Thread: Is there a beginner's tutorial on blade making here?

Originally Posted by spazola

16 degrees-ish +- one or two is a good starting point for the angle of a razor. Look at and measure the blades that you have now.

As for making a razor I would say there is no better way of learning than doing. This lady's video on cooking turkey is analogous to the way I feel about making razors. Just make razors they will get better each time and you will learn new things every time you make one.

Charlie

Lol ok ok. I can work and read at the same time I guess

Another question..How do you keep the angle while grinding/filing? I thought about making a paper template and hold it up to the razor as I go.

I make the blade close to the width I want, then mark the center of the edge side and the edges of the spine side, then make the lines connect with the face of the razor between them. I will try to find a picture of what I mean. I still don't have a grinder, so Charlie and other power tool users do things markedly different.

+1 to what the others say.
Buy some O1 tool steel, cut it to length, and start making a razor.
Just start removing everything that is not 'razor'. Leave the blade part thick enough that it doesn't warp during HT.

You will make mistakes, no doubt. That is the best way to learn: make mistakes, think about what you did wrong, try to correct the mistake, and soldier on. Get the turkey in the oven already.

Also: when you make your first razors and are happy with them, send them to someone else, and specifically ask them to try and find problems. You are not interested in compliments at that point, or try to protect your feelings. You'll want to know everything that is wrong which you did not discover yourself already.

+1 Charlie and Bruno. +1 O1 its (relatively) cheap and well known and will hold an edge. $50 knife shop would be some help, in terms of how little you really need.

You do not need to spend a ton of money. It helps if you are resourceful and have some basic tools. Helps more if you have a few things like a bench grinder and belt sander, not hand held. Though I have used my hand held belt sander to work the handle of a couple knives.

Jeff

Can you use a wood working band saw (I have a Shopsmith) to cut 0-1 steel? If so , what kind of blade do I need?

BTW I placed an order at Enco for 0-1 ( 18 x 1 1/4 x 5/16) today!

What would a "starter set" of chisel's and basic tools look like?

From experience:
My 9" craftsman bandsaw couldn't touch o-1, especially 5/16". I got 1/16" in and said the heck with it and took them to a machine shop. I don't know what a shop smith is though.

Files, get good files. Forget harbor freight Chinese crap. For my next razors I'm ordering a magi-cut from jantz. I use the flat side of my coarse half round craftsman a lot for rapid flattening in draw filing. That and my Nicholson handi-file. And clamps, because I don't have a vise. This is how I hold my blank down.

Waiting on the machine shop to get back to me on the CAD file approval, then I'm ordering more from Enco too. Get busy!!

Edit:
Meant to add, on my first blade I used an angle grinder, a set of files, a piece of marble tile as a flat surface to sand on, and a steel bar to back the sandpaper while sanding. That's it. We'll see if it worked.

If it is annealed, just use a hacksaw. It goes quickly enough.

Originally Posted by Bruno

If it is annealed, just use a hacksaw. It goes quickly enough.

I called Enco and they said their blanks are annealed, but maybe I'm a wimp or used crappy blades. I couldn't get a hacksaw to work very well. However, I have been wondering about the drilling holes around the blank then connecting with a hacksaw method of blank roughing.