Thread: Straight razor - starter project

Originally Posted by SFshaver

I've been reading some of the posts in 'The Workshop', and am interested in what it would take to make my own straight razor. I've found what seems like a good source for the raw materials, but wanted to see if anyone could suggest what basic tools would be necessary to get started on this project. I'm not looking to start a full on metal shop, but thought it would be a fun project to work on. Also, any good suggestions on resources or a 'how-to'?

Do a "site search" for words and phrases that come up.

site:Straight Razor Place - Welcome to Straight Razor Place phrase or words

mikeblue has posted some very informative posts... he has
been there and done it.

There are three key steps... shaping, heat treating, final shape and polish

Start with a quality high carbon steel that has been heated and cooled SLOWLY
so you can shape it and cut it with a file or on a belt sander. Soft enough
that you can drill or punch the pivot hole. Even shape with a file while the steel
is still soft. Shaping can also be done with fire, anvil and a hammer.

Next heat treat so the steel is hard as heck, then annealing just enough
that the razor is not brittle like glass but is still hard as heck. This is harder
than it sounds to get correct.

Lastly do a cautious final grind taking care care to not wreck the temper
yet result in the final grind, shape and polish. The pros use wet wheels
as you can see on the Dovo factory videos.

Then make and apply scales and hone to be sharp and shave ready.

This is a long list where each step must be done correctly to result in
a razor worth shaving with.

Originally Posted by medicevans

Why don't you like double cut files?

Personal preference, I learned how to use files with a mill bastard... I've never liked the way double cut files cut, too much like a rasp, I just don't feel like I can control the cut as well as I can with a single. Like I said, YMMV. I'm not saying one is good and the other is bad, just my own opinion.

I like them then I'm trying to remove quite a bit of material at once. When I'm close, I'll switch over to single cut.

I really like these files for hogging off material, I have gone through several sets of them. They are very aggressive cutters. I then like good quality single cut mill files to do the draw filing and finish work.

Charlie

Originally Posted by spazola

I really like these files for hogging off material, I have gone through several sets of them. They are very aggressive cutters. I then like good quality single cut mill files to do the draw filing and finish work.

Charlie

Hmmm.... keep them when dull.
After coating with clay or the like and
then heating to where it will not hold a magnet
and then SLOW cooling in wood ash you
have the raw material for the next razor

I'll try to answer a few of these questions and add some of my own advice.

A good stock thickness is around 1/4". You can get a good idea of what thickness you want by measuring the razors in your collection.

Because you are working with hand tools, you will want to do as much work as possible while the steel is in an annealed state. This poses some issues due to the stresses of heat treating. The amount of warping and scale will depend on the alloy and the heat treatment itself. A high-alloy air-hardening steel treated by a professional will suffer much less distortion than some 1084 treated in a backyard forge. How thin can you make your edge before it goes in the oven? The best way to find out is to ask your heat treater (our trial and error if you're doing it yourself). I have personally taken stainless steels to .010" without issue (thinner is iffy), for oil-quenched steel, I don't go below .025". For this reason, I recommend starting with air-hardening steel, as it will allow you to do more work with files before the blade is hardened (it will save you many hours of sanding).

I highly recommend Paul Bos Heat Treating (air hardening only), and Peters Heat Treating.

Phillip

Thanks for the reply PDobson. What are some examples of air hardening steel? I'm assuming A2 is air hardening. Are you saying that air hardening steels are easier to work by hand than say, 1084, 1085, or O-1.

Originally Posted by medicevans

Does the steel shrink a little bit when it gets heat treated?

You will lose some dimensionality due to decarburisation unless you take precautions to protect the surface or choose a ht method that avoids this drawback. Decarb is soft as s**t and must come off the width, its not much but could be easily 0,2 mm.
The final hone width should be 3 1/2 times that of the spine idealy. My advice go greater than this ratio pre ht, this will give you some wriggle room at final grind to zero in on the magical 16 degrees.
Decarb can be a potential pitfall with forging as well as other things associated with thermal cycling so need to know your stuff if forging.
By the way steel stock is forged, there are pros and cons to both methods just pointing out that there is no functional advantage to either.

Originally Posted by medicevans

Thanks for the reply PDobson. What are some examples of air hardening steel? I'm assuming A2 is air hardening. Are you saying that air hardening steels are easier to work by hand than say, 1084, 1085, or O-1.

Confusingly, many air-hardening steels tend to be somewhat more difficult to grind and file than simple steels. This is due to the high carbide volume found in many air-quenched alloys. Even so, the fact that you can nearly finish the blade while it is annealed will save you a lot of time when working with hand tools. An air-hardened stainless such as CPM154 grinds and polishes almost as easily as 1095.

A2 is a classic air-hardened steel with fine grain, and it should make great razors. Martensitic stainless steels are also air-hardening, as are many high-alloy tool steels. There are some fine-grained stainless steels developed for razor blades (Sandvik 13c26, AEB-L) and others like 154cm also make great razors. I would steer clear of high alloy tool steels (like M4, and A11) because they are brutal to sand by hand.

Phillip

So I guess guys, it comes down to this:

Which suitable steel is going to be easiest to work by hand?

I don't need more of an uphill battle than my obvious lack of technical skill.