Custom Straight Razor by the Muskrat Man

I haven't been able to pursue my razor restoration interests as much as I'd like due to my knife buisness, but I squeezed in the time today to make a full custom razor from scratch. All my own design, made up as I went. L6 carbon steel blade with a brushed satin finish, desert ironwood scales, and nickel silver pins on brass washers. Now the one thing about this that may seem odd to you all is the blade is only 3/32" thick in the spine, it is flatground to a zero edge and hand honed and stropped to an edge that is as good as any razor I've seen. Enough with the chatter, here's some pics :)
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e3...ratchRazor.jpg
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e3...atchRazor1.jpg
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e3...atchRazor2.jpg

Now, I know next to squat about razors. All I know is most are thick spined, hollow ground, sheffield was a capital for them and they are used to shave. I don't have the experience for the deisgn and small minute details that may make all the difference in a blade and/or handle shape. So I'm looking for comments, questions, constructive critisizm, whatever you feel like telling or asking me about this razor.
Best Regards
Kaleb

Kaleb,
Very nice job on the razor. I am a fan of wedges and a flat ground blade sounds interesting....I bet rehoning time will be tough though!

How does it feel in the hand being so thin? I would worry about the thin blade and ample looking scales possibly being of balance.

Anyway, I hope my questions don't sound as if they are negative. Just curious about how it will feel in use.

If and when your ready to sell these I'd be glad to add one to my growing arsenal or member made razors.

Tony

Tony,
Thank you for your comments and questions/concerns.

I make hunting and skinning knives from this same steel that resharpen very easily and are tempered nearly the same.

It doesn't have the blade weight of a conventional razor, it balances just behind the pivot pin and the overall package is super lightweight. Well if there was interest in them I had thought about making more to sell, I'd be happy to make you one. You can email me through my profile.
Best Regards
Kaleb

I have a frameback I would like to send you for study. it is made similar to yours but along the spine it has what looks like a piece of brass tubing to give it just the right angle for honing. if your interested let me know.

Mark Avery

Forgot to mention your razor looks nice buut looks a tad heavy at the scales.

JM, yes I have seen those types of razors which have a thin blade inserted into a thicker spine, i never thought of using a piece of brass tube to make the right angle for honing, I may try that on my next one. please excuse the poor photo but here is the balance point.

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e3...iper/razor.jpg

forgot to mention, I'd love to take a look at the frameback, may give me some ideas :)

I'm no metallurgist so I can't speak to how it might function, but it's a nice looking design from where I'm sitting, Kaleb. Nicely done.

X

PM me with your adress and I'll send it right out!

Did you bookmatch the scales? What did you make the wedge out of? Beautiful work!

PM sent.

No I did not bookmatch the scales, the wood was not thick enough to permit it. I made the spacer from red brass.

Thanks all for the input!

It's always great to see someone jumping into making custom blades!! :tu

That blade is 'silly' thin!! I agree that brass tubing would make that a great frameback and solve your width issues. I can not imagine trying to hone that! :eek:

GREAT start!!

C utz

I like it. A little hollow ground on an 8 inch wheel would be poifect.....

Lynn

I really like the looks of it, but definitely not for a honing newbie like me! Still a sweet looking blade, tho...

That's one elegant looking razor there. The sleek bade with its sharp angles and the roundness of the ironwood scales make for a nice balance between vintage and modern.

That is a very nice razror there. I very much enjoy the picture of it being balanced on the antlers. :)

I really like the simple lines and finish of your razor.

I think a simple custom is something that's missing from the market I suspect that there are lots of people like me who like the idea of a custom razor that shaves well and comes in material/grind/size that's not generally available, but don't want to pay for shaving jewellery (I like a shiny razor, but I'm just as hapy with a satin finish, don't care for fancy filework and scales made out of exotic materials don't turn me on - no offence to people who like this stuff, its completely a matter of personal taste/preference).

