Thread: 11/16 microtome shaver w/ acrylic scales

Hello again everyone, I apologize in advance for the lack of before pictures, been really busy with several different things and have only been doing razors on and off for the last couple of weeks. Without further ado, here it is, my "space razor"



It is a microtome (instrument for preparing slices of tissue and the like for microscope slides). It is stainless, and it can't be that old, because the scales that came with it were modern plastic.



I made the scales from 1/16 acrylic sheet. I didn't like how they looked clear, so I just gave them a quick once over with 800 grit sandpaper, and they have kind of a frosted look now. I put a 3rd pin in the middle to enable the use of thin scales, for a minimalist kind of thing.



Sorry about the dust lol, it is very hard to get the shots of the angles I want to show you guys, here it is sitting on top of a tall cabinet.



I'm sure you have noticed the grind by now, these are meant to be sharpened in a manner beyond my equipment. What I did was make a sort of "temporary frameback" by taping scrap pieces of the acrylic to the blade to set a usable angle for honing on my stones. I don't think that I have posted my honing setup yet but it goes like this : I cut the edge in on a DMT diamond at 220 and then 325 grit. A lot of work on the first hone, as you could imagine given that it is a complete reshaping of the bevel. Next up is another DMT diamond at 600 and then 1200, just quick passes really. Then it is on to a man-made japanese waterstone (the brand escapes me) for quick passes at 1000 and then 6000. Moving on to an inexpensive 12000 chinese finishing stone (which recently fractured clean along the entire middle, so now I have 2 of them I guess ). Finally, I run it on a balsa strop imbedded with 1 micron DMT diamond paste. I use this process for pretty much all of my razors and it works really well. I have been thinking about doing a leather bench strop with chromium oxide after, any input on that is welcome. This thing is kind of scary sharp now, I'm gonna shave with it on Monday and we'll see how it all goes

I'm curious to see how it shaves. I bought a microtome a few months ago because of the brand, kind of just as a collector item. I've been wondering recently if there's a way to regrind it to be a straight razor or if it would even be worth it to try to hone it

Originally Posted by ats200

I'm curious to see how it shaves. I bought a microtome a few months ago because of the brand, kind of just as a collector item. I've been wondering recently if there's a way to regrind it to be a straight razor or if it would even be worth it to try to hone it

Just add some temporary, flat thickness like I did during the honing process. When you get it into the range it needs to be in it will take the new edge just fine