Thread: 1st attempt making a razor

I'd like to try making some to but I have so much exotic wood and so few razors. Oh well maybe someday.

Hmm,
To much exotic wood eh, nice problem to have.
I'll buy some from you or trade you some micarta.

Hello Joey, Don't get discouraged with your failures. They are learning experiences, valuable tools for you to possess. My finish rate is about 80%. Nearly 1 in 5 blades I start end up on the scrap pile for one reason or another.
But I must say that I am most impressed with your "can do" attitude. I think you are an inspiration to us all.
Like others have said, your first razor attempt was first rate, especially considering your limited tools.
Keep up the good work. I have enjoyed following your progress.

Bob

Thanks Bob,
Appreciate the encouragement.
I'm only doing this for fun and don't have to make a living (fortunatley).
Have enjoyed the process imenseley and have learned stuff that you can only get by doing it. I could never have got this far without the input of members of this site and help has always been freely given.
Will keep going, my biggest limtation at the moment is time, oh and SWMBO watching the spends.

Thanks

Joey

I'm two for three so far. I tried to "straighten" a warped blade after heat treat instead of grinding it down...thru hardened 1095 does NOT bend...it snaps! At least I can finish up one of them & it will leave me with two of my own razors. Not many can say that...

get the most of the fails
break a few if you HTed them yourself to see how the grain look s
try different honing on them cause its not liek you can mess it up much more
or grind them into helpful tools in the shop
cant wait to see what other new stuff you guys get made up

OK guys,
Have enjoyed this journey, but its unlikeley that I will post again til I have the finished article albeit a frameback. Work and domestic are preoccupations at the moment so god knows when that will be.
Thought I'd share a few insights I've gained from the experience so far and I'm sure there are more for to be got but it may help some first timers.

1) Get the best equipment you can, don't be a martar to low tech and frugalness unless you have to. I have to due to financial and SWMBO restrictions. I have to admit I've gone about things the slow and the hard way at times and it's been a PITA, don't be stingy out of pride.
Go for the quicker and easier if it gives you as good or better results.

2) Mystery steel - don't do it. For the low cost of steel this puts you in a dilema when it comes to ht and it's not worth it. I have doubts about my steel due to the way I aquired it and with hindsight I may have been better quenching in brine. I know it's a good principle not to shock the steel unneccessarily, but if you don't know what you have, this may be the lesser of the evils (please chime in you pros). This is a hard lesson learned for me.

3)Tang hole is important. Mock your project from cardboard/hardboard and get some trial scales and micro pins. Mock build this dummy blade and see how it feels in hand. Visibility during shave is another factor do the open scales obscure your view? I know this does not completley address the balance question but with hindsight my pin hole would have been more toward the blade.

This is not definitive but some of the main things for me that I could not have anticipated before DOING IT.
One more thing - Have fun!

I'd like to thank everyone who has advised and helped me along the way, you know who you are, I could never even attempted this without you.
If I wanted to know something I just asked and always found that members were very generous with advice.

Good luck
Joey

Hi,
This razor (frame back) is finished all but honing.
Unfortunatley cannot up photos just yet, no camera.
Is there anyone out there still interested in this thread?
If so I will post pictures. Sunday evening at the earliest.

I'd sure like to see the pics.

Congrats on getting it finished!

Pics are always good. I woundered what the turn out was on this razor.