Thread: Rapid prototype potential for custom razors

Possible problem. Can you CNC machine tool steel after it is hardened and tempered? If you can, would it change the level of hardness? If I am correct, that you can't do this, you would only be able to CNC the pre-heat treat blank, and then it would have to be hand finish ground after heat treating. Sounds like an excersize in economic futility to me. And it would not be "hand made". Interesting thread, however.

Originally Posted by skipnord

Possible problem. Can you CNC machine tool steel after it is hardened and tempered? If you can, would it change the level of hardness? If I am correct, that you can't do this, you would only be able to CNC the pre-heat treat blank, and then it would have to be hand finish ground after heat treating. Sounds like an excersize in economic futility to me. And it would not be "hand made". Interesting thread, however.

Sure you can with Carbide.@ 9.0 on the MOHS scale, is almost as hard as diamond.

Originally Posted by pixelfixed

Sure you can with Carbide.@ 9.0 on the MOHS scale, is almost as hard as diamond.

EDM is not machining in the sense that material is cut away in the conventional way. Many thousand of sparks at micron scale erode material. Effectively the tool and the work piece are electrodes. Typically this arrangement is immersed in a cooled oil so will never really get hot enough to affect the temper of the piece. Heat treatment would be the first operation. EDM can sink shapes in the form of shaped electrodes or an electrode can follow computer controlled cad model of the desired shape. This equipment costs many thousands of pounds, to get a return on this investment companies typically produce production dies which in turn mass produce parts. one off razors would not be viable economically. In short this is sophisticated stock removal (subtractive). The rapid prototype revolution will at some point impact upon this existing technology and bring the cost of the kit down.

Could be. But anything capable of precision removing hardened tool steel is not going to be cheap or easy to use.

Thanks to Deckard and Pixelfixed for correcting me about CNC machining hardened steel. One of the main reasons I love this Forum is that I learn something new almost every day. Thanks again, guys.

The only feasibility (there is a real one) I see is shaping said annealed blade with a CNC and then hardening it...but you would still need that final grind. Otherwise, milling tool steel would be very expensive. I pondered this idea too as I what got me in on making blades was getting in on a large razor blank order that a member offered years ago. I love working with my hands, so that seed took.

Great thread guys. Technology has always played a large part in our world (I'm including knifemakers here too). We're always trying to push the envelope with everything from new HT methods to the final hone. There are those in the knifemaking world already that just CNC all their parts, do a small grind on the blade, HT it, then put it all together and call it hand made. Then, of course there are those of us that do almost everything really by hand and feel, some out of necessity and others out of a reverence for the craft.

I think the greatest makers are the ones that are able to look at the technology available to them and implement it where necessary to produce the finest product. This is a counterpoint to those that use technology to get ahead or take a shortcut. Look at some of the crazy stuff Tim Zowada does with his amazing milled tang inlays and his salt baths. Even then, the man can still smelt his own steel and forge some great pieces. Look at Magnus Axelsson and all the prohibitively expensive technology he uses. Still, the way he employs it makes a distinct piece that no one would debate is art.

So, I guess my point is that it's all in the way we incorporate technology into the process, not how we rely on it. I don't think I'd slap down a few hundred bucks for something that was crapped out of a CNC...and I know I'm not alone on that