Thread: How did you all do that?

Just using a grinding disk on a drill press but haven't altered anything yet.

One more thing to remember. Razors are designed so laying the spine on the stone puts the edge at the correct bevel for honing. You just need to be careful that any decoration you add does not change the spine width and affect that angle. i much prefer using files so i can keep this under control. That said, i only do it on razors before heat treating. Grinders and dremels remove steel VERY quickly and you can go too far in a heartbeat.
If your razor is already heat treated an option for spine decoration is acid etching. Much easier than it sounds and i just use Ferric Chloride and a resist from electrical supply stores. It is not as nasty as a lot of other acids. i actually use this to mark my signature and serial numbers on all blades i make. It can be used to etch a pattern of any sort and will not risk the spine width or heat treatment of the blade.
Just something to consider.
Regards,
Adam.

Glass grinds faster than steel, and I am just guessing, but I think it could all be done with the slower speeds that won't throw of metal in a spray. Here is an alternative, a slow, water-bath grinder for cutting tools. But it is slow, so it is really complementary to a high-speed dry grinder of the same diameter, and I have never fancied laying out that much money on complementary. Most high-speed solid grinding wheels set up a pattern of rhythmic bouncing, but the slow, wet ones don't.

Tiger 2500 Grinder with FREE Woodturners Package - eBay (item 200625126721 end time Jul-29-11 03:29:44 PDT)

Jewellers' merchants sell a paint-on heat shield gel or foam for parts of an object you are silver soldering. I'm not sure how it works, maybe by absorption of heat and making itself evaporate. But it seems worth looking into.

Another point about a worked spine is that if you reduce the area in contact with the hone, you will increase hone wear. But if you want to etch it, many substances, including Letraset dry-print lettering does. Only if you go for some of the elaborate lines, symbols or techncal drawing objects they offer, you may find yourself etching a neat copy of a clear background they use to stop them breaking up in application. The little pots of enamel paint used by aeromodellers also resists it. This, although not a razor, was done by me in 1983 and will still raise two successive slivers along the length of a human hair, if your hand is steady. It was done with about 15% nitric acid, blackened with cold gun blue after removal of the resist and iron oxide silt, and the raised writing repolished with fine abrasive paper glued to a flat backing.

Very impressive! I might have to research this type of etching for future projects, that is beautiful!
Thanks for the tip on spine diameter Adam that didn't dawn on be but should have.....Doh!

Another thing to consider is sharp edges...your strop wouldn't love you too much if you scratched her up...