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so i was just sitting around thinking to myself, hmmm i like to build things so why not try to make myself a straight razor? my question is does anyone know where i can find just a blade for a razor? i know i saw a place a while ago but cant remember where it was. thanks
dan
Depends on how much you want to do.
1) buy a rusted razor on ebay. preferably a wedge because those are easiest to get started with. Clean it, sand it, sharpen it and if necessarry rescale it.
2) do a search for 'razor blanks' there are several places selling razor blanks that you can get started with. Grind them to the desired size, scale them and sharpen them.
3) Buy a piece of tool steel, shape it as you desire, grind it, heat-treat it (or have someone do that for you) scale it and sharpen it.
I do (1) and I am going to do (3). I don't like (2) because that implies me paying a not insignificant amount of money.
perhaps i should rephrase what i said. i guess what i want to do is just make some scales and put a blade in them (for now at least), i have like zero experience with working with metals but can do pretty good with wood so yea i will probably just go on ebay and get a crapped out one and start from there, that sounds like the best bet i think, then later on maybe start actually working the blades
In that case, maybe you should have a look at the wapienicas that wojtec is selling in his ebay store. They are high quality blades for only 10 dollars or something like that.
The blades themselves are good, but the scales are too heavy IMO, and they upset the balance of the razor.
You might as well buy one or two of those razors and fix them up with nice scales.
I bought 7 of Wojtec for about £42 including postage to UK to make up a 7 day set intend to rescale them with days of the week inlaid in the scales when I get round to it
Keep us in the loop on that project. That will be a fine set of razors:tuQuote:
Originally Posted by ragnost
Hello everyone.
First of all i apologize for my bad english language!
I have build a straight razor just to test my hobbyst knifemaking skill.
This is the first time for me in a forum,I want to show how i ended with but i dont know exactly how to post some pictures.
I try to post the first 3 pictures i hope all is ok.
Franz kleber
First off welcome! Hope you enjoy your stay here, as I have come back from a long hiatus myself on here. Don't worry about your english, It can usually be understood at what you are getting to. Looks like this will be an interesting project for you.Quote:
Originally Posted by franzkleber
Maybe if you have this become a habit people will be messaging you for blades. :)
Hello everyone
I posted new images from my "razor making tutorial".
First of all a some explanations.
I start from a sheet of C70 steel(very similar to AISI 1070) with thickness of 5 mm.
I decided to build a 6/8 razor and try to duplicate my solingen made straight razor.
With little effort whith the aid of my hacksaw/chisel and hammer i have finally obtained a rought razor blank.
That edge on that last pic looks like one I saw on ebay yesterday, LOL.
Welcome to the forum, franzkleber! I for one am very interested in seeing this project progress!
Hllo everyone
I keep on posting some little pics and some summarized descriptions.
The first 2 pics show the operation of cleaning the shape of the razor blank using a bench grinding weel ,files and free hand grinding tool.
Next i controlled and corrected the flatness of the razor blank with little hammer blows,(its an easy task because the steel is still in the annealed condition) .
The next operation is to find the middle line,i try to scribe with the aid of a drill bit of the right diameter and to obtain two very visible parallel lines approssimately 1.5-2 mm distant,to do this operation fastly is very useful a good planar surface (like a small marble floor tile)
Then i start to remove material from the razor blank sides,i start from 1.5 mm from the back to the scribed lines,for this operation i use a small self builded belt grinder (60 grit) and after a small diameter flap grinder weel (180 grit)in order to smooth a little bit all the surfaces,the belt is very small (50 mm large and about 1000 mm long)and with a little powerful electric motor (350 W only) so this operation is a little long one.
At the end of this operation i have obtained the flanks in wedge shape,
even free hand executed i am enough satisfied of the results.
This is all fo today,i hope to continue tomorrow.
Franz kleber
Hallo everyone.
I keep on working on my little project.
The first image show my homemade forge,its only a metal bucket backet with clay for insulation,a pipe tube in the bottom with many holes to provide the air blast i recovered an old traveling hair dryer 12 V powered, a simple electric device make me easy to change the air volume.
The second pic show the charcoal fire ignited, you can see also a metal pan full of peanuts oil at about 50 C° and a magnet to check the right moment for the quench.the successive image show the moment of truth,a quick test with a file confirm the success in the hardening phase.
I have forgotten to say that the hole for the hinge must be obviusly executed before this phase.(i want to use pins made of alpacca 2mm)
I make a hardness test with a professional laboratory machine and find 64-65 HRC (if quenched in water instead of peanuts oil i can obtain 66-67 HRC but its too dangerous,i ruined the first razor blank i made in this way,the piece ended full of cracks and now i use it for a scribing template !! )
The last pic show the tempering phase,65 HRC are too much hardness because the blade is very brittle,i use a old toaster oven (800 W),i bought an simple thermometer and check frequently that the temperature does not exeed 200 C° in an hour,with this i obtain a final hardness approximatly of 60 HRC.
This is all for today and i will continue tomorrow,i hope that someone is not bored to see that my strange experience !!
