Thread: What are you working on?

I can’t believe you have one that still works. I have gotten a few but you’d have to be a machinist to keep one going.

Originally Posted by RezDog

Reading this thread from the beginning is ambitious. I think your wedge is kind of spacer looking. I think that is what Tom was saying too. I had wondered about editing the thread to make it more streamline, like removing some of the banter, but then it would be dry as hell. I think the banter makes it fluid and interesting beyond simple razors. Any Packwood blade open in scales pictures. The tortoise pattern looks good.

I agree the wedge is closer to a spacer, but when I run it through it's arc the pivot tips are tracking right with the taper of the tang. I was worried the tips would start dragging on the tang if I tapered it more aggressively. I'm starting to lean toward thinning it a bit and adding some taper. I feel like I'm into tweaking in the thousandths of an inch range. Trying to sneak up on it without going to far. Still getting a feel.

Yeah, I knew it would take some time, but I like reading. I think leaving the banter is not a bad thing. It's given me a better idea of your styles and personalities, which is hard to convey through text only. I personally use a lot of tonal inflection and body language to communicate, so this e-mail/post world has been a little bit of a challenge to figure. You're back and forth stuff was frequently pretty amusing and put a smile on my face many times. If I don't want to read it, it's pretty simple to skip ahead a few pages.

I'll get a couple of pics with the blade open at it's current polish state (probably tomorrow) and hold off on the pinning. I'm starting to like this tortoise kirinite. It's not without it's quirks. It will start getting really pliable and bend easy if you power sand it to long. Dunked them in a glass of water every few seconds while I was rough thinning them. At lower grits (400-600) it's fairly opaque and looks good with the satin type finish. At higher grits/polish (1500/simichrome/maas) the orange is almost fully transparent and looks very different. I've been struggling with which looks better with the blade. A bit of tarnish is still on the blade as I went really easy on it with only #0000 steel wool and hand polishing. The higher polish is a bit finicky with scratches showing. I've had the best luck with circular sanding to keep it at bay. I think it may also be prone to picking up random scratches during use. I'll figure a path, can't expect perfection the first time. Having fun learning a new material and techniques I haven't tried.

Originally Posted by sharptonn

Ya....The old Wedge-O-Mat is hard to beat.

Attachment 305671


Other than that, gotta 'beat' them into submission!

They are called wedges for a reason.

Uh, what the...Is that for real?! If that's for real it is one of the most ridiculously cool things I've seen.

As requested RezDog, pics with the blade open. I decided to play a bit with the scale finish. The left side scale is 400 grit with no polish. The right side scale transitions from 1500 grit no polish at the wedge end to 1500 grit with polish in the middle and 2500 grit with polish at the pivot end. An I just noticed there's a bit of smudge on the pivot end of the right scale, ah well, I think you can see the effect. To lazy to go take another pic. Trying to decide which way to go with the scale finish. I kinda like them all in a different sort of way, even 600 no polish (not shown) looks good. Opinions?

Left side


Right side

The blade looks good. I like the more satin look on the scales. The glossy wet look does not suit the blade IMHO.

I think the satin matches the blade finish better. I like seeing the blade through the polished finish and keep thinking about the flamboyant self promotion of Mr. Packwood. Then I think of the time period this razor came from and I go back to the satin. Thanks for the input, always appreciate different viewpoints. I'll force myself to be patient to get the result I like best.

Try sanding to 1000 or 1500 then buffing it with Tripoli, you may like the way that looks, gives horn a nice glow but not a gaudy shine.

Nevermind, just looked back at the razor and realized it wasn’t horn. I have no idea what that combo will do on that material, I’ve never played with it.

I'm starting to think maybe a 2000 or 2500 grit no polish finish. You can still see the blade, but no high gloss. The devil's in the details :-)

Just had a thought, I've got pieces left I can't make scales from. Would you all be interested in a series of pics of different finishes? If you think it would be good info, I'm willing.

Originally Posted by JellyJar

I'm starting to think maybe a 2000 or 2500 grit no polish finish. You can still see the blade, but no high gloss. The devil's in the details :-)

Just had a thought, I've got pieces left I can't make scales from. Would you all be interested in a series of pics of different finishes? If you think it would be good info, I'm willing.

I would definitely be interested in seeing some different blades finishes for comparison.

I think he was talking about different finishes on his kirinite scale material.