Thread: A Spyderco straight razor is in the works....

Hello Mike,

Congrats on this project and I hope it works out for both you and Spyderco.

Most of what I want has been stated by the other guys.
6/8 blade width
Half hollow or more
Slight smile on both the edge and the spine. For new guys a straight edge/spine with a round nose would be better.
Spine should be rounded.
Jimps top and bottom.
Well balanced ( no heavy scales).
Small bevel width to make it easier to hone.

Now my major point of disagreement ..... NO BAINITE!

I currently have in my possession a razor from Joe Chandler that you heat treated to bainite. I was either the second or third person to try to hone it.
None of us succeeded. The steel was simply to f'ing tough.

It was the razor that looked like it was made for Worf, the Klingon on Star Trek.
I do not know what steel was used nor the heat treatment but I hope to never hone another razor like that one.


Hope to see you in Texas.

Originally Posted by randydance062449

...Now my major point of disagreement ..... NO BAINITE! I currently have in my possession a razor from Joe Chandler that you heat treated to bainite. I was either the second or third person to try to hone it.
None of us succeeded. The steel was simply to f'ing tough.

It was the razor that looked like it was made for Worf, the Klingon on Star Trek.
I do not know what steel was used nor the heat treatment but I hope to never hone another razor like that one.

Thanks Randy. This sort of feedback is exactly what is needed for this project. When my history with razors begins, You showed up in my shop one day... so this business of un-honeable razors is all your fault.

The intent of using bainite structures is to prevent chips and cracks from accidental dings off the sink furniture. There are several bainite razors out there that Joe Chandler and I collaborated on. I never tracked them to their owners but all those were hardened to Rc59.5 as is the prototype that Spyderco has. It was professionally honed and I have gotten no feedback from them as to difficulty. I've never heard of any of those razors returning to Joe either.

Nonetheless, the Klingon razor may have been one of the experimental group and I don't recall the exact steel. O-1 was a common tool steel that Joe and I used. If it was from a different batch of O-1 (different steel mill, different supplier) it could be possible that some minor alloying change can alter the end result of the process. The Heat Treater's Guide I use indicates that the upper limit of hardness is 60-ish and my recipe dials in 59.5 because of some of the early experimental steps we (as in you were involved) took to determine the optimum hardness for both the shaver and the honer. I did Rockwell test nearly every razor blade that left the shop as a proof of hardness. There will be a small dimple on the blade somewhere. Commonly the tang near the blade.

Watching you hone a blade while demonstrating is so effortless. It's like watching someone butter their toast. It's good for you to have a puzzle once in a while. LOL. I don't have any intention of making anything that hard again.

Originally Posted by Mike Blue

Since we are both here, I'll ask him.

Great! I look forward to sitting down with you and Howard and Daniel too and talk about this.

Originally Posted by randydance062449

I currently have in my possession a razor from Joe Chandler that you heat treated to bainite. I was either the second or third person to try to hone it.
None of us succeeded. The steel was simply to f'ing tough.

It was the razor that looked like it was made for Worf, the Klingon on Star Trek.

Randy, can you bring that razor please? I would like to have a crack at it.
If I can get it to shave to my liking and I like the looks (I have no idea what it looks like) I may want to trade it against something I made. Details can be hashed out when we meet if you want to do it.

Should I bring my Shapton Glass stones? Fastest stones I know of.

Originally Posted by Bruno

Randy, can you bring that razor please? I would like to have a crack at it.
If I can get it to shave to my liking and I like the looks (I have no idea what it looks like) I may want to trade it against something I made. Details can be hashed out when we meet if you want to do it.

Bruno, I would but I am in Phoenix, Arizona until Feb 17 so I will not be able to search for the razor in time.
But, once after April 1, 2020 I can look and ship it off to you.

Originally Posted by randydance062449

Bruno, I would but I am in Phoenix, Arizona until Feb 17 so I will not be able to search for the razor in time.
But, once after April 1, 2020 I can look and ship it off to you.

Oh yeah that's true, you are on the road I'd completely forgotten about that No rush no worries.

Interesting, I'm a long time user of Spyderco knives, my edc is a UKPK made for my local knife supply store Heinnie Haynes, I look forward to seeing the final design I could definitely be interested.

Here's one of my Spyderco knives in my SOTD, the knife is a design from the late knife designer Bo Lum, the knife has a 12K Naniwa edge I put on it.

I think the scale material could be a very important factor, the razor will be a new modern razor, also a Spyderco modern razor, many Spyderco high end knives including sprint run models have carbon fibre handles, I feel carbon fibre would be a good choice for a new modern razor.

Juma is very eye catching and easy to work