Thread: What are you working on?

Originally Posted by xiaotuzi

Nice work around here lately! So nice to see your projects moving forward and the great results. I've been sidetracked by other things and have been missing my workshop time dearly. I have a couple projects on the bench but they probably have dust on them at the moment. Hope to get back in there relatively soon. Nice work fellas!

Same here. The workbench is loaded....Just no time these days!

Well, that took some doing! And it also took turning more steel than I expected into dust... but I managed to get a decent edge on that Henry Sears and got a good shave from it this morning.



Around halfway between the heel and toe, there was a lot of pitting, right down to the edge. This blade is now a 13/16", but what I like about wedges is there is so much metal to work with, so despite all the pits I was finally able to get a completely clean bevel.

Also! The spine is 5.50 mm at the heel and 4.52 mm at the toe. If you're going to have a spine that varies in width, wouldn't you think you'd put the widest part of the spine where the blade is widest? So you could keep the same bevel width, for example? Nope! This guy's backwards. So I did three layers of tape at the toe, two in the middle, and one at the heel. And a lot of differential pressure while honing.

What a pain! But it was a sweet shaver -- I'm still feeling pretty smooth 14 hours later, which is pretty unusual for me.

Cool! The strop will make it better and better! Great work!
I always say it ain't a razor until it shaves!

Nice bevel set gymnastics.
Will be experiencing similar pain soon enough as I'm working on an old wedge as well.
Sounds like your efforts paid off.

Originally Posted by jmabuse

Well, that took some doing! And it also took turning more steel than I expected into dust... but I managed to get a decent edge on that Henry Sears and got a good shave from it this morning.



Around halfway between the heel and toe, there was a lot of pitting, right down to the edge. This blade is now a 13/16", but what I like about wedges is there is so much metal to work with, so despite all the pits I was finally able to get a completely clean bevel.

Also! The spine is 5.50 mm at the heel and 4.52 mm at the toe. If you're going to have a spine that varies in width, wouldn't you think you'd put the widest part of the spine where the blade is widest? So you could keep the same bevel width, for example? Nope! This guy's backwards. So I did three layers of tape at the toe, two in the middle, and one at the heel. And a lot of differential pressure while honing.

What a pain! But it was a sweet shaver -- I'm still feeling pretty smooth 14 hours later, which is pretty unusual for me.

Nice save.!
Them oldies can be a bear to hone, but always seem to surprise you in their shave.[emoji482]

The heel on that old girl looks like there is a lot of bevel there. It must have been quite the chore. Glad you made it through.

I was looking at a razor I've had in the cabinet for a few months. Looks pretty much unused. But I was going to take it upstairs, clean it, and hone it when I noticed... it felt a little loose in the pivot. So I thought I'd peen it a little more. But when I tightened it up, it wasn't centered. So I tried a few tricks I learned by reading some of the collected works of Professor Sharptonn. They usually work... but I just couldn't get it far enough. And then I thought, "Hmm, actually these scales are a little warped. I'll unpin it and give them the heat treatment."

And the scales are in fact warped... but it was also starting to look to me like the spine was warped.

So I took a closer look and -- well here, let me show you.





By the way, that dirty scratched up straightedge is an old Brown and Sharpe. It's straight.

So... how likely is a razor to crack or shatter if I hit the spine with a deadblow hammer? It's bowed up about 1/64", more or less in the center. The bowing continues in the tang -- actually maybe a little more there.

I know you can't predict what'll happen if I hammer it -- I'm not asking you to be responsible and tell me it depends on the razor and the tempering and the steel and the hammer and the vise -- I'm just asking you if you ever said, "What the hell, I'll give it a bang with a deadblow," and had that work out for you. Or did it always end with a busted razor?

Bad Idea!!Ty

Lessee it from the end. Browne and Sharpe is likely a microtome.....

No, that will not straighten it, break it… possibly.

Nothing good will come from hitting it…

But why hit it?


That amount of warp is not unusual. Slid the heel over a half inch. So it is hanging off the surface and the rest of it will be flat on the hone. A rolling x on the other side will hone it just fine.

You roll the concave side down, the convex side up, by the amount of light visable, just a pressure shift and allowing the heel to fall off the stone.

Not a big deal at all.