Thread: My first two razors, ready for heat treat

Still new at this so take what I say with that in mind.

My first batch of soap was some melt and pour with bennonite clay. Using that soap with a razor honed by a honemeister was my first real smooth shave, an AHA moment. Before that my technique suffered and my face burned a bit afterwards. That still happens with commercial soap. Now it's all good. After the Poraso, I add a bit of moisturizer with Vitamin E.

Then came the giggles I got when, after struggling with honing, I heard that ting from hairs popping off my leg using a blade I sharpened. That was satisfaction.

Now I have a piece of cowhide on it's way for a strop.

As for my routine, it's down to about 20 minutes from the time I'm out of the shower until everything is cleaned up and put away. Oil the face, set out the tools, prep the razor, lather, two passes, cold wash, alum, clean up tools, poraso, clean up razor and store, brush teeth and whatever, moisturizer, bam, out the door.

Hi Holly
Just a suggestion - have your heat treater normalize and anneal the blades before heat treating - necessary with O1. If you haven't chosen a treater yet, I strongly recommend Mike Blue - he is very familiar with O1. Good luck! I am working on some very similar razors.

Originally Posted by skipnord

Hi Holly
Just a suggestion - have your heat treater normalize and anneal the blades before heat treating - necessary with O1. If you haven't chosen a treater yet, I strongly recommend Mike Blue - he is very familiar with O1. Good luck! I am working on some very similar razors.

Actually I'm sending them to Mike today; we settled the arrangements on Saturday.

Thanks for the advice skipnord, I hope to see pictures of your razors when you are done with them!

-Holly

You made a wise choice sending your razor to Mike, he's a true pro & an encyclopedia of knowledge. I've used him several times on razors and knives. He's a good guy and does top notch work. Yes, shaving with a razor you made is quite nice...

Wonderful looking.

Something to note when finished is how they hone. The upper razor is sorta like a french point w/ some of the tip unsupported by spine. The lower blade has a section about 20% of the length of the cutting edge where I can't tell how the spine will contact during honing. See how these work when honing.

'Great looking razors.

Originally Posted by pinklather

Wonderful looking.

Something to note when finished is how they hone. The upper razor is sorta like a french point w/ some of the tip unsupported by spine. The lower blade has a section about 20% of the length of the cutting edge where I can't tell how the spine will contact during honing. See how these work when honing.

'Great looking razors.

Hmm, that is a really good point. They both have significant areas of the blade that are not supported by a matching section of spine. As you point out the one with the more curved tip is unsupported at the end. And on both of them I milled the handle down by about 1mm on either side. To deal with the transition area of about 10mm, from thinned handle to thick spine I sanded it down with the same 6" wheel I used to do the hollows. But the transition area is mostly in the blade section; probably would have been better to push the transition into the handle so that the blade section had uncut spine opposing the blade all the way. Maybe they will be tricky to hone.

Actually the whole thin handle to thick spine transition is the biggest problem with these two blades. Next time I'd definitely try to do a more graceful job in that area, and push it into the handle rather than the blade. Part of what makes it a tricky area is that its not only changing thickness, but also where the width is changing from handle to blade.

Also not completely happy with the grooves in the handle. First off I could have done a better job of centering them; I was in a rush and just did it by eyeball but apparently didn't do a fantastic job. I cut the grooves with a solid carbide 1/8" ball end mill, which did not give a flawless cut. Next time maybe I'll get a wheel style radius cutter and see how that does.

I sent the blades by post today to Mike. While they are out for treatment, can you guys give me some advice concerning the post treating work?

Here is what I had in mind:

- Use 6" sanding wheel to further grind hollows until edge forms
I did the initial grinding with the sanding wheel on an 1800 rpm buffer at work. It seemed like it might be ok for post treatment grinding if I go slow and cool in water frequently. Any opinions? My other option if people think 1800 rpm on a 6" wheel is hopeless is to use my vintage 3 phase grinder at home with the sanding wheel on it; I think with a VFD I could turn it down to like 900 rpm without frying the motor.

- Hone
Well, at first I'm assuming it will be more like flat grinding, by hand, more than "honing". I've got a 220/1000 norton waterstone I can start with that really eats steel, at least on woodworking tools and knives. Mike says the steel will be highly abrasion resistant after he works his O-1 magic on it. One thing I was wondering about is how people avoid putting a huge flat on the spine during this initial grinding stage. I don't mind the little stripe of polished flat on the spine of my current razor, but I think it would be really big if I didn't protect it somehow on these two new razors. Maybe I can just focus the hand pressure on the edge rather than the spine...

Thanks everyone,
-Holly

If you use electricians tape on the spine, this will eliminate spine wear. Change tape when it wears down - often during bevel setting with your coarse stone. Check the honing section for more info.

Originally Posted by HollyGates

...My other option if people think 1800 rpm on a 6" wheel is hopeless is to use my vintage 3 phase grinder at home with the sanding wheel on it; I think with a VFD I could turn it down to like 900 rpm without frying the motor.

900 rpm is a lot better than 1800 rpm is a lot better than 3450 rpm. While doing the finish grinding, do not wear gloves. You want to be able to feel the blade warming up. While you are working down through the grits (no matter the wheel or speed) the finer and finer grits will generate a surprising amount of heat. Your idea...cool frequently and often...is the best. With the thin sections of blade edges on razors, it is possible for you to feel the heat begin, and due to the lag in heat transfer through steel, have already overheated the blade at the edge, before you can get it into the water. Figure out a way to keep your water cool and close to the grinding station so it doesn't become tiresome. Don't just dip the blade in the water but feel the blade cool down in the water with some fingers. If you just dip and leave some residual heat in the steel, the blade can warm up quicker and break your heart before you can stop it.

Mike

I have finished a razor on a 5" grinder with 2850 rpm, but it was a bit scary You have to do things very fast, and very light not to overheat the very edge. 900 rpm should be much better that what I had.