Thread: 4th Annual North Central Texas Razor Meet at Charlie Lewis Razor Workshop

Originally Posted by 32t

And here I thought I was only a Precurmudgeon in training...

You are not alone

Get off my lawn,

A special thanks to Tim (32T) for the steel, it's ready for scales. I have them on order, going with natural camel bone.









This blade means a lot to me: Second time to Charlie's shop. The steel was made at Mike Blue's shop, he has helped me to get to where I can make steel hard. First forging of a razor, I have only forged knives...all my razors have been stock removal. Howard Clark did me the honor of Heat Treating the blade, there are few in the world as knowledgeable as he on the HT of blades. I had input from a lot of guys on shape, it came alive on the grinder, there was no pre-conceived plan. Bruno showed me his final grind, this was the main thing I wanted to learn for the meet. This is the second razor I have made at Charlie's, good memories & of course keepers.

Thank you Charlie for the use of your shop & thank you Randy for putting together a meet of all meets.

Originally Posted by shooter74743

Thank you Charlie for the use of your shop & thank you Randy for putting together a meet of all meets.

When we all work together, then good things happen.

That is very nice. I wish I could do things like that but I'm very limited to what I have. I really enjoyed watching bruno's video, Mike Blue's & Howard Clark's. I have watched them over but I will continue to do so because I love to see what makes things "tick". I can't thank these guys enough. Bruno's video was really simple to understand because of the way he explained things & so was Mike blue & Howard Clark but the heat treating is very important to get correctly & I really appreciate these guys explaining things the way they did. It is so fascinating & I might buy that book Howard had, not because I plan on doing this but I do like to gain more understanding of things. He mentioned typo's but he wasn't 100% sure if they were or not but it is so interesting. I would love to make the next meet & to make a blade myself (if given the opportunity) but I'm sure there will be more people at the next one & if I do, I would want to go there with more understanding of the way steel is made & the heat treating of it. These guys are masters, Charlie & others included. Their knowledge seems endless but I'm sure they learn even more everyday. It took a lot of research to do what these guys do. I wish I were much younger!

Originally Posted by engine46

... I wish I could do things like that but I'm very limited to what I have. ...

And that is not a barrier to doing. A lot of good tools have been made through history without the benefit of electric power or the knowledge of heat treatment we can discuss. Heating and beating are not for everyone. Grinding too. Rolodave stuck to making scales and watching, but he's really good at it. I don't recall Lynn even picking up a hammer, but I could have missed it. I don't know nearly enough about honing that I'd like to know. Each time I get to one of these events, I get a little more.

I am going to strongly recommend to anyone tempted by a gathering like this, who is having second thoughts, that you really consider being present despite the perceived barriers to attendance. There is so much more to be gained than is realized from watching videos.

There are more of these events coming in the future. I think Howard mentioned traveling to the east somewhere for a class and then the Iowa event is being planned even as this thread continues. If space permitted I'd consider making sure things like this got going on the West side of the US too. There hasn't been this level of enthusiasm in knife-making in the US for decades. There are a lot of good reasons for feeding it. Being there is how it's transmitted.

Originally Posted by Mike Blue

And that is not a barrier to doing. A lot of good tools have been made through history without the benefit of electric power or the knowledge of heat treatment we can discuss. Heating and beating are not for everyone. Grinding too. Rolodave stuck to making scales and watching, but he's really good at it. I don't recall Lynn even picking up a hammer, but I could have missed it. I don't know nearly enough about honing that I'd like to know. Each time I get to one of these events, I get a little more.

I am going to strongly recommend to anyone tempted by a gathering like this, who is having second thoughts, that you really consider being present despite the perceived barriers to attendance. There is so much more to be gained than is realized from watching videos.

There are more of these events coming in the future. I think Howard mentioned traveling to the east somewhere for a class and then the Iowa event is being planned even as this thread continues. If space permitted I'd consider making sure things like this got going on the West side of the US too. There hasn't been this level of enthusiasm in knife-making in the US for decades. There are a lot of good reasons for feeding it. Being there is how it's transmitted.

Very true Mike. Watching video's is one thing but being there is the real treat. I really wish I could have been there but plan on being there next year & it would be an honor to shake hands with everyone & to talk to them. You're also right about honing. I know some but I have only seen video's & I have always wanted to meet Lynn in person & also different people who do honing like Glen plus others. Different people always have something else to contribute & there's nothing like being there in person. I love history, knowledge & the "how to" of things plus a lot more. I just can't say enough.
Thank you so much!

Originally Posted by Mike Blue

I am going to strongly recommend to anyone tempted by a gathering like this, who is having second thoughts, that you really consider being present despite the perceived barriers to attendance. There is so much more to be gained than is realized from watching videos.

The hardest barriers to cross are the ones we place on ourselves.

I was back and forth on going to this and glad I did. There is only so much you can learn from videos. The feedback you get from learning from someone else is invaluable. I learned to hone "properly". I could learn to hone through YouTube videos, but would never have known if I was in fact doing it correctly.

I also don't have any tools, but after this meeting I know have the knowledge to point me in the right direction to building the tools I need.

Originally Posted by thehattr

The hardest barriers to cross are the ones we place on ourselves.

I was back and forth on going to this and glad I did. There is only so much you can learn from videos. The feedback you get from learning from someone else is invaluable. I learned to hone "properly". I could learn to hone through YouTube videos, but would never have known if I was in fact doing it correctly.

I also don't have any tools, but after this meeting I know have the knowledge to point me in the right direction to building the tools I need.

Plus we all adopted James! I,m glad you came too. Tc

Originally Posted by thehattr

The hardest barriers to cross are the ones we place on ourselves.

I was back and forth on going to this and glad I did. There is only so much you can learn from videos. The feedback you get from learning from someone else is invaluable. I learned to hone "properly". I could learn to hone through YouTube videos, but would never have known if I was in fact doing it correctly.

I also don't have any tools, but after this meeting I know have the knowledge to point me in the right direction to building the tools I need.

Were you able to finish the razor you were working on? I had to leave early and have been wondering how you made out.

Originally Posted by bluesman7

Were you able to finish the razor you were working on? I had to leave early and have been wondering how you made out.

No, I didn't get my final grind in, however I got plenty instruction on honing from Randy and some from Ron. So I can get a good edge on my razor once I get it to that point. Otherwise I would have gotten my grind most way done and no way to get proper edge..

Need to build a grinder so I can do more. Working on sourcing scrap metal from local shops to build a forge.