Thread: Lead Wedges

I don't know, guys-Ever since I started using depleted uranium from .50BMG armor-piercing rounds for wedges, my facial hair has stopped growing, and I'm not having to shave so much. And I'm starting to glow in the dark a little bit.

I like using aluminium as a replacement for lead wedges.
Holds a polish too.

Originally Posted by ScoutHikerDad

I don't know, guys-Ever since I started using depleted uranium from .50BMG armor-piercing rounds for wedges, my facial hair has stopped growing, and I'm not having to shave so much. And I'm starting to glow in the dark a little bit.

Oh Crap,same happend to me using Radium to redo watchdials

A couple things.

1. I've never had a problem keeping the original wedge from a razor. How are you disassembling that the wedge is compromised?

2. I'm fairly certain the vast majority of wedges were pewter, not lead (or at least pure lead, since plenty of old pewters contained some lead). There were three grades of pewter used for things made from pewter, and most likely wedges would've been made from the lowest grade, which contained up to 15% lead.

3. Occasionally, instead of refurbishing old scales, I have to make all new ones. When I do, I make my wedges from bismuth solder. I got a 7 pound block of it off eBay a long time ago for not much money.

The wedge was not compromised in any way from disassembly.
It just was never wide enough to allow the razor to sit as deeply as i thought it should.
I have several from previous disassemblies that also are undamaged but seem way too small for my liking.
Most, it seems, only allow the blade in a very little bit so i just replace them with larger angled wedges. The problem is, I really like the old school lead in the larger blades with horn scales. It just seems right to want to rebuild them that way

Oh brother... I don't think smokers get this much grief.
I love lead wedges. They are by far the simplest form of wedges out there. I hear the horror stories "Poison, toxicity, hazz-mat"
Will that change my way of sawing, milling sanding? No. As well as look for alternative materials.
Am I reckless? Perhaps. As a toolmaker I'm up to my ass in toxins in an industry that never cared much about safety.

The deal seems to me to be is that the thin wedge-shaped wedge was used with thin material. It does not take a wide wedge to make a wide berth. What accommodates the blade is the space allowed by bending the scales as is dictated by the angles on the sides of the wedge.
Studying the geometry of the wedges from old razors proves this. As a razor is dissassembled and rescaled with materials which have a resistance to bending, the original wedge will seldom work. Sometimes. a new one is required !

Granted, changing anything will change the requirements for the angle or thickness of the wedge but what i was referring to was simply clean and polish of original scales so, nothing other than shine changed. I have 2 W&B Celebrated, 2 Wilson Hawksworth and a couple others that all seem to be too small. I will have to post some pics. A couple of them have the scales ripped open at the wedge and the blade still just enters the scales

Well, not unlike hand grenades and horseshoes, close is often good enough!

for sure