Need Dorko 444 pics

So I picked up some Dorko 444 blanks and eventually want to finish them and do a 7 day set with a box. Problem is finding pics of factory finished razors. I need pictures of the heel and end shots of the toe. Measurements of radius would also be incredibly helpful. Mikeb52 started a thread a while ago about finishing a blank, I contacted him and he suggested a 3-4” wheel for the correct grind radius. The blank looks like a faux frameback but I’ve never seen a Dorko with that kind of grind. I found some pics of Dorko 346’s whose grind looks very similar to my blanks but appear to be ground perpendicular to the spine as opposed to parallel like normal faux.

I thought about just going for it after I get a grinder set up but I’d like to keep it true to their original form. I plan on building a water cooled double wheel grinder for these.

Any ideas, pics, information, would be greatly appreciated.

I need to figure out scales too but think I’ll go with my own 3 pin design and seven different types of material but who knows. This will be a long term project, I’m sure.

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These 444 dorko razors aren't very common. But I think I have one in my collection, will have a look this evening.

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Originally Posted by Dimitry

These 444 dorko razors aren't very common. But I think I have one in my collection, will have a look this evening.

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Were you able to find it? I still haven’t been able to locate pictures of one that is for certain factory ground. Seems odd given the abundance of the blanks.

I saw blanks like that years ago. There were some other threads as well. I wanted to bid on those back then but was distracted.
Very interested to see some pics of an originally finished one (which I've never had the chance to use).
I like the style of blade, can't wait to see the final result of this!

We’ll see, I’m still looking for a factory finished one, though Dorko did one other faux frameback that I could find but the pics weren’t very high res so hard to make out the details. Victor (bluesman) gave me a direction to go so unless I find something contrary to our conclusions I’ll run with it. Either way I need a belt grinder or a small water wheel to do it, there’s a whole lot of steel to remove to get the edge thin enough.

Hi jfk742,

I hope my pictures are still of any use. To be honest, I lost track of time and the forum and forgot to look for the razor. I've found the razor in my Dorko razor collection.
This is my personal 444 Dorko razor factory finished and is the only one I've ever come across which has been factory finished by Dorko. It's one of my holy grails.
Greetings

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Yes, still very helpful. This is the first one I’ve seen that’s been finished by the factory. Thank you very much. This will be quite the challenge.

That is crazy hollow

It looks hollow ground and not like faux frameback, to me. Can you tell at all Dimitry?

Or maybe just a really radiused edge on the stone if it is a faux fb grind.

Well finally got a grinder set up and starting on these. I ended up with a 2” wheel in order to fit the shoulder and also properly grind the heel. I’ll put up a pic later. We will see how things go, Mike, I may be pm’ing you for that blade you have if this goes ok.

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Started at .05 at the edge, currently at .027. Got a long way to go.

Ah, I remember seeing those Dorko blanks! If anyone can do it, YOU can, John! :)

Got it down to .008” behind the edge with a 180 grit belt. Think I’ll stop around .006”. I cut some bevels in to see where I’m out of whack with my grinding, needs a little refining but got pretty lucky that I am pretty even. It’s much more difficult, at least for me grinding parallel to the edge as opposed to perpendicular.

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