Thread: Tang tapering, wedges, etc.

Originally Posted by bluesman7

I made a razor to fit Hart scales because of a request. It came out pretty good but the scales contact the blade at the middle close to the spine as well as at the toe. The middle contact point marks up the blade which has a pretty high polish. I don't think much of the one piece construction because of this. It would be the same with a non tapered spacer in place of the wedge.

Does the toe contact area not mark up the blade because it only contacts the blade on the sharp corner? How about the heel/tang contact point?

Originally Posted by JDM61

Does the toe contact area not mark up the blade because it only contacts the blade on the sharp corner?

Correct


How about the heel/tang contact point?

Do you mean the pivot area? Generally that is the only other contact point on my razors. I personally do not use spacer washers at the pivot, but most people do. I get a little marking there but it doesn't bother me.

Originally Posted by JDM61

Yes, 300 years would certainly result in multiple ways to skin a cat. As for the design of one piece scales, if properly shaped and "flexed" wouldn't the operation be the same even if it is a bit more difficult to pull off? The two piece design intrigues me. As for the proper taper in the tang area, does that require a bit of taper to the scales on the tip beyond the pivot or do you want a little bit of "bind" there when you open the razor?
Edit, By the way, Glen, that one piece rosewood handle is a very handsome piece. The administrators really need to add the "two thumbs up" smiley for things like that. Someone posted a rreamkrt about "top to bottom taper" Is that something you also do with scales?:

Originally Posted by JDM61

Does the toe contact area not mark up the blade because it only contacts the blade on the sharp corner? How about the heel/tang contact point?

To be honest you are asking questions on something that is easily seen by simple taking apart a few Vintage razors and using a set of Calipers, I say this exact same thing every time somebody starts this type of questioning...

It always seems odd to me that people would attempt Restoration or Making a SR without first doing this but I see it weekly on here and the other forums I frequent..

Let's see if I can answer but I encourage you to do your own research too, and remember things changed slight over the years so the rules are NOT set in stone..

Yes the scales hit the sides of the blade by the toe
The inner edges of the scales should not be sharp corners, that is not conducive to smooth stropping
The approximately 3/8" of scale at the pivot will only touch the scales if in stropping position and not on all razors
The Wedge vs Tang angle is very important and you can tell when you get it right
Yes that is exactly what I said above the function of the scales should be the same regardless of one piece, two piece, or three piece..
Some Vintage scales have a slight taper from top to bottom on the wedge, some do not..
Yes often there are actual rust marks at the touch points by the toe of the razor from the scales it is quite common



I think I got them all


ps: One thing to really consider, when you take out the calipers and start measuring Vintage wedges and then look at many Restores and Customs you are going to see an issue
Then if you start measuring the thickness of Vintage scales and compare them to new scales made today you are going to see another issue...

I could spoil the mystery by just telling you, but I think you will enjoy the search

Thanks. At this point, I am kind of doing the theoretical portion. The practical application phase will follow shortly. I am trying to be lazy/cheap and see if I can find my grandfathers old razor at my dads house before I buy any. With that said, i did go to sleep at the wheel the other day and missed bidding up on a slightly tired LeCoultre frame back on Ebay that ended up going for $20 and have been trying to sneak by the big flea market but have not made it so far. I do things weird sometimes. This is the same experience that I had with kitchen knives. I asked way too many questions and actually learned a lot about what folks thought made them perform well and then bought a couple of nice Japanese knives to use as templates/instructional tools. I didn't even attempt to make a kitchen knife for like the first 6 months. I just asked questions, listened and the looked at kmy knives and some others. When I finally did make one, the first one cracked in the quench and I absolutely nailed the second one. Of course, the problem was that it took so much time to make it that a pro maker would've LOST money on it. But that is also part of the learning process just like screwing up your first 40-50 knife blades before you have one that you are comfortable showing to another person.
I plan to dissect some old razors in the very near future, but don't ever underestimate how much good information someone like you and your experienced brethren on a forum like this have to offer and how much time and frustration you guys can save us neophytes. I remember a few years back a very famous bladesmith telling a group of us that things like the ABS school and the internet forums would have probably cut like 5 years off of his learning curve had he started making knives in 2005 instead of the late 70's. You guys who have been at this a while have done a lot of the heavy lifting for us already and we are grateful for that.

Originally Posted by gssixgun

To be honest you are asking questions on something that is easily seen by simple taking apart a few Vintage razors and using a set of Calipers, I say this exact same thing every time somebody starts this type of questioning...

It always seems odd to me that people would attempt Restoration or Making a SR without first doing this but I see it weekly on here and the other forums I frequent..

Let's see if I can answer but I encourage you to do your own research too, and remember things changed slight over the years so the rules are NOT set in stone..

Yes the scales hit the sides of the blade by the toe
The inner edges of the scales should not be sharp corners, that is not conducive to smooth stropping
The approximately 3/8" of scale at the pivot will only touch the scales if in stropping position and not on all razors
The Wedge vs Tang angle is very important and you can tell when you get it right
Yes that is exactly what I said above the function of the scales should be the same regardless of one piece, two piece, or three piece..
Some Vintage scales have a slight taper from top to bottom on the wedge, some do not..
Yes often there are actual rust marks at the touch points by the toe of the razor from the scales it is quite common



I think I got them all


ps: One thing to really consider, when you take out the calipers and start measuring Vintage wedges and then look at many Restores and Customs you are going to see an issue
Then if you start measuring the thickness of Vintage scales and compare them to new scales made today you are going to see another issue...

I could spoil the mystery by just telling you, but I think you will enjoy the search