Thread: 1st attempt making a razor

Congrats!, The razor looks very good.

Just a couple of comments.....

Remember to "Normalize" the blade 2-3 times before the Heat Treat. Mike Blue said that will not only relieve stresses in the steel thus reducing the chance of the blade warping but also refine the grain size.

Forge.... I agree with Spazola, a tangential angle would get the flame to swirl around the muffle which will speed up the heating cycle. I also agree that you may not have enough space between the muffle and the wall of the forge but go ahead and try it as is first. Remember that a muffle is not necessary, just run the flame a bit rich so that it is not oxidizing the steel as much. I assume that you have extra thickness along the edge and extra width on the blade to compensate for carbon loss. If not then be sure to use the muffle with some bits of leather in it to burn off the oxygen (but you probably already know this).

Vertical forge and wire.... just use a 1/8" to 1/4" steel rod laid across the mouth of the forge. That should be more than adequate to hang the blade onto. What kind of wire to use I am not sure, maybe SS?

Spine work....may I suggest that you fully finish off both the spine and the tang before HT. They are a bear to do after HT.

Hope this helps,