Thread: F. Herder blanks

ktinch, let us know what happens, thanks!

I also ordered two batches and would like to have access to your findings about the correct hardening and tempering of these blades.Thanks!
~Richard

I had some of these before. The hardness was tested at Mike Blues and came in at 58 HRC. So they were heat treated and tempered. At least mine were. The edges are thick, 1/16 - 1/32, so grinding will be required. I sent mine off to Wacker in Germany for an estimate but they were lost in the mail. The blade was not concave but rather a uniform thickness from the edge up 3/4 of the distance to the spine.

Hope this helps,

Your findings set well with the way blades are tempered. The straight cross section is to allow the removal of fire scale without grinding away the blade width. So they are done correctly. The straight section is removed during the grinding process. Now. since I only have a four inch wet wheel, I need to find someone locally with a 8-10 inch wet wheel.
~Richard

Originally Posted by randydance062449

I had some of these before. The hardness was tested at Mike Blues and came in at 58 HRC. So they were heat treated and tempered...snip.. The blade was not concave but rather a uniform thickness from the edge up 3/4 of the distance to the spine.
Hope this helps,

I have yet to have these tested. Given the cost of the tests and the fact that I do not own a grider, I have decided to put these on the back burner for a while. The only ones in the batch that are already hard are the little 4/8 ones that have company name and logo stamped on them. The larger ones are still soft and not stamped.

Old New Stock Herders. From the grave!

I was able to buy a few HERDER blade blanks a couple years ago. I have not yet posted the results before this due to my inexpert honing.
The blanks were rescued after WWII from the bombed out Herder’s Works. I had the blanks hardened and tempered by Mike Blue of MN. The grinding was done on a little WEN wet wheel grinder; no longer produced. Most of the work was done by hand with wet/dry abrasive papers.
I have finally learned enough to hone the blade properly with out edge crumbling. I spent many hours with it on the hones before I could. It is HARD! I scaled the blade with Cranberry Acrylic, domed ss washers and German silver pins. The first good shave was today and she is a keeper.

~Richard

You put a lot of work into that blank, and turned into a beautiful razor. I am impressed you ground Wen grinder.

Charlie

The other thing learned about these blanks is that not all of them were hardened. Some came off the line before HT and some after. The easiest test for anyone at home is to try to file the blank. If the file "skates" or slips easily, the blade is hard. If the file digs in and cuts the steel, it's likely not hardened. It was a good experiment and I thank Richard for trusting me to do the job.

Excellent! You sure have put a lot of work into that razor and it is very nice.

Dad, great looking razor! nice work.