Thread: CLEAN Black Jack in Red

This is one of the razors I recently acquired and thought I would get some better pictures of it.
Black Jack on one side and International Cutlery Co. Solingen Germany on the other.
Cleanest blade I've probably gotten so far. It is already really sharp. Didn't have any trouble shaving a few hairs off my cheek so I may see how it shaves with just stropping.
Only issue is to that it isn't pinned tight enough. Eventually I would like to get a good chasing hammer and try to tighten the pins up if possible.

That's a nice looking razor. What is a chasing hammer?

A small (4oz) ball peen works well enough to get you started but you will need some kind of polished steel or iron as a background. I started with a chunk of steel that my dad called his 'Field Anvil' it was just a scrap of heavy steel that I filed and sanded until it had a near mirror finish. Remember that the brass is much softer than the steel and any imperfections in the steel (hammer included) will transfer to the brass.

I also sanded and polished up an old time clothes iron/the one that was set on the wood stove with the handle removed and it works well.

You could also just stop by any machine shop and ask for a 1" thick piece of round stock and file and sand that smooth be sure to round the edge over well. I'm sure for a fee they would machine the surfaces in a mill to help get the deep cuts out.

Now--when you are ready to tighten those pins up remember---It's tap tap tap---NOT---Bang Bang Bang.

Originally Posted by Hirlau

That's a nice looking razor. What is a chasing hammer?

....

Roy, I can't believe I actually have this hammer & use it for my pinning; I just didn't know it was called a chasing hammer. Thanks.

I didn't either----------------til Glen told me the proper name

Good looking razor. You could try using a heavy old soup spoon to tighten the pivot pin with.

Bob

Originally Posted by cudarunner

A small (4oz) ball peen works well enough to get you started but you will need some kind of polished steel or iron as a background. I started with a chunk of steel that my dad called his 'Field Anvil' it was just a scrap of heavy steel that I filed and sanded until it had a near mirror finish. Remember that the brass is much softer than the steel and any imperfections in the steel (hammer included) will transfer to the brass.

I also sanded and polished up an old time clothes iron/the one that was set on the wood stove with the handle removed and it works well.

You could also just stop by any machine shop and ask for a 1" thick piece of round stock and file and sand that smooth be sure to round the edge over well. I'm sure for a fee they would machine the surfaces in a mill to help get the deep cuts out.

Now--when you are ready to tighten those pins up remember---It's tap tap tap---NOT---Bang Bang Bang.

Thanks for the advice. I think the biggest problem I had last time I tried pinning was
1) Didn't have the right hammer for the job
2) I grew up using 16-18oz hammers to drive nails
3) Peening brass rods is slow work
4) I really want to go bangbang instead of taptap!

I had watched Glenn's video on pinning and going around the pin so that helped though. He makes everything look easy though.

I'll have to look into getting something smooth to use as a polished background.

Originally Posted by JP5

Thanks for the advice. I think the biggest problem I had last time I tried pinning was
1) Didn't have the right hammer for the job
2) I grew up using 16-18oz hammers to drive nails
3) Peening brass rods is slow work
4) I really want to go bangbang instead of taptap!

I had watched Glenn's video on pinning and going around the pin so that helped though. He makes everything look easy though.

I'll have to look into getting something smooth to use as a polished background.

Originally Posted by BobH

Good looking razor. You could try using a heavy old soup spoon to tighten the pivot pin with.

Bob

I thank you for being so honest in pointing out #'s 2-3 and 4.

Bob is quite correct in using a heavy spoon like a serving spoon.

As far as a surface while I've never tried it I have known of guys smoothing up the side of one of those bigger hammers you mentioned in #1.

I hope this has been of some help.

Originally Posted by cudarunner

As far as a surface while I've never tried it I have known of guys smoothing up the side of one of those bigger hammers you mentioned in #1.

I hope this has been of some help.

I had a road trip earlier today but when I got home I took out a 16oz ball peen that's part of my pinning set up to show how to make a small but efficient pinning block. (I would have used a larger hammer but couldn't see putting the effort in a hammer that would just be used for Brute Force and Ignorance).

Ok, here's the back side of the hammer (the front side has the maker and weight stamped into it) before any work:



While I could have done this all by hand I used a small palm sander from start to finish for sanding.

120 wet and dry till all the minor dings were removed followed by 220 w&d to remove the 120 scratches then 400 w&d to remove the 220 scratches.

Then I used some well crumpled newspaper (newspaper has a very find abrasive in it) with some Mothers Mage and Aluminum Polish followed by Mothers with a shop towel.

Total time involved: 15-20 minutes;



I hope this has been of some help with your pinning