Thread: first try at razor from scratch, wrinkles

Originally Posted by Mike Blue

Charlie, my first blades were a good deal more butt ugly. The current generation of makers coming up seems to be starting out a lot better off than the cohort that did with me twenty years ago.

If I appear far sighted, it is because I am standing on the shoulders of giants...
Or something to that effect.

These days, with the internet, there is a ton of resources available that simply didn't exist when you started.
We have the advantage that we can learn from you and other topical experts.
And we can pass on our knowledge, each adding his or her own specialty to the mix of knowledge.

It's like when I started straight shaving. My technique was awful for years, and I had to learn everything the hard (= pain) way. And even after all those years, I still needed SRP to finally get the hang of it.
These days most new shavers who want to learn find a shaving site, and learn in 2 months what took me years to learn.

Originally Posted by Bruno

... there is a ton of resources available that simply didn't exist when you started.
....

Very true indeed. Also it must have been hard to make the transition away from bronze to harder metals like iron or steel later on. - Sorry couldn't resist making a joke.

Anyhoo, although I know squat about metal work, the blade, looks good stylistically. Barring the waves on the edge naturally as you mentioned.

Mike Blue mentioned "normalizing". It is something for you to consider and also the thickness of edge before heat treating. That and quench the whole blade, not just the edge.

Your first razor is far better than my first 5!

Did the edge curl during the heat-treatment or after you started grinding again? Either way, I think the problem is it got too thin. I that find if the grind isn't uniform in thickness prior to quenching, the thinner parts tend to buckle a bit. I haven't seen waves like that develop during finish grinding yet, but right at the edge you'll sometimes get some metal that's paper thin and starts to ripple. Maybe you've almost ground through the blade near the center?

Regardless, that's a fantastic first effort. Heck, it would be a good 10th effort.

Keep at it!
Josh

Originally Posted by JoshEarl

Did the edge curl during the heat-treatment or after you started grinding again? Either way, I think the problem is it got too thin. I that find if the grind isn't uniform in thickness prior to quenching, the thinner parts tend to buckle a bit. I haven't seen waves like that develop during finish grinding yet, but right at the edge you'll sometimes get some metal that's paper thin and starts to ripple. Maybe you've almost ground through the blade near the center?

Regardless, that's a fantastic first effort. Heck, it would be a good 10th effort.

Keep at it!
Josh

The edge curled at the very end of the grinding. I was using a 600 belt wet, to clean up and bada bing I have a pringle. I said blue words. I measured all over with the micrometer. The grind is pretty consistent, that is unless I have a valley that is smaller the anvil on the micrometer.

The grind looked pretty consistent before heat treating.

Thanks for all your guys help and encouragement. I have learned a lot from this forum.

Charlie

Originally Posted by spazola

The edge curled at the very end of the grinding. I was using a 600 belt wet, to clean up and bada bing I have a pringle. I said blue words. I measured all over with the micrometer. The grind is pretty consistent, that is unless I have a valley that is smaller the anvil on the micrometer.

The grind looked pretty consistent before heat treating.

Thanks for all your guys help and encouragement. I have learned a lot from this forum.

Charlie

Hmmm. I guess it was internal stresses like the other guys said. I haven't seen anything quite like that happen. How thick was the blade when you measured it?

Josh

That is excellent for a first try!

Originally Posted by JoshEarl

Hmmm. I guess it was internal stresses like the other guys said. I haven't seen anything quite like that happen. How thick was the blade when you measured it?

Josh

The blade was pretty close to .010 for most of its length it was around .012 near the toe.

I measured using my dial calipers today since they have a smaller footprint for measuring. I found a thin area running perpendicular to the edge .005 about 1” from the heel since I have a 1” wide contact wheel I am going to assume that I was rocking the blade and digging in the side of the wheel.. This does not look like cause of the problem though. Maybe I ground too thin, maybe some type of stress, maybe the razor gnomes are out to get me.

I am giving up on this one. It was a good learning experience.

I started on a frame back today after work.

Charlie

Originally Posted by Chady

Very true indeed. Also it must have been hard to make the transition away from bronze to harder metals like iron or steel later on. - Sorry couldn't resist making a joke.

I remember using clam shells off the beach. That natural ceramic is a b**** to hone... Bronze was the latest and greatest because it was easier to sharpen...