at the razor in its original condition and seen the finished product.
Truly Outstanding!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Undream

It would have...had I not been EXTREMELY careful. Basically, I would do about 5-10 seconds on the sander or grinder, and then dunk it in ice water, and let cool for 20 seconds. Then repeat.

I never had any color changes in the metal while I was working on it.

I honed it up tonight, along with 3 other razors..and when I was in the bathroom, I reached for it first... I ended up having half my face done before I remembered I had 3 more to test. hehehe. It took an amazing edge.


http://www.adrian.edu/%7Ebmaggard/176.JPG

Oddly enough, my favorite razor of the batch was the faux abalone Joseph smith that I chopped down to 2.5". It was an absolutely phenomenal shaver, a perfect size, and a pleasure to strop and maneuver with.

Too bad its the only one that I've already sold. hehe.

---

Is the faux abalone the blue one? That's a beautiful material. Where do you get stuff like that for making scales? I know of several sources for nice woods, but have never looked for other materials.

Thanks in advance :)

And that razor is gorgeous! I like the more classic looks myself, but I don't think there is anything wrong with what you did to that old W&B.