Thread: Design feedback please

Well sending it out will also give you amazing feedback on your design and execution too. That is a great plan. I know a guy In Loydminster Canada that makes knives and razors and send his to a guy in Edmonton for sharpening, he could do it himself but likes the feedback and the guy in Edmonton is very good. You need to find someone a little closer. There is a guy with an ad in the classifieds section that is relatively near you, same country at least.
Razor Services in OZ by Oz - Straight Razor Place Classifieds

Thanks very much RezDog,

I have contacted Oz and had quick reply. Seems he's the man for the job and its only a day or so postage to his location so will work nicely and I agree that I will get some valuable feedback. I'm enjoying making it so will try for some more traditional styles and hopefully create a bit of work for him.

Now to decide on scales... Osange Orange or ringed gidgee... and to work out how to drill the wedge straight?!?! That should be fun

There are several threads on wedge and scale making.
http://straightrazorpalace.com/works...wers-here.html
That sticky has a ton and a half of information including wedge and scale making.

Did an etch today but accidentally touched the blade so it oxidized/tarnished straight away so I'll have to re-polish and do it again. Gave me a good look though. I got a very even San-Mai line on both sides so in quite happy and the ball bearing pattern along the top of the blade and spine is awesome IMO. Photos don't really do it justice...





Cut some scales today. I will mill flat and then shape. Ringed gidgee... My favourite timber.

I hope you get the scales nice and thin. They will look great but more importantly they will feel good in hand and help the razor handle well. If they are too chunky they will feel awkward especially when stropping. The transition from scales to tang won't feel right and turning the blade won't flip smoothly. Also if the razor is badly out of balance it gets weird too. I have a Wapi razor with the original stainless scales that is way out of balance and it is not a pleasure to strop.

Good to know. I'll make sure I do! I've been reading up on the threads you posted for me so once I'm happy I'll hook in and see how I go.

You will also want to make the outsides of the scales rounded so that the edges of the scales are really thin. This gives the razor a much more elegant look than clunky square cut scales.

Made a bit of progress today.

Milled the scales flat.


I used some contact adhesive to glue the two scales together for milling and then shaping and drilling.


Scales marked out.


Decided to use some Mammoth ivory off cut for the spacer. Even off cuts are a bit hard to justify wasting so I cut this one in half and now I have a spare spacer.

Wedges cut. Love the grain in mammoth ivory!


Scales rough shaped.


Checking the fit.


Bits and pieces.


I mentioned earlier that I was using micro bolts. Micro is accurate. I dropped one of the bolts and try as I might, couldn't find it. 80min round trip to pick up a spare from my mate. Lesson learnt, have spares or be far more careful!!


Need to finish shaping the scales now, and round the edges as suggested. Still a bit of work to go. I still need to re-polish and re-etch the razor as well.

Honestly I am not wild on the scales. They look clunky in those pictures, but I am still grooving on the blade. We will see the next set of pictures. It could be just the angle of the pictures.