Thread: Razor Making

Ok so This is my first poast so let me just say Hi. Im a blacksmith and I have my own little business making fences, hardware, and repairs (plus the odd knife of hatchet). Ive got some woodworking and other more general metal working under my belt too. Plus Im super cheap, hence the razor making! LOL

I am darned good at sharpening knives but my only issue is actually geting a perfect edge. I can shave hair off my arms and legs and get an OK shave with a knife after I touch it up. But, the issue is getting a perfect shave. So, I will probably just make it, grind it, sharpen it and send it out to be properly honed.

I plan to just make a fixed blade razor (I hate making folders. The stop pins give me some trouble) or not have a stop pin for the folder. Old file (from now on OF steel) will be my steel of choice for this project (or 5160 or E52100, but 5160 won't hold an edge quite long enough and 52100 is toothy). It will be rather thin (3/16in give or take) beacuase thats the size steel I have and probably scandi ground. Perhaps 3-4in long with a bread knife-esque point? My shaving is mostly done by the excess heat from cutting torches and my propane forge so Im no expert with razors. LOL

Thanks for the help guys!

Go get 'em man! An old file should make a good base steel for a razor. Do you have a heat treat oven?

I have made a decent razor out of a file and pretty primitive equipment. I have also made some razor shaped objects out of files and primitive equipment. My success rate went up exponentially as I started using known steels and getting good heat treatment. My experience was that I could make a razor out of found steel and privative forges but I could not do it consistently - it was a hit or miss proposition.

Go for it have fun,

Charlie

so your a smith but cant forge 3/16 steel into a bit thicker spine and then forge the bevels

and 2 52100 is not toothy steel when heat treated

i think a bit of readig will go a long way as you seem to know knives ok but are more an ornamental black smith

it is easy to make a knife that shaves arm hair but not easy to make a razor that is shave worthy

if it sounds like im beig a bit harsh its cause in a way i am (you have posted thoughts on razor making here and dont know how to make your first one)
and 2 there are lots of things that will help you as you make your way to a razor and the ones i pointed out are the easy ones to point oit

Originally Posted by joke1176

Go get 'em man! An old file should make a good base steel for a razor. Do you have a heat treat oven?

Nope. And I don't need one. I just use my coal or propane forge and keep both eyes on what I am doing. I assume the same kind of HT applies to razors that I use for knives or hatchets, just a lower tempering temperature and a finer grain structure then normal.

Originally Posted by L R Harner

so your a smith but cant forge 3/16 steel into a bit thicker spine and then forge the bevels

and 2 52100 is not toothy steel when heat treated

i think a bit of readig will go a long way as you seem to know knives ok but are more an ornamental black smith

it is easy to make a knife that shaves arm hair but not easy to make a razor that is shave worthy

if it sounds like im beig a bit harsh its cause in a way i am (you have posted thoughts on razor making here and dont know how to make your first one)
and 2 there are lots of things that will help you as you make your way to a razor and the ones i pointed out are the easy ones to point oit

In my experiance upsetting makes life harder then drawing out. IMO the risk of creating cold shuts if I screw up isn't worth it. I may just end up welding some cable and make a pattern welded san mai razor for giggles. I don't really care if I mess up, its just going to be a fun project with a useful outcome. Plus at that size it would work as a butter knife.

52100 for me ends up, not toothy per say, but coarse. And it is a carbide former and I have not mastered the 52100 HT like I have for W1 or 5160. Plus I just don't like it as it is a bear to forge and grind, but I have a lot of it around from when I was doing lots of hot tools (1045 shank/ body, 52100 edge. it worked better then each indidual steel as a tool)

The file I will be using is an old nicholson black diamond file (the same kind I make lots of kitchen knives out of) and the soak and temper time I have down, but instead of tempering to brown Im going to light yellow.

I am not an ornimental smith really, I do more hardware and whatever else comes along. So call me a master generalist. I can do alot, but nothing is perfectly mastered. And don't worry about being harsh at all. Until you tell me what I am capable of its hard to bother me.



So basically this is what I have to work with tool wise:


plus all sorts of assorted hammers, tongs, a smaller anvil, bench grinder, files, and a post vice (think bench vise on massive sterioids. mine weighs in around 70lbs)

Oh yes, and for giggles I bend this about 7 or 8 times before the edge cracked (maybe more. I got bored and bent it during two sessions). Here is after 6 bends:

heat treated 5160. it was used to chop through a 2x4 twice and still took off my arm hair.

for you the bigest thignto get right is the HT as even a blade ground as a wedge (not razor wedge ) will shave it jsut takes more wror to hone