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I've been wowed by all the posts of guys getting started but I still feel confused about several important steps in blade making and where to go for information. Are there any books or videos anywhere that can walk a total nub (like me) step by step through the process? Sorry if i've missed it somewhere.
Thanks!
Tumtatty, I'm a newb to the whole blade making thing but Charlie's(spazola) set of videos on youtube are a great place to start.
Just search for videos by Lewisrazors.
Hope this gets you on the right track. If there are any specific questions you have, it would be worth posting them. My experience is that all the local customs gurus are very happy to help.
Stu
Stu has it right. I've learned so much from all the guys on here. I have no suggestions at all on the actual mechanics of making a blade. My only suggestion is to stop talking, and start doing!! Get out there and start messing with metal! Make mistakes, post questions, start discussions. My first blade is at heat treat now, and even if it comes back completely warped and wrinkly, I learned so much from making it. It's addicting. Just whatever you do, DO! Don't wish, do!
I'm about ready to give it a go, but I'm my biggest question right now is how to give it the correct angle when grinding/filing.
Hopefully this will spur some discussion. I've seen the spine width to blade width ratio of 1:4 to 1:3.5 mentioned. I've also seen the bevel angle of 17-22 degrees mentioned.Quote:
Originally Posted by tumtatty
3.5:1 is an overall angle of about 16.5 ish degrees.
4:1 is an overall angle of about 14.5 ish degrees.
I have all the ratios worked out on a piece of paper, I will send them to you, then when someone smarter than me chimes in, we'll know.
Thanks so much! I wish I could click the "Thanks" button several times for you. I'd love to help compile information like this for a sticky to help other guys like me. I'm not math oriented at all and have no understanding of metallurgy (yet). I really appreciate all the help. I've been making scales for awhile but I really want to take it to the next level. Spazola and his awesome steampunk razor pushed me over the edge! I need to make blades that match my scales!!Quote:
Originally Posted by medicevans
As for steel selection primers, shoot an email to Mike Blue. I bugged him for a while, and he is very good at explaining things. I went with O-1. It has higher carbon than 1084, plus some other good stuff, plus I wasn't going to HT myself anyway, so why not?
The guy that wrote this paper actually is a genius. He has won several awards and published an amazing amount of papers. He later converted this particular paper into a book with very few changes. Mike Blue recommended this book to me for a primer on steel and steel metallurgy. I found this link to the paper on bladeforums or some similar forum. It's fascinating.
http://www.feine-klingen.de/PDFs/verhoeven.pdf
This has a chart listing one set of steel composition. Compositions change according to which chart you're looking at, but this will give you a general idea. O-1 will undergo phase changes during HT that will let it convert to bainite instead of martensite if you want. Mike is doing my big chopper in bainite.
http://www.navaching.com/forge/steels.html
Also, I'd like to say, I am by no means even to be considered a razor maker. So far, I have made a razor shaped object. When Mike sends me my blank back, we'll see how it does. Listen to Charlie and the others that have done a bunch of blades. I'm not even sure if my ratios are to be trusted 100% until an experienced maker chimes in.
Thanks for posting the link to that book! It'll take me a while to "grind" through that one. I'm starting already.
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. Do not over think it just go ahead and start the process you will learn and refine your process no matter what the outcome is.
Just Put the F*cking Turkey in the Oven Short Version - YouTube
For heat treating I would read the post by Mike Blue, I have enjoyed and learned a bit from this book Metallurgy fundamentals [Book]
Charlie
I will second the Metallurgy Fund. book Charlie suggested. I had to get it through an interlibrary loan, but it's a great book and you'll learn a lot.
Lol ok ok. I can work and read at the same time I guess :)Quote:
Originally Posted by spazola
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!! :D
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.
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.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bruno