Thread: How to cut a straight to a shorty

Found my dad straight razor in the garage with some stuff from his time in the service.
Bad news is that the tip is broken as you can see in the pic below, the good news is that the rest of the blade does not have any fracture line so it could be used as a short blade.

From what I heard the part near the cutting edge is extremely fragile and can break quite easily, any advice on how to cut the blade and minimize risk of more damage to it. Tools to be used, technique...

all welcomed, and merry xmas to all
rgds, pat

Welcome to SRP. I'm not a restorer, but there are many who are and someone will be along. Definitely can be done.

i've used a dremel with a cut off wheel with good success. I went slowly with frequent dips in cold water just to make sure it didn't over heat. a piece of tape wrapped around the blade as my cutting guide let me go at it from both sides.

i used a dremel with a cut off wheel, it works good, good luck!!

By no means an expert....But I have used a grinder with a good squared off wheels on a cheap Gold dollar blade, and an empty coffee can full of water. I started by drawing a line on the blade with a sharpie for a reference. I would go with a square point on yours...FWIW. Then I would start grinding at the spine rolling around to the edge of the blade gently and frequently dipping the blade in water. Go slow and don't try to speed up the process by adding excessive pressure. Once you get close to your line of reference I would switch to a drum sander (less aggressive) to fine tune your profile. I've done this a few times like this and it's worked for me, just avoid hitting that thin edge first on the grinder, wear gloves, and safety glasses. That blade could come flying out of your hand and still cut you bad - Probably don't need to say that but I feel better doing so good luck!

If you have no experience of straight razors and there is enough emotional attachment, I would contact one of the restorers and ask for a quote. It's not just the blade that will be shortened, the scales will require adjustment as well.

)))))))))))))))))))))))))))

Bill.........I think this is called razor abuse, send that blade my way so it can receive proper treatment.

is that razor blood on that cutting board? You've done this before haven't you, I'll report you to the RBI (razor bureau of investigation)