Thread: WHeel diameter for hollow grind?

Idle curiosity here: what is the wheel diameter, do you 'spose, that the Dovo et. al. use to hollow grind their razors?

Looks like no one ever measured. And maybe there are more than 1 ?
If you want to know what yours is grab a compass and draw some lines till they match the grind. Measure the radius and double. And then you can let the rest of us know. I would help but I am Dovo-less.

Originally Posted by 10Pups

Looks like no one ever measured. And maybe there are more than 1 ?
If you want to know what yours is grab a compass and draw some lines till they match the grind. Measure the radius and double. And then you can let the rest of us know. I would help but I am Dovo-less.

The different sized wheels makes sense, wider razors would need a larger wheel I think.

I don't know a thing about Dovos but then there is 2 wheel dia. for double hollow (if they have 1). Good luck figuring that one out. I would guess for those it would be a 5" or 6 " first with a 4" on top.

I think I read someplace in the past about a company bragging how they use 3 inch wheels. I have measured out some old sheffields and have come up with diameters from 6 inch all the way up to 14 inch for a massive wedge

The question has been asked before and has been answered - on this forum - quite a few times.

The old wedge type razors were ground on pretty large diameter wheels and were comparatively simple to grind, just one wheel
. Naturally wheel diameter differs according not only to the degree of hollow, but also the width of the blade.

For a 7/8 blade Butch Harner uses a 10 inch wheel for a near wedge, 8 inch for quarter hollow, 6 inch for half hollow and either a 3 or 2 inch wheel for full hollow.

It is rare for just one wheel to be used though, apart from modern custom makers. It is more usual for at least two, sometimes more, of different diameters to be used under factory conditions, so you may have a 2 inch and a 3 inch wheel used on a 5/8. On some older grinds you have a belly stiffener ridge running parallel to the spine and you can clearly see that two different wheels were used.

Just to complicate matters there is also the practice of 'walking' a small diameter wheel down the width of the blade. Then there is the practice of grinding the blade with the wheel on its side as with Tuckmar Tees and old Sheffield rattlers.

You can always use a compass and cut out some card discs and hold them against a razors hollow - the results can be most instructive!

Regards,
Neil

Wow, Thanks!

I was working on a Chinese razor Tuesday, and used an 8 in. wheel to remove the bolster at the heel. Start near the edge, and "push" the grind up toward the spine. This way, I was able to match the modification to the original grind. 60, 120, 220 and 500 grits - now I need to make new scales and hone it up.