Tarkus, that must be the most perfect blade bushing EVER! :tu
Printable View
I think a checkering file like this Grobet 6 Checkering File 40 Lines per Inch might be a better alternative, that is if the tang is soft enough for it to be doable by hand.
Max and Bruno have been trying to give you guys sound advice, they are makers of razors & know their stuff. Most straight razors have tangs that are as hard or harder than files unless they are annealed. Unless you have industrial type equipment adding jimps are really a no go if you want it to look pleasing to the eye...just use alum on your hands.
I did some digging and it has been done on at least one old Sheffie, he used a 30 lines per inch checkering file, as opposed to the 40 that I linked.
http://straightrazorpalace.com/custo...er-photos.html
--------------------------------------
30 lines per inch
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/677...lines-per-inch
I have put jimps on several old razors using Grobet Checkering Files from MidwayUSA. I have them in 20 lines per inch, 30 lines, and 40 lines. I mostly use the 30 line per inch file. They also have a 50 line file, but I haven't tried it.
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f2...psec5221b0.jpg
I have not had any real problem cutting into the older razors, although I did round off the outermost line on the 40 when I got right up in the corner near one blade.
(I believe I did this one with the 20 line per inch checkering file.)
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f2...ve-jimping.jpg
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f2...m-Olive-10.jpg
(This was the 30.)
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f2...s-jimps-03.jpg
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f2...estored-01.jpg
The checkering files are easy to use. You just pick where you want to start, and then try to cut perpendicular to your tang. Once you get started, you just need to make overlapping cuts to widen the area of the jimps. If you cut from both sides it seems to help keep the lines perpendicular. If you curve the edges of your tang, you can rock the file to follow the curve.
On razors that I am making myself, I file the jimps before I heat treat, as I know the steel is annealed at that point. I do find that I need to go over the jimps again after heat treating, not to re-cut them, but just to clean out any scale or discoloration.
This is one I completed recently.
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f2...ps84c2656a.jpg
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f2...psa4da857f.jpg
I have also been engraving my name and the steel onto the tangs before heat treating, but cleaning up the blade after heat treating tends to partially sand out the engraving. Therefore, on the batch I am working on now, I intend to soften the hardened tangs with a torch and then engrave them when they are otherwise finished. My intention is just to clamp the razors, blade down, in a container of water, with the tang protruding above the surface. That way the water will keep the blade from being overheated. I see no reason why this same technique couldn't be used to blue the tang on any other finished razor so that jimps could be cut in without damaging the checkering file. (This might not work on a stainless steel blade I suppose, depending on it's initial tempering temperature.)