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Sounds good. Let me get a couple more shaves with it and then it will make the trip your way.

It is finished. I tried to take some pictures of it in different lighting. The scales are made from aged elk antler. I think that they may be a bit thick yet. Also, I decided not to use any washers....

Woo Hoo! First shave with the new "Soft Steel" Razor. I have to admit that it was a bit awkward with no heel and no scales. However, it was the most effortless shave I've ever had. Also it is as...

Heat treated, ground and polished. Ready for honing and scales.

Thanks Mike. I drilled out the pivot hole to 1/8" and it looks better now for the style. Also, I reshaped the tail. I found a huge variety of tail shapes for this era of razors, so I just went with...

I think that the blade profile is correct now. Looking at pictures of old razors I feel that I need to make the pivot hole larger and change the tail shape some. From what I see, most of them had a...

I know a place in Spokane with a hand held analyzer. I may be able to sweet talk them into testing it for me at no cost. One of the members on here had a broken blade at one point in time. He is...

Hmm, yes I do, especially in the bottom picture. How much of that do you think was there when it was new, and how much do you think is due to wear? I still have enough material to give it that shape....

Not a very good picture, but it is ground enough to heat treat it. Hopefully I don't mess that part up, because so for it is turning out fairly well. Has anybody seen a replica 1700's razor recently?...

I have the basic shape done as well as the pivot hole. Now to take some measurements and figure out the edge grind.

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Well the smoke has cleared out of the air. So I fired off the forge and turned a coil spring into a flat tapered piece of steel. Here it is after being pounded out and rough ground. There is still a...

Those angles are with the tape. If I removed the tape, I my barely be within the "normal" range. You are correct about the shave quality. Meh is a good description.

Interesting thought. It is so worn and uneven that it is a bit of a challenge to get a good measurement. Depending on where I measure, I get anywhere from 19.3 - 22.5. This to me indicates that it...

I re-honed it and gave it another try, same results. It got dull at the exact same point in the shave. A few licks on the strop and it was shaving again. The steel is simply not at the correct...

That is what I would suspect as well. I'm guessing that the coil spring I used was .55-.60 carbon (5160, 9260, 1060, etc...). It behaved as if it had even less carbon than old farm implement steel....

Ok, so when we say "soft steel" I think that we are really talking about "face feel" not hardness of the steel. I would love to make some new razors with that old time feel, but that is very...

It's not terrible, and I can still use it. Giving three of four licks on a strop mid-shave is not a deal breaker for me. The strop is already hanging there.

It may very well be ground down past the temper. The grind is not symmetrical at all from side to side and it does have a lot of wear to it. I re-honed it and will give it another try next week....

That is the time frame I was told. Don't get me wrong. I really like the razor. I just was surprised about it getting dull and was wondering if it correlated to the date of manufacture.

This one.

https://sharprazorpalace.com/attachments/razors-blades/323054d1596640527-11-16-george-wostenholm-i-xl-shave-ready-15966405061511170247828.jpg

1813-1850 It was the first time I shaved with it, so I'll touch it up and try it again. I've found honing to be very relaxing, so I don't mind spending some time on it.

Has anyone ever analyzed one of these razors? I'd be really curious as to their Rockwell hardness and composition.

Typically I only stop before and after as well, which is why this struck me as...

I have a question for the guys that use the old "soft steel" razors. Do you have to strop mid-shave? I have found two now that require me to strop between the right side of my face and the left. I...