Thread: Where the Steel Goes - addendum to A Weekend at Bob Allman's

Hey gents,

I thought this was an interesting and important addendum to my weekend at Bob's. This is one time where a picture really is worth the proverbial thousand words.

As you saw in the previous thread (http://straightrazorpalace.com/custo...b-allmans.html), we started with 1" x 6" x 1/4" 1095 steel blanks and removed everything that didn't look like custom razors. Ever wonder exactly where the stuff that doesn't look like a razor goes?

The first, and most obvious answer is into the catch pan beneath the grinding wheel. BTW, the big mug to the left isn't Bob's liquid refreshment, we filled it with ice water to cool down the blades during grinding.




Close up of previous image. Kind of looks like a lava field in Hawaii doesn't it?




But where does the rest of it go? If you're a smart man like Bob, first you buy one of these bad boys:





I forgot to take a picture before we started work to show you that the brand new air filter was a sky blue color. Here it is after the first 40 minutes of grinding Saturday morning:




At 10:00 p.m. Saturday night:




And at midnight Sunday:



That certainly answers the question as to why you MUST have a good air filtration system and a mask/respirator while grinding doesn't it?

Greg

I agree about the respirator. Many people will work wood or metal without it. I did for years and it affected me. Now I use a respirator and an airfilter. In fact you can make one of those if you are so inclined, very simply and those who want to can pm me and I'll tell them what to do.
Thank you for showing that.