Thread: Old style forged blades

Originally Posted by DwarvenChef

The couple pre 1800's I have seen are not semetrical at all. The edges seem to have been ground, however they where shapped, into a straight edge. Much like pounding flat one side of a piece of bar stock shapped like a popcicle stick. Gring off the hollows till somewhat even and punch the hole. That is my first plan at least.

Do they appear to be like wedges? Or do they have some sort of fuller?

Thanks,
Michael.

Originally Posted by FTG

Do they appear to be like wedges? Or do they have some sort of fuller?

Thanks,
Michael.

Not sure what "some sort of fuller" means.

Not like the later wedges as far as I can tell but not very holow ground. A fruit knife with a thick spine is what comes to mind for me.

Thanks for the description.

What I meant by fuller was like the channel down the centre of a sword blade...

or... like a hollow grind - except forged, had the groove 'knocked' in, rather than ground out.

All the best,
Michael.

Ok that makes sence, I would think so, I'm still trying to get one of the blades made that way. Not easy when you low bid all the time Gives me some interesting ideas to write down and try

While doing some research I did find this guy's replica work. Based off of the[Mary Rose finds as well as some imagery and other remnants

Those are some really interesting pieces. The curved shape is consistent with a hand forged blade. Thanks for the link!

Seen some others with that "Rat Tail" on them. Was that a common feature back in that era?

Thanks for the replica link.

Have you seen the source material for these razors?

All the best,
Michael.

I have seen woodcuts and photos of the scales found in the Mary Rose, but unfortunately very few are in digital format. With the woodcuts, it is a bit hard to tell, but if you look at this image from the mid-late 1600s you can see in the back, pointing towards the hair-washer's posterior what is likely to be a razor out of scale. The fact that it is underneath obviously oversized-scissors and what could be a strop as well as on the table next to a shaving bowl (used to capture lather and water dripping off the face before it would get on the clothes) gives reasonable testament to it being a razor.


This image, the best I could find, of the scales from the Mary Rose recovery lend to a very straight form, almost more like an early pocket knife. Unfortunately the blades were rusted away long before the discovery of the wreckage.

There is a forum in the user cp someone made a razor from a file it has same amount carbon and whatever else is in the razor there it als tells you about heat temperment and everything youneed to do.