Thread: Help with First Custom

Hello all! I've been shaving with a straight blade since I joined the Army six years ago and I've been wanting a custom for some time now but just haven't been able to justify the cost. Recently though, after the birth of my second son I realized that I wanted to pass on to my two boys what has become the most important ritual of my day. I have decided that on their 16th birthdays I'm going to present them each with a custom straight razor, and that I'm going to make the razors myself.

I'm in the process of building a No Weld Grinder but I probably won't be done with that for some time (for cost reasons). In the meantime, I want to practice a bit. I ordered a 10" x 1.4" x .18" piece of annealed "Damascus" (patterned) steel, 1080 and 15n20 (250 layers). I'm going to cut the pattern with a metal jigsaw, sculpt it with files and sand the finish (haven't decided yet if I want to attempt to mirror polish it). Anyway, I have a couple of questions I was hoping maybe someone here would be able to answer.

- Does anyone know of someone who I could pay to heat treat it once I'm finished with the shape? Preferably someone who has dealt with heat treating this kind of patterned steel before.

- How difficult is it to hollow grind on a bench grinder? I know it's not the optimal solution, but it's what I have access to until I finish the NWG. Side question, is a 10" stone wheel going to be too big to do a 1/2 hollow on a 7/8 blade?

- I'm using Bloodwood for the scales, what is the best way to treat the wood once I'm done shaping it to seal it from moisture?

Any help would be much appreciated. I know I'm in over my head, but I have a goal and I have to start somewhere right?

You will get some help here just hang on a bit. I think you will find someone who will handle the heat treating you will need.
Good luck with your project and thanks for serving.

I have only made 2 razors myself so I cant offer a lot of advice or experience, but I did the majority of the hollow grinding on these razors on my 6 inch bench grinder http://straightrazorpalace.com/custo...ile-razor.html. Not ideal but it works.



Grant

Mike Blue for anything steel related is a good start...

Talk it over with him first then go from there

Hi. Welcome to the site.

First off .18" is a little thin for a 7/8th razor IMO so you may want to re-think that before you start.
You can use a bench grinder to make a hollow grind. I know because I made my own razor using one(pic included) but it took several hours of grinding. However a 10" wheel will not leave much of a hollow, will be more like a near wedge. I used a six inch wheel and my blade is 17/16th
I never use wood for scales as I'm not keen on it but I believe epoxy resin is good to use to seal the wood.
Best of luck with your project, keep us posted on your progress.

Thanks to everyone who replied! baldy, you look like Walter from Breaking Bad in the picture! Seriously though, I love your Bastard file razor! England, what do you think .18" would be a good thickness for? I'm trying for large because I intend to make the scales a bit larger than usual. Thanks for the advice about the epoxy resin.

Originally Posted by nicktlloyd

Thanks to everyone who replied! baldy, you look like Walter from Breaking Bad in the picture! Seriously though, I love your Bastard file razor! England, what do you think .18" would be a good thickness for? I'm trying for large because I intend to make the scales a bit larger than usual. Thanks for the advice about the epoxy resin.

.18" may be OK for a 5/8th blade but to thin for anything bigger IMO. However others may disagree.

We usually use 0.25" thick stock for a 7/8-8/8 razor. You may be able to manage a 5/8 with the stock you have as mentioned earlier.

You could seal your scales with tongue oil, any poly, CA...pretty much any sealer.

I think its great you are interested in making a razor, but they arent as easy to make as many think. Take your time , develop a plan & work your plan. I personally would recommend your starting out with some simpler steel like o-1 or say some 1095. You can make nice razors with basic tools and ingenuity...I have seen it and done it.

Congrats on deciding to make some razors for your boys-I think it's a great idea. I have a couple old razors I bought to re-furbish in preparation to make some of my own. I havn't started a custom yet, but have made a handful of knives (forged, then ground). I'm certain you could get someone to heat treat your blades for you, but 1080/15N20 is a very common combo for Damascus and considered a "simple" steel (low alloy). If you have the interest, you could definitely do the heat treat yourself. A basic explanation of doing so is to evenly heat the blade until it becomes non-magnetic (steel loses it magnetism as the inner structure changes, forming Austenite). Once it has reached that temp (don't let it go higher), you quench it in oil (can be done in water or brine, but there tends to be more cracking/breaking of blades). By industry standards, 1080 can be hardened to 65 HRC, then stick it in the oven at the appropriate temperature and you can draw it back to whatever hardness you'd like.

Whether you do it yourself or send it out for heat treatment, just be sure to leave enough meat on there after rough grinding-don't get the edge too thin. The quench causes great stress and can warp and/or crack very thin steel. But if you leave a lot on, that means there's that much more to grind off that's been hardened...

As for the finish on the blade, you could mirror polish it, but you won't get to see the pattern of the steel. The 15N20 to your billet has a higher nickel content than the 1080. The different layers are forge welded together and sometimes then manipulated different ways (twisted, drilled, ground, etc) which gives it a particular "pattern" or just "random". The way to see those different layers is to finish the blade, then etch it in acid. A common etchant in the States is to get Ferric Chloride (circuit board etchant from Radio Shack) and mix it with distilled water (4 parts water to 1 part acid). Dip the finished blade into the solution and in very short order, you start seeing the pattern. The longer the blade is etched, the "deeper" it is. The two different steels etch at different rates, making the opposing lines deeper/shallower. Once it's done, you just take it out, rinse it well and a lot of guys will use Windex window cleaner to neutralize the acid. Sharpen it up and away you go.

Whatever you decide, good luck to you. I find myself imagining what it would be like to have a razor I got to use every day that I knew my dad made just for me. Even if for some reason these don't quite work out, keep at it. Your NWG will likely make the next ones easier on a contact wheel. That being said, I started out with files and a LOT of elbow grease . It can be done. Take care and thanks for serving.


Jeremy

I will definitely be taking my time with this. I hope I haven't insinuated that I think this first one's going to be a masterpiece or anything, which would just be terribly disrespectful to the pros on here who have spent countless hours learning the craft. I see this as the start of the journey, not the end. My oldest is just under 4 years old so I still have 12 years to get it right! I've contacted Mike Blue and he couldn't have been more helpful as far as heat treatment is concerned. I'm going to have him treat it mostly because I know if I send it to him it will come back as perfectly ht'd as possible, not to mention he's ridiculously reasonable price wise. Maybe in a few years when I feel like I've got a solid grasp on foundational metallurgy I'll try heat treating myself, but as it stands I think that poor heat treatment is one of the best ways to ruin an otherwise spectacular blade. I'm certain this is only the first of many straight razors I'm going to craft, and I hope that I make the kind of mistakes I can learn a lot from. As soon as I have the cash to buy the ridiculously expensive wheels for the NWG I'll be able to move up (as far as tools) in the world. Rewiring my friends old treadmill motor for it is also going to be a new adventure for me. Thanks again to everyone who has given advice and encouragement. I'll post pictures of the process as soon as I can.