Thread: new member

Originally Posted by Jimbo

I wouldn't have a clue about the heat treat and whether that is the culprit - odds are in favour of that I suspect but I am not in any way an expert on it.

I'm more interested in what you mean by a touch up on very fine natural stones. I'd have thought that razor would have required some serious grinding on some very coarse low grit synthetics. And what exactly are you using in the way of the natural stones?

What bevel angle did you create with that razor?

There are many things that could be the reason for it not shaving: heat treat, bevel angle, insufficient honing, shaving technique. In fact, I would say with this razor you have hit the mother load in terms of potential variables!

James.

Goodmorning James,


I spent an hour lastnight flatening my 3 hones and putting a bevel on all edges and went back to scratch on the razor.

Started with my coarse hone of about 1200/1500 grit to establish a bevel.This angle was about 6 to 7 degrees

Moved to my fine hone(no idea on grit but does an almost mirror polish) then onto the superfine hone.

This hone is a light maroon colour and feels like a Jasper to me(I'm a hobby Lapidary) which explains the hardness. 5"x2"x 1/4" thick.


Once again,no idea on the grit but it is very hard and extremely fine-my guess is that somewhere in the 4000
+ range.

Razor now shaves but a little rough.

I also visited an antique shop and picked up a dirt cheap French razor that was in pretty good nick.
Had to remove the pin and scales to clean up around that area and the handle.
Blade has some minor discolouration on it that I will have to polish out when I get a buff.

I honed this on the fine hone and shaved with it last night-a little rough but a big improvement on the non functional edge that was on it.

I will go back to the shop tonight and see if they have any 8k hones or antique hones in the shaving "junk" pile.


I have watched a few vids on youtube on razor use and use my shavette and get a fair result but not as quick as in the vids.
I make 2 or 3 passes as recomended in most of the vids but am real careful and slow around the nose.

I think that is just an experience think and the fact that the razor still scares the heck out of me.


Cheers John

You'll find it difficult to get a good shaving edge off a 4K stone.

If you have any CrOxide "honing compound" -- used for plane blades and such -- try stropping the razor on a pasted strop. That _might_ get you to "shave-ready".

. Charles

Originally Posted by cpcohen1945

You'll find it difficult to get a good shaving edge off a 4K stone.

If you have any CrOxide "honing compound" -- used for plane blades and such -- try stropping the razor on a pasted strop. That _might_ get you to "shave-ready".

. Charles

Hi Charles,

I have cerium oxide powder for glass polishing but have not used it on the razors.

I also bought a strop paste from a shaving supplies co before I started all this and a strop.

Lastnight I purchased an antique "BlackBeauty" hone in excellent condition.

Rehoned and stropped the French razor but still a little scratchy compared to the shavette.

Will try a bit more then possibly get a pro job on the razor to compare.


Cheers John

Hi all,


Just started a new blade on saturday

All going better with this one

Nice smile on that one!

I would have thought that the tang was a little wide to be held comfortably - but I'm sure you've tested how it feels to hold.

Really nice work! Please keep us updated on how it progresses!

Originally Posted by Fenian

Nice smile on that one!

I would have thought that the tang was a little wide to be held comfortably - but I'm sure you've tested how it feels to hold.

Really nice work! Please keep us updated on how it progresses!

this is a non folding razor so I made the tang a bit bigger so you can hold it.
The pattern is similar to the French on I just bought

If you try to maintain a classic blade width/spine thickness ratio of between 3.5:1 and 4:1 you will have a much narrower bevel that will result in a much easier to hone blade & that also has a stronger edge less prone to micro-chipping.

Hope this helps,

Originally Posted by randydance062449

If you try to maintain a classic blade width/spine thickness ratio of between 3.5:1 and 4:1 you will have a much narrower bevel that will result in a much easier to hone blade & that also has a stronger edge less prone to micro-chipping.

Hope this helps,

Hi,

I got some D2 gauge plate in annealed form recently so will try this out

Cheers John

Hi all,

Has anyone heard of a hone by the name of "BlackBeauty"

I purchased this from an antique dealer a few weeks ago.
It is an American hone made in Illinois(I think)

It came in the original cardboard box in excellent condition but no reference to grit size.

Cheers John

Happy New Year to all.


Finished reworking the first blade and here it is in its final shape.
(sorry for the picture-this internet cafe has no focus on the webcam)