Thread: Custom SatinEdge Project

Hey dudes, sorry I didn't get to this sooner, been on nights this week. But figured I should start a new thread to document my process of bringing a satinedge from dull and sad to a piece that I will soon love and cherish. Disclaimer I am not Glen, Max, or any of the other great resto-pros, nor do I pretend to be.

So with that out of the way here are some pictures of the blade when it first arrived. I only paid $35 dollars for it so I thought I got a good deal. However when I first got it, I noticed a rainbow, iridescence effect on the blade. I had read somewhere on this forum a while ago that it could mean the temper is toast. However after posting pictures, members with more experience told me that it was a common effect from off gassing.



I started right in on the blade wet sanding with 1000 grit and working up to 2500 before going to polishing compounds. The rainbow effect is gone, and all but a few deep scratches and some light pitting remain on the blade. I was impressed by the grind so didn't want to sand to much and risk screwing it up so figured I could live with the the imperfections.




Taking the bolsters off was pretty straight forward, a 20 min bath in acetone softened the scales up enough to carefully remove them. I did the majority of the polishing while they were still on the old scales, and then once removed I ever so carefully cleaned up the insides with a q-tip and some patience.

I purchased some PVB plastic to make the scales with and am kinda at the point where I need to start thinking about the end game. I have about a 1/32 or so that needs to come off near the pivot hole at the top, don't know if the picture shows it. Again no where near close to the final product but getting there

I am going to gold leaf the stamps on the tang, and also going to laminate a very thin sheet of abalone veneer on the insides of the scales. I need to do some experimenting with small fragments of abalone and scrap PVB to make sure that I get the effect I want. Atm I am waiting for the oil based size and abalone sheets to to arrive, so expect many, many more pictures documenting the ups and downs of this project. This idea was purely conceptual so not %100 sure how this is gonna turn out. I am confident the gold leafing is gonna look great, just not sure what it's gonna take to get the abalone veneer to look how I want.

Best Regards,
-Laramie-

Alright! Looks like a great project thread.
Good luck and take your time! I've wasted good materials by not spending more time looking at all the approaches and being more cautious.

Nice job. Keep at it and go slow. Lots of fun aint it.

It is fun Jerry, really glad I've been getting back into the hobby side of things. I tried to find some of my old post of my past work but I can't seem to find them. But doesn't matter these are gonna blow them outta the water. I just started shaping last night, and will probably have some more free time after dinner to work on them tonight. There's this voice in the back of my head saying "They're to thin". So that's made me stop and really think about do I want to shape these just to find out that indeed they are to thin. I need room to sand and polish and right now they are like .1mm bigger than the old ones. I am adding the Abalone on the inside, and that will add another .2mm, plus the glue, so I really think I'm good. Just can't help but proceed with caution from past projects.

Best Regards,
-Laramie-

Any pics of the scales so far?

Not as far along as some others would be, haven't really had as much time as I would like to work on it. I got wednesday off this week so hopefully I'll be able to work on it more then. Seems like something always comes up as soon as I sit down.

Can't wait to see the finished product. It's already looking like it'll be a beauty.

Really starting to get the hang of this gilding thing, thinking I'm going to try and water gild a whole tang on a razor and see out it turns out. Water gilding is a process which gives you a super mirror like shine to the gold even around the sharp and curved edges. Might give it a try on a old Friodur 72 1/2 I have. It would also be a lot more durable than the electroplating process. Certainly got the wheels turning.
Well here's a teaser of the tang, looks really clean if you ask me!


Got some great news here at home, moving into a new place in a few weeks. Not a house yet, but it's a much bigger, two bedroom. Maybe might set up a little hobby room!!!!!! This is bad news for the projects I had going on because they are showing my apartment later today. All the blanks of scale material, tools, everything needs to be cleaned up and put away for the showing. I am so freaking excited about this new place you have no idea. I have put all but two razors away, and only have the lama in the bathroom. Probably won't be able to sit back down to work on anything until probably maybe the end of May. Stay Tuned!!

-Laramie-

Good luck on the move. It can be hard on the body so dont over do it. The tang look great.

I have been in the same house for over 20 years. It would bacaxmonumental task for me to move. I am glad you are excited. I will stay tuned. The gold looks very nice. I will have to research that.