Thread: Shoulderless grinds -- tips and tricks?

Randy, I tried a modified version of your suggestion this evening, and it worked really well. I left the tang square and basically ground a sharp "shoulder" all the way out by the pivot hole. Then I tapered the tang--and presto, best shoulderless grind I've done yet. It looked pretty bad until I started tapering the tang, and at one point I thought I might have ruined the blank. But it ended up being a very painless and easy method.

I realized in the process that I have been totally misunderstanding what a shoulderless grind actually does. It's actually a full extension of the grind rather than the result of using less pressure to blend the grind into the tang. The taper of the tang is what makes this extended portion of the grind appear to curve downward to meet the bottom edge of the tang. To get each pass going correctly, I found that I just needed to move the heel in about 3/4" from the edge of the wheel, then concentrate my attention on making contact properly with the heel of the blade. The part out on the tang took care of itself when I did this right.

I have often left my tangs less tapered than is typical on vintage razors, so I never realized that the taper is what makes the shoulder drop off. Huh.

Thanks for the tips, guys.

Josh

Thats good to hear, thanks for posting this.
P.S. Thanks to Joe Chandler for telling me that a shoulderless grind is simply a continuation of the blade grind. I discovered that the tapering of the tang is what determined where the grind ended when I first ground on a untapered tang.

That makes two greatful souls, Joe.

I live to serve :

These are two little 6/8 blanks that I ground last night and this evening. The Shoulderless Grind Trick is working really well--these are almost perfectly even.

One thing I'm noticing is that you almost have to take the initial grind most of the way to the pivot hole. Otherwise you have to grind the tang really stinkin' thin in order to get rid of the shoulder where you stopped on the tang.

These are a little rough--still need some pre-heat treating refinement. I'm getting some anti-scaling compound for my oven that ought to let me do almost all of my polishing before heat treatment.

Looking good!

Thanks for all your remarks, gentlemen. I'm getting ready to run steel across my new Bader BIII for the first time, and I've always wanted to make shoulderless blades. I find shoulders annoying, both aesthetically, and when you need to grind nicks out of an old blade. As soon as the blade narrows to the point the hone starts hitting the shoulder, you get hone damage, unsightly marring of the razor, and a piece of uneven cutting edge at the heel.

My favorite profiles are the massive shoulderless Wade & Butcher semi-wedges.

I'm not at the point of making blades yet but would love to someday. And I'm glad to see others who like shoulderless blades. I don't understand why anyone would want the shoulders in the first place.

As always, thank you gentlemen, for your words of wisdom.