Thread: Clipping the Toe

So a few weeks ago I took a longish trip across town for an estate sale, largely based on a single, poor picture of four straight razors. Unsurprisingly they were in sadder shape than I'd have liked but I walked away with one, which means that the trip wasn't completely wasted. When I got it it still had a set of rather trashed, plastic scales on it but this morning it took a dive off a counter so you only get pics of the blade itself.

Yep, its ugly. With a good-sized chip out of the toe and substantial hone wear, not to mention black spots on the edge that concern me, it's never going to be a beauty queen and that's fine because I've got all of $4 invested in it. My plan is to use it as a learning experience, if I can get it to shave at the end I'll feel like I've accomplished something. If not then maybe I'll learn something while spending a minimal amount of money.

Since taking the pics I've taken a bit of steel wool and oil to the blade to remove what surface rust I can. This was actually a bit encouraging so I'm ready to move onto the next chore, clipping that toe. That's why I'm here...

I'm using my last week of freedom before the start of the school year by making a trip to the lake. No, I'm not going to spend much time out on, or in, the water but concentrate most of my time in my father's workshop. Since his passing my mother has made it her habit to dump her crap into what is now my shop (which is a serious bone of contention I might add) so I'm going to be trying to clean up a bit. Outside of that I have a few small projects of my own and this ugly little razor to play with. Once the weekend comes my lovely wife will be joining me and I'll actually rest and recreate with her.

I know that some of the guys here in the workshop use a cutoff wheel on a grinder, or Dremel, to shorten a blade. I actually have access to a horizontal band-saw which is the ideal tool for slicing through steel. The worry I have is heat since the saw still runs at a significant speed and having the blade clamped down makes it a bit tougher to keep cool.

My thought is to clamp the blade between two blocks of soft wood, possibly balsa, that I will soak in water for a few hours prior to cutting. I've also considered clamping the wet blocks and blade together and sticking the whole thing in the fridge or freezer to lower the initial temp even further. I'm new at all of this so I eagerly await the more experienced members around here to tell me that what I'm contemplating is questionable.

Have at it, gents!

I would not use a band saw for this work. personally i'd just grind it into a round point, but that's just me. no-go on that bandsaw though, friend

The blade will shatter, guaranteed. You might want to put a bevel in it, and see how much width you have left before shortening it.
You may find there's not much to cut off by then. JMHO

Inexpensive sad sacks are great for learning. At one point I bought a small lot of them for the purpose of learning with them. Some have served me well, a couple actually made it back into being serviceable razors. They all taught me a lot, and I did not kill any of them. It looks like this one is going to teach you how to trim back the toe. There is a lot of information in the butchered blade. Just because they are damages or ugly does not mean they cannot still do the job they were created to do.

Originally Posted by outback

The blade will shatter, guaranteed. You might want to put a bevel in it, and see how much width you have left before shortening it.
You may find there's not much to cut off by then. JMHO

I would set the bevel to at least 90% before I did anything else. No use making it perfect at that time. Then I would grind the toe off if there was enough left for an edge. Dipping it in water frequently! The amount of "cold" that would be in the steel from freezing would be heated up in a very short time. That is if the teeth of the band saw didn't break off in the first few seconds. starting at the spine. At the bevel it would shatter the blade.

Maybe if you had 2,000 teeth per inch it wouldn't shatter them....

There are more than one way things can go seriously sideways with what you're thinking of doing!

1) As Mike said it could well shatter. Remember you're dealing with hardened steel here. It will not behave like mild steel. I too would steer well clear of the bandsaw idea.

2) if you grind the point down, there's a fair risk of you ruining the temper of the blade. If it gets hot while grinding, the same hardness that would make it shatter with the bandsaw may be drawn out, ruining the blade's ability to keep an edge. So if you do opt to grind it down, be really careful not to let it get too hot. Hold it with your fingers (i.e. no gloves) and when you feel it getting more than warm, dunk it in some water to cool. And pay attention to that edge: even if it's not shave-ready, it will slice you badly if you're not careful.

There's a third option:

3) rather than shortening the whole toe, take a more gentle approach and just smooth out the edges where it is broken. Leave it with a wonky end. I have a weird Soviet-era razor (pic below) whose toe has a bit missing much like yours. At least I imagine it's missing. Whoever had it before me did a great job of making it look almost intentional. Bottom line: it's still a great shaver.

So if you want to shorten it, grind it rather than using the band saw, but pay close attention to the temperature. But if you want to avoid tackling a blade shortening job, that's possible too.

Good luck!

Okay, stupid idea (based on working with mild steel and not really thinking the whole thing through) but at least I was smart enough to let you guys shoot holes in it before I acted upon it. I'm gonna chalk this one up to listening to my father's favorite lesson: Pay attention, everyone you meet can teach you something.

So, with that knowledge in hand I think I'll hold off on clipping that toe and see if I can set a bevel on the wee beastie before I make a decision. Unfortunately I'm here and the stones are at home but I do have some other options to play with in the mean time. My most timely option is probably to think about making my first foray into scales. I've had a little experience with knives and I should have some scale material floating around so maybe I'll use some of my time to get started on that since I'll need them before heading to the hones anyway. After that I can take some polish and sandpaper to that blade and see if I can clean it up a bit.

What that really means is that pinning looms in my future...

Make some scales!

Even with the worst case scenario they will fit another blade!

I think your on the right track. When you get a chance, polish and sand a bit to get a better look at the edge. Put it on the hones and see if you can get past any rust or any/all bad steal. Always a good idea to see if its going to make an edge before spending a lot of time sanding and cleaning it all up. And as 32t said, Make some scales. If the razor is too far beyond fixing you can use the scales on another razor in the future.
Enjoy and have fun. Take your time. As far as the toe, I think id make it a round point and save as much of the steal as possible.

I think you have already gotten great advice from others so I would just add my moral encouragement. Some of my favorite razors are ones that have suffered through some tough times and took some work but are great shavers. They may never be beautiful to others but they're beautiful to me because I'm glad I was able to return them to service.

And, I'll just second another thing others already said -- just round that point. Do you really want a square point? I like the look of that nice square point on some of mine but I end up feeling it if I'm not really careful.

Also Cangooner -- cool Fed. Somewhere I have a 20mm/5.6 screw-mount Russar with a clip-on viewfinder -- your Fed needs one of those.