Thread: It seemd like a good idea at the time

So I bought apiece of PW steel that was well priced at dictum. The only problem: it was knife sized: 3/16 thick by 1.5 wide.
And I thought 'no biggie, I'll draw it to make it narrower and thicker'.
Yeah...

I also had a thick bar of SC145 which had the opposite problem: thick enough but also 1.5" wide.
So I had to draw it out as well.

By the time I actually got to the point where I could make a razor, my arm had well and truly gone numb.
I can honestly say that when I got the idea, I thought it would work out a lot better than it did.
th eonly reason I ended up with 3 razor blanks is because I was too stubborn to be sensible and quit after the drawing out process.

Lot of good things happen like that!
~Richard

Sounds like a deal you will remember. I have a few of those in my memory bank :<0)

I hear ya Bruno. The metal always moves easier in your mind than it does on the anvil.

Guess that is why guys less stubborn than us have powerhammers.
did you remember to switch hands hammering so both arms look like Arnold's now?

You "could have" made some smaller razors, but that goes against your grain I know...but nothing wrong with a 5/8 or 6/8 razor. Wouldn't have any "oops" room though or you would end up with a "mustache" razor.

You could find some willing strikers, but then you'd have to feed and water them. Power hammers don't eat much. Strikers sound like a party when they are done working and the neighbors don't grumble about setting off the seismic detectors.

Originally Posted by shooter74743

You "could have" made some smaller razors, but that goes against your grain I know...but nothing wrong with a 5/8 or 6/8 razor. Wouldn't have any "oops" room though or you would end up with a "mustache" razor.

I don't make anything under 6/8 since that is imo not worthy of the name 'razor'. For the PW steel, 4.5 mm would have just been ok for a 6/8 razor but still, I would have had to cut it lengthwise with an angle grinder or draw out idiculously. I like to forge things to shape and then then cut it off using a hardy. As soon as I have to do a lot with an angle grinder, it feels like cheating.

Next time I'll just have to start with a bit thicker stock.

For the thick bar of 145, I just have to work smarter and make better use of the horn for drawing out.

My Granddad was a blacksmith for the best part of 50 years, he was 5'6" and whole 60kg I reckon soaking wet,
I always used to wonder how he spent all day swinging a hammer with his wirery thin arms,
until I met his Striker & rather large 6’2” Swedish Brick of a lad about 3’ wide across the shoulders & 1.5’ deep through the chest.
he was the hammer my Grandad was the brain telling him full, half or quarter hit etc and then only used to do the finish hammering to fine tune his work.
Wish I had of been able to learn his trade from him in his prime, with his shed full of tools he said often took longer to make the tool to do the job than the job.
Damn I miss that old boy.

A striker and a smith need to work together as a team. I don't work with a striker because there is noone among my friends I trust enough to swing a hammer at my anvil. I had my best friend come over to give it a try on 2 knives I was making for him. The main reason I asked him was that I wanted him to have had a hand in making his own knives. The experience taught me that a layman with a hammer is not a good striker.

It is true that making tools can take a long time. For one-time things it may not be worth the time (unless you can't do it without) but if it is something you use repeatedly, such as a cut-off hardy or a wedge to re-align a warped blade, it can save you a lot of time in the long run.