Thread: Advice on making a shorty

I have a razor that came with some fairly deep pitting on about an inch of length at the toe. The rest of the blade is absolutely clear of bad spots: no pits, no devils spit, no stains. It’s a good shaver and I’ve used it for several years since the pitting was close to, but not into the edge.

After my most recent honing session, I noticed what I thought were chips near the toe. I honed them out, but under magnification I could see they weren’t actually chips, but places where the pitting had reached into the edge.

The rest of the blade looks great so I figured I would try to turn it into a shorty. I think I read somewhere on SRP about using a Dremel with a cut-off wheel to do this and have used the SRP search function to try to find some advice on how to do this safely without much luck.

It would be very helpful if someone could point me at a thread that discusses how to do this.

I've done a bunch of um.

Wet a rag, place the blade on the rag, and slowly cut from edge to spine. The rag will keep it cool, through the process. I keep the speed down on the dremmel, no need for undo vibration and sparks. A pencil or drum sander to clean up the end.

Here’s a picture of the damage.

Originally Posted by outback

I've done a bunch of um.

Wet a rag, place the blade on the rag, and slowly cut from edge to spine. The rag will keep it cool, through the process. I keep the speed down on the dremmel, no need for undo vibration and sparks. A pencil or drum sander to clean up the end.

Thanks Mike. Did you mark the curve at the toe with a sharpie using a coin as a template and cut to the line or did you form the curve at the last cleanup step?

Safety glasses and filter mask are ready to go. I’ll give it a go in a day or so when I can take my time.

Looks like mike has ya covered. Its not hard to do. Jst a little nerve wrecking the first time. Watch the heat. F it starts to glow red more than i tiny spot stop and let it cool a few seconds. The nice thing is you get to make the toe what you want.

I shape it, last. I just eye it up. Weather square or round point, make sure to round off the edges slightly.

Look at your other razors, to get an idea.

Most of the razors we do, like that. Can be found in the workshop, in the Butchered blade thread. FYI, should u care to look thru it..

I used an almost frozen water soaked sponge to keep things cool. Also I cut from the edge to the spine, fearing that the spine to edge may crack off as the vibrations near the thin part. I used a Dremel drum in the drill press to make a barbers notch on the point, low speed and a lot of dipping to keep it cool and all was well.

Originally Posted by outback

Most of the razors we do, like that. Can be found in the workshop, in the Butchered blade thread. FYI, should u care to look thru it..

Thanks for the reference Mike. I’ve been reading the thread for an hour and am less than a third of the way through. The conversation between MikeB52, Sharpton and you and the photographs are a real tutorial on a lot of restoration topics. Thanks to all of you for recording that.

Looks like cell rot, but what better steel to learn on.

Cut close to the line with a cutting wheel and grind to the line.

I use a course drum on a Dremel flex shaft, sand at slow speed and allow to cool. A course drum cuts faster and runs cooler. Pay attention to rotation, clamp the razor to the bench, or use a small vice with wooden jaw covers. Smooth with a fine drum and a Cratex drum.

A flex shaft is only $15-20 will give you infinitely more control and safety, you will not regret it. Look at your model no. there are at least 2 types of shaft ends.