The blade is likely on the thin side and the flat grind would really make honing a PIA - I think the idea of using tubing or a slotted solid bar (which would add more weight) to create a thin-bladed frameback is a great idea. This would both give the razor more weight at the spine and make it hone like a hollow.

I'm interested in the steel - how well does it hold an edge and how will it stand up to shaving (i.e., frequent exposure to water and soap).

Great job!

Thank you al for your questions, comments and concerns. I'm awaiting the arrival of a frameback to examine, when it gets here I'll try adapting a similar type of construction to my razor design and materials and see what happens. I can see your concern with the honing, but I didn't find it that difficult, I just honed it like I tend to do my knives and it wound up with a really nice edge. The steel holds and edge well, like I said before, I make my hunting knives from this same steel, they can clean a deer without a problem and hold up to the blood, and afterwards the soap and water. I tempered the razor a bit harder due to the fact that it is a razor, and I know most razors that I've examined are much much harder than a knife. I'm assuming so it holds it's edge and isn't as prone to rolling over (due to it's thin edge) after it shaves a few passes. I have a couple folks interested in one, if they do decide to purchase one I'm hoping they will give me a full feedback report on it's performance.
My Best Regards
Kaleb

P.S Not trying to make this look like a spam thread or anything. Didn't post it with intentions to sell, but it just turned out that way :shrug:

Kaleb,
I will be one of those people wanting to buy <g>. With the flat, the wedge design, is there a secondary bevel as on a knife or is it one flat plane from spine to edge? Is this to be honed dead flat on a stone or did you need to lift the spine as on a knife?

I like this one but would be just as interested in a frameback too.

Tony

Tony, I lifted the spine. there is a VERY SLIGHt secondary bevel on the edge, but for the most part it is flat ground from spine to edge with a honing bevel on the very edge since the spine was lifted. I honed it just like I do my hunting knives. no promies on a frameback, I need to study the deisgn and figure out a way to make it, so it may be a while before any framebacks come out of my shop.

Its a beautiful razor but as a working razor I think because of the blade geometry honing will be a major problem. If it can be honed dead flat fine but with the usual 30 degree angle most straights require if thats the case manually holding the razor at that constant angle while honing I think will make things very difficult.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by JMS

I have a frameback I would like to send you for study. it is made similar to yours but along the spine it has what looks like a piece of brass tubing to give it just the right angle for honing. if your interested let me know.

Mark Avery

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I may have the same razor. I picked this up in an Ebay auction (I like the look of framebacks):

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...MEWN:IT&ih=019


The picture was not real clear (so what else is new?) - so when I opened it, I was shocked at what it was, very thin with this brass tubing on the spine, etc., etc.. The tang says:

JON. ENGSTROM
ESKILSTUNA
SWEDEN

I doublt if I will hone it or ever shave with it. It's a curious piece that I'll have around for conversation. It's, also, quite light, which I don't like.

I'm not out a lot for it, more than I wanted to pay, though: $16.29 :shrug: Oh, well....... could of been worst.

Steve

In my book if it shaves well without skinning your face and will hold an edge its a razor and looks pretty dam good to me , I made one from scratch my self ,thin spine like yours out of ATS34 and didn`t like it so I never finished the honing ,I think you just may have given me the inspiration I needed :tu
kind regards Peter

Quote:

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Originally Posted by zepplin

I may have the same razor. I picked this up in an Ebay auction (I like the look of framebacks):

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...MEWN:IT&ih=019


The picture was not real clear (so what else is new?) - so when I opened it, I was shocked at what it was, very thin with this brass tubing on the spine, etc., etc.. The tang says:

JON. ENGSTROM
ESKILSTUNA
SWEDEN

I doublt if I will hone it or ever shave with it. It's a curious piece that I'll have around for conversation. It's, also, quite light, which I don't like.

I'm not out a lot for it, more than I wanted to pay, though: $16.29 :shrug: Oh, well....... could of been worst.

Steve

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That is exactly the razor!