Franz Kleber
:bow
WOW Franz! Great little experiment! Let us know how it turns out.
Wundervollen Fotos und Anweisungen Franzleber; Fantastisches Experiment auch. Du bist offensichtlich ein erfahrener Handwerker. Bitte Unterhalt, der uns Fotos und Text schickt. Und dein Englisch ist viel besser als mein Deutsch.
Hallo everyone
Thanks a lot for compliments!
I wish to specify that i am not German but Italian,and i write from a north of Italy near Monza .
I have used my nickname Franz Kleber because it is my name translate in german.(Franco Colla)
I work in the automotive field expecially fo german companies,therefore my colleagues of office have given this nickname to me (and is to me remained!!).
However i will continue my "small tutorial" (i have unfortunally still not found the photos with the next steps,i hope not to have lost them!!):gth
Thanks !!
Hello folks,one more time i keep on showing my pics.
Unfortunately i lost some photos taken during the contruction
however i hope that those remainet are self explanatory.
The first pic show my selfbuilded belt grinder builded on a standard bench grinder,the big weel is 120 mm diameter,good for the main hollow grind and the small one is 48 mm good for the stronger stock removal of the tickness towards the back of the blade, i can use 50 mm wide belt.
Obviously the hollow grind has been executed free hand with many problems in learning the right technique!!!
I have before used the big weel with a 60 grit belt and after that one with 180 grit,the blade must be cooled often(every 2 strokes!!) dipping it in a bucket full of water,this phase take me about 3 hours.
In the next operation i use the smaller weel always with the same described belt sequence but i found an increase of the difficulties in supporting correctly the blade during the grind operation due to the bigger vibrations and heat produced.
The next pic show a simple jig i find in order to improve my working conditions,a piece of thin rubber slab with a piece of adhesive tape therefore to seem a "ring" for the fingers who press the blade towards the belt.
the next pic show the blade still much "crude" from the superficial roughness point of view but finally with the complete hollow grinded profile!!
In the last pic you can see one of the two blades i had ruined during this delicate phase,yes you have well understood,two blades ruined in grinding phase plus one blade ruined in hardening phase,in total three blade to throw in the trash!!
My friends says i have a very hard head and with the fourth blade i choose to work very slowly and to forget a singing hollow grind!!!
This is all for now,i keep on boring you the next time
Franz Kleber
Very nice blade. Keep at them, you will get it and the perfection will come.
Thanks for yours encouragements philothaz,its time to post the last pictures about my project.
The first show another small trick that i have found in order to support the blade without the risc of damaging.
I build a simple jig using modeling paste to use like a "bed",in this way i can push with big force when polish the blade with a wood dowel covered whith a sheet of sanding paper of different grit.
Then i start to build the handle,a visit to a close slaughter house has me allowed to have some pieces of cattle horn.
I sawed the horn with my bandsaw,next i remove the internal tissue with a heat gun and a small chisel.
The successive pic show the straightening and flattening process of the horn using a bench wise and heat gun.
In the next photo you can see my small chinese drill with mounted a polishing weel,the process preview two weels,the first rought and the last finer for the mirrior like finish.
Unfortunatly it is not a confortable job position but it works enought well for me!
Finally the last 5 pics show the finisced project,i think it is not so bad for my "first time" and first of all it shave!!!
comparable with a Thiers Issard singing razor but onestly speaking i can not ask more!!
It has some defects also,it seems that my original solingen made razor need less often sharpening/stropping,and the heel its too mach pointed.
I promise that i will keep in consideration every friendly suggestion from this forum !!
Bye
Franz Kleber
Now i know the max number of postable pics!!
I know, im not a good photographer !!
Bye everyone at the next project !!
Franz Kleber
Wow! :bow That's really a project to be proud of! Keep us updated on the next one!
Hy everyone
Thanks for the appreciations Kyle76!!
I falled in love with the incredible/fantastic shape of the Thiers Issard made by master Pierre!!
For sure in my next project i will try to build a straight razor as much as possible similar to it.
I need to collect much picture possible of it because only in this way i can try to reproduce faithfully.
Until now i see a lot of pics but not much detailed,i need to know a lot of other measure very difficult to obtain from pictures (thickness-hollow shape-hollow grade ....)
And above all i have decided to build it not from stock removal but realy from forged steel and believe me from "scrap stee"l!!!!
This choise intrigued me very much,but i choose the "king of scrap steel" AISI 52100 ball bearing steel,i find some old bearings big enought that i can straighten the race and have enought thickness for the machining operations.
I hope only not to make the same big errors of the first project!!!
By everyone
Franz Kleber
Franz, I also wanted to say how impressed I was by all your pictures! Your hard work paid off, that's a great looking razor. I wasn't sure partway through the process the the finish... wow! I really liked the horn scales, they look great. And I like the 'Colla' inscription. Have you tried a shave with it yet?
For your next project you're going to forge out a ball bearing? MAN you're crazy, I definitely need to see pictures of that!!
Keep up the hard work man, it really is impressive to see a guy take it through the whole process.