Thread: First Straight Razor, "Spikey" in a bold W's pattern

I was going to wait until I was a bit further down the line with shaving/honing etc.....but this bold w's pattern begged me to do it.
Having learned that Razors don't necessarily need to have scales or hollow ground I thought why not.
The Mascus is a bold W's pattern I made from Swedish band saw blades. About 0.8% carbon.
I forged to shape, and fullered in the shape to the handle to get some swell, which I decided to leave as texture and ground the tops and bottoms to reveal the layers.
I heat treated then ground the wedge. Long way to go there is still 0.3mm on the edge.
I'm tempering it in the oven now at 135 * c,(275*F) which should give around 62,63hrc. Then I'll polish all the ground mascus bits. And hit the grinder again to get it as far as I can, then try honing it and polish the edge, probably have to use Micromesh.
The spine would be a bit of a pain with tape, so I believe I can use nail varnish? on the edge to keep it smooth in the etch. Then try and have a shave with the beast.
The blade is 5.25mm thick at the spine and the cutting edge is 55mm. Its 26mm deep making it a shade over 8/8. With an absence of wheels, it is a wedge. It seems to balance really well and seems quite fine and delicate even with its chunkyness. Hopefully I can get it to shave.
I was looking at the lewis Razors website this morning and was certainly inspired to try something in my Mascus. Beyond the forge work and grind, i'm stumbling a bit so any advice most welcome.
Here it is ground to 180gt ceramic and a wee etch to see progress.

One more

You will put your eye out with that!

Hee hee, thats a good.......Point.

Fantastic look to it. Really out of band saw blade huh?? Nice use of old material. I'd love to see it after it's completed! Got another you want to get rid of? LOL

its horrible!! terrible!!! much too dangerous for you to use.....

ship it to me as soon as possible... i will ummmm.... dispose of it before it hurts anyone... *innocent look....


*(awesome... i find that piece of art more beautiful than i can find words to describe.... i LOVE damascus!!!)

I would still use tape on the spine and I wouldn't be afraid to use a couple of layers.
With a liquid component like nail varnish it won't cure flat, it will have a slight bubble to it.
of course if you add too much tape you could run into issues as well.
I worry with spines like that, they tend to be difficult to hone.

Thanks So much guys. Glad you like it. I have used scrap band saw blades for the Mascus as it is my only source of 15n20 from Underholm, here in the uk. Its the Nickel element which i'm after for contrast. Apart from the 2% nickel its a straight forward carbon steel so goes well with any other plain carbon steel with a similar or slightly higher carbon content. 15n20 has become nearly impossible to get here without having to buy a whole ton of hardened steel on a roll. So its nice to have a little supply of it until an alternative steel comes to light.

Now you just need to do a makers mark and she'll be pretty close to done.

Originally Posted by deighaingeal

I would still use tape on the spine and I wouldn't be afraid to use a couple of layers.
With a liquid component like nail varnish it won't cure flat, it will have a slight bubble to it.
of course if you add too much tape you could run into issues as well.
I worry with spines like that, they tend to be difficult to hone.

Cheers, yep this is where my inexperience comes in. I was thinking more with the pattern on the edge with the nail varnish, to use it as an etch block on the very edge. So I can hone then etch and do minimal honing after the etch and strop. I would have to re-etch after a few heavy honing sessions, but I would be fine with that on this one. I'll just be glad to get it shaving.