Thread: The Butchered Blade

Originally Posted by MikeB52

Attachment 217821
Mine would have been a solid ivory pivot i presume. No way this pin was the pivot hole at one time.
Broken ivory scales actually would work as well as piano ivory, better maybe as it would be thicker material. Milling it out was my plan as I have access to a mill when I need it at work. Mill the halves, epoxy it up, and drill pivot, shape to suit..

You know what? You and MikeT are right! That ( think!)pearl-tang John Jay I did was like that in respect that the pin was close to the actual pivot hole. You could never see it, as-scaled. It, in it'self added strength as-peening commences.
And Stuff........

Busted ivory scales into the Mike box..........

You won't have the pin to control crush, make a tight-fitting bushing, epoxy it in.
Get it nice and tight?

The pen insert that was used with the amber wedge. That was a perfect ID for the pin, so should work again.
You got a Mike box . Based on the gang on here, maybe make a stencil for time savings..
Very cool Tom thanks, those scale pieces might be perfect. Will put this one aside for a spell.
I actually have a few lil packages going out in the mail myself to a few butchers south of me. Hopefully this week.
Unrelated to this blade, I have invested in an electroplating kit that should arrive next week. Picked it up for pen work predominantly but it may prove useful on the odd duck or brummel. Will be able to apply gold, chrome, nickel, and I believe brass and copper, depending on base metal. Pen point applicator not a bath so potentially very good detail capability, ie spine and tang only type stuff.
Have a few ideas for it..

Originally Posted by MikeB52

Attachment 217821
Mine would have been a solid ivory pivot i presume. No way this pin was the pivot hole at one time.
Broken ivory scales actually would work as well as piano ivory, better maybe as it would be thicker material. Milling it out was my plan as I have access to a mill when I need it at work. Mill the halves, epoxy it up, and drill pivot, shape to suit..

I was supposed to go somewhere but those plans got screwed up.
Okay, looking at B52's pic, I too don't believe that is a pivot pin, the tang would need to be a tad longer. I also have two Joseph Rodgers straights like MikeT & I've had 'em for a good while & they've just been fermenting. Got 'em separately & stole 'em, I couldn't believe it. I just got 'em out & looked at them & I have never had an Ivory scaled straight apart yet so looking at them & comparing them to a normal straight razor, there is a difference. The ones with covered tangs are much wider at the pivot end as opposed to a regular straight razor. I also have a Shumate Trusty & it has a full tang & tail with separate pieces covering the tang on each side, much different from my Joseph Rodgers which are like a one piece tang. I'll show the difference but my camera battery went dead so I'm charging it for a bit & will show it soon.

A few pics of the solid tangs would help me immensely when it comes time to shape. Wider makes sense to me as it would need more strength possibly.
Not too wide is the key, do not want to look bulky.
Thanks for chiming in Steve

Got side tracked..
The internal tang on the Rodgers ivory tang blades definitely without a doubt does not reach the pivot hole.
Seems counterintuitive. I would think for strength... but nope. Let me dig up the post number... I posted pics a little while back.

Originally Posted by MikeB52

A few pics of the solid tangs would help me immensely when it comes time to shape. Wider makes sense to me as it would need more strength possibly.
Not too wide is the key, do not want to look bulky.
Thanks for chiming in Steve

You're welcome B52. I'll show them in a few after I'm done eating but you can definitely see the difference.

Originally Posted by MikeT

Got side tracked..
The internal tang on the Rodgers ivory tang blades definitely without a doubt does not reach the pivot hole.
Seems counterintuitive. I would think for strength... but nope. Let me dig up the post number... I posted pics a little while back.

Exactly Mike, I think they are thicker because the tang does not extend all the way. It comes close but it appears to be a solid piece as opposed to my Trusty.
You might try clicking on settings at the top right of the page next to the Log Out & from there it will take you to a page & on the lower left you will see attachments which you will click on & it will show all of your attachments plus more of others you may have been a part of in a thread.

I was thinking something similar Mike. The ivory tangs are a bit thick.. not super bulky.. and ivory is quite strong. But it gets brittle with age. I was contemplating a g10 and ivory sandwich. Especially if the ivory is old piano keys.
I have for my tangs newer than "brittle old" ivory to cut down for my tangs but was still considering other options.

Originally Posted by MikeT

I was thinking something similar Mike. The ivory tangs are a bit thick.. not super bulky.. and ivory is quite strong. But it gets brittle with age. I was contemplating a g10 and ivory sandwich. Especially if the ivory is old piano keys.
I have for my tangs newer than "brittle old" ivory to cut down for my tangs but was still considering other options.

Sigh.....Busted ivory scales into the 'MikeT' box!

Here are those Rodgers. As you can see the internal metal tang comes just short of the pivot hole.
It could look cool maybe.. Black g10 in the middle with ivory on the outside.. it would be stronger..
It is a little unnerving to think of shaving with it without the tang hole going through the metal. But then again these blades were used extensively. And it was age that broke them, not use. So solid ivory or supported, probably is of little consequence.