You are also not taking into account that grinding a kitchen knife thinner against a flat platen is a lot easier than hollow grinding a razor thinner.
Printable View
Case in point my 10 year old daughter made a decent kitchen knife in aeb at her first try. Hollow grinding a razor and making sure everything aligns properly is a whole different kettle of fish.
Really? I find that grinding again a flat platen is not all that "easy". Heat buildup and "belt bump" with finer grit belts is more of a problem. As for kitchen knives I have never made one that was totally flat, They all had at least two flat "facets" that were blended and a convexed section near the edge. Some had a VERY shallow hollow running lengthwise down the blade that was blended into the two flats to the point of being invisible to the eye. As a lot of that blending is done by and with EDM stones and paper, I suspect that the time involved is a lot more than any razor. In my experience, one of the most significant the time that it takes to finish any cutting instrument is the size/surface area of the blade. :hmmm: Just out of curiosity, have you tried 52100 since you bought a proper heat treating setup? You might want to give it as shot at 1475F/800C.
My razors take longer to grind than my knives as well, unless it's smaller knife like a paring knife. Knives are easy, razors on the other hand can get "interesting" and there is less room for "oops".
I don't think I would try to mass produce a US made straight razor. I would make custom razors that I can make money on. I find I prefer vintage razors to the new ones I have tried. I don't know why that is but they just "FEEL" better to me. Also when I can buy a great vintage blade for $10.00 to $30.00 Why spend over $100.00 for a new one?
It's the SLAW!