Thread: Hollow grinding service?

I was thinking of forging a few razors soon from some old files. I don't have a grinder set up for hollow grinding and I've never attempted it myself. Is there anybody on here who grinds razors that I could ship some blanks to? If so, who are they and what'll they charge?

I am no blademaker, but I think there is more to it. I think the standard routine is to anneal the file before grinding the rough shape out. Then, some of the hollow grinding comes in. A heat treating process and final work is done.
Do some searches in the search box at top of forum on the right. You will come up with tons of answers!
Good luck!

I've talked to a few guys who made some killer looking file razors and sadly they've been disappointed with the edge that they take. Maybe someone here will prove me wrong but from what I understand, it's not worth the time and money.

Lmk if you discover a file that looks/shaves bad@zz!

Originally Posted by wyobarbershop

I've talked to a few guys who made some killer looking file razors and sadly they've been disappointed with the edge that they take. Maybe someone here will prove me wrong but from what I understand, it's not worth the time and money.

Lmk if you discover a file that looks/shaves bad@zz!

I feel lots of them do shave well, if properly executed. It seems a file is pretty hard on the scale, but crumbles at the edge most of the time. I also have heard really old files work better. They make some killer-looking blades from them, with the 'file' jimps and all. I think it would be cool to do a file razor with Charlie Lewis, so he could hammer in some Great stuff on the edge! WHY, though? Unless you want the 'file' look!

Some files can make good razors. There are lots of variables, type of steel, heat treat, grind, that all go into the equation.

For me grinding and heat treat are 90% of making a razor. Grinding is where I have to think hard and hold my tongue right to do a good job.

Charlie

I would assume that since the person would have to grind, heat treat, then grind some more that they'd be the ones heat treating it as well as grinding it. I just want to find someone willing to do this for me and get a price quote before I get the project started. I could go with a steel other than that of a file, but I buy old files, nicholson and heller brothers especially, every chance I get, so I have quite a few of them.

Originally Posted by neg

I would assume that since the person would have to grind, heat treat, then grind some more that they'd be the ones heat treating it as well as grinding it. I just want to find someone willing to do this for me and get a price quote before I get the project started. I could go with a steel other than that of a file, but I buy old files, nicholson and heller brothers especially, every chance I get, so I have quite a few of them.

I wish I had an answer on where are who to go to. Maybe reach out and pm some of the makers on this forum.

Charlie

Like Charlie said above, grinding and HT are the biggest parts of making a usable razor. Files can make good razors, but because the edge is exact, your HT and geometry has to be dead on and this is especially true with old files.

After forging, the blank needs to be properly annealed, rough ground, extensively stress relieved, hardened, tempered, and final ground. All this is assuming that your geometry was correct enough in the forged blank that a finished razor could be made. At this point, you're basically commissioning a razor from a blank you made.

All that said, I think it would be easiest if you got a bench grinder (which would be less than what you'd pay for all the work mentioned above) and did your own hollow grinding. Grant (baldy) made an amazing file razor with a charcoal forge and a bench grinder.

If this still hasn't persuaded you, pm me and maybe we can come up with something

For razors, O-1 and 1095 steel is just too dang cheap. Look here, this is how I made my first razors:

http://straightrazorpalace.com/forge...ake-razor.html
http://straightrazorpalace.com/forge...hip-razor.html

Amen about the steel.
For the price that this is going to cost, there is absolutely no point in using unknown file steel instgead of 5 to 10 $ worth of O1. Also it is hard to ask someone to do just the grinding, because whether it can be ground successfully depends on the geometry that you started with.