Thread: Bruno's Blade Club

Pictures don't quite do them justice, but I have the shape and thickness sorted - these are the thinnest bone work I've done so far and I'm really liking the natural markings of the bone.



Now just waiting on some tests with stain to see if I'm going to darken these or keep them light...

I admire your nerve in making these - I'd be very nervous that the long tails will break off. I'm really looking forward to seeing the blade fitted.

Originally Posted by Substance

very nice Rob what size is it now
I have done the same with mine & need to breadknife it a bit also to reset it so I know it will be fun to hone as well
where did you get the bone from ?

I'm sorry if this a dumb question but what does bread knifing mean?

Originally Posted by dexter90723

I'm sorry if this a dumb question but what does bread knifing mean?

It's a way of reducing the edge by using a sawing (breadknifing) action at about 45 degrees on wet&dry paper - not in the same spot but moving the blade across the paper.

breadknifing is to remove a curve weather a frown or an unwanted smile on the edge to make it straight again

I finally finished my BrunoBlade off.
After much deliberation on adding an inlay which I just couldn't get right to match my imagined idea,
I decided I didn’t want to screw up the nice work so far so ditched the inlay for now (so I could use it) until I can get the cutting process right
I hope you enjoy & are inspired to complete your own
Original


Finished






sorry for the photo quality they were all taken post shave this morning

Final size is a mickey hair over 15/16” after re straightening
Blade – BrunoBlade O1 Spanish point monkey tail
Scales – Black Buffalo horn
wedge – Brass
Thrust washer, Pins & washers - Brass

Total of about 27 hours spent to date with 95% hand sanding & tooling
Blade shaping & sanding - an easy 18 hrs (could have saved a couple of hours odd with lessons learnt)
Scales - about 5 hrs
Wedge - 2 hrs
pinning - about 0.5 hrs
honing - 1.5 hrs

Honing – I used a combination of the 40 Circles, 40 X strokes & tried a bit of pyramiding for the finish
Bread knifed - Norton 360 oil stone @ about 30-45º (needed to remove a frown I managed to sand into the edge as my bevel shows)
Bevel set - Naniwa 1K - 4 layers of tape then dropped to 2 layers of tape for final set
Main polishing - Norton 4/8k
Finisher - Naniwa 12K
Stropped – Big Daddy – 100 laps of Felt then about 150 on leather

My intention is to later re-hone it done to a single layer of tape & keep it that way the same as the rest of my blades.

The first shave went very well on Easter morning with about 5 days growth

I am quite chuffed & happy with the finished product

would I do it all again?
Yes but definitely not fully from 80 grit by hand, as my fingers start cramping just thinking about the hand sanding
I would invest in a buff with compounds long before I do it again LOL

Originally Posted by Substance

I finally finished my BrunoBlade off.
After much deliberation on adding an inlay which I just couldn't get right to match my imagined idea,
I decided I didn’t want to screw up the nice work so far so ditched the inlay for now (so I could use it) until I can get the cutting process right
I hope you enjoy & are inspired to complete your own
Original


Finished






sorry for the photo quality they were all taken post shave this morning

Final size is a mickey hair over 15/16” after re straightening
Blade – BrunoBlade O1 Spanish point monkey tail
Scales – Black Buffalo horn
wedge – Brass
Thrust washer, Pins & washers - Brass

Total of about 27 hours spent to date with 95% hand sanding & tooling
Blade shaping & sanding - an easy 18 hrs (could have saved a couple of hours odd with lessons learnt)
Scales - about 5 hrs
Wedge - 2 hrs
pinning - about 0.5 hrs
honing - 1.5 hrs

Honing – I used a combination of the 40 Circles, 40 X strokes & tried a bit of pyramiding for the finish
Bread knifed - Norton 360 oil stone @ about 30-45º (needed to remove a frown I managed to sand into the edge as my bevel shows)
Bevel set - Naniwa 1K - 4 layers of tape then dropped to 2 layers of tape for final set
Main polishing - Norton 4/8k
Finisher - Naniwa 12K
Stropped – Big Daddy – 100 laps of Felt then about 150 on leather

My intention is to later re-hone it done to a single layer of tape & keep it that way the same as the rest of my blades.

The first shave went very well on Easter morning with about 5 days growth

I am quite chuffed & happy with the finished product

would I do it all again?
Yes but definitely not fully from 80 grit by hand, as my fingers start cramping just thinking about the hand sanding
I would invest in a buff with compounds long before I do it again LOL

Wow, you nailed it! Your hard work shows through-Well Done!

Beautiful finish, you really nailed the horn and brass combination! To see them both shined up so nicely is fantastic, bravo!

@ Substance - Great job! You definitely have way more patience than I. Mine lacks refinement (didn't spend near the time sanding) and at some point I will have to invest the time to make that happen, like it should have the first round. But hey I just wanted to shave with it

The steel has a nice feel, it's a very forgiving blade, almost a "soft feel" comparable to my Double duck.

Okay, so despite my best efforts and various combinations of natural tannins and stain recipes (including ones that seemed jet black), I've decided that a mottled brown is as good as I'm going to get with this pair. And to be honest, I actually like the result even more - it looks like a dark marble or petrified wood, with the grain and markings in the bone really showing through.

I've taken some pictures holding the blade underneath so that you can see how the shape works... A wedge is still in the making (I'm thinking dark horn, possibly with copper lining, which is what I've done on another bone pair recently). Any thoughts / comments / critiques welcomed.