Emulating the Pro's

It is said that if you want to be good at something... find out who the best in the field is a do everything he does.

Everyone who displays there work in this forum is good at what they do, but for my money the bloke who sets the standard is Joe Chandler.

Now you're expecting photos of restored razors... right?
Not quite yet...

You'll remember a little while ago Joe took a razor accross the fingers... sustaining a bit of an injury... well this is how I chose to emulate him.

Dispite knowing better... dispite being trained better than this...

I secured a beautiful JR Torrey in my bench vice (sharp side up) then proceeded to reach over it to grab the micromesh off the bench top... i think you see where this is going.

5hrs (waiting) in the ER and 12 stitches in my forearm later Im feeling more than a little stupid at my own blatant error. The voice of my old apprentice master is still ringing in my ears... "dont leave shit in the vice..." "dont reach over your workpiece to get shit..." it took the best part of 20yrs for that advice to reveal its true value... but now it has.

I couldnt believe it !! I've got all kinds of tools and machines in my workshop... some that look like they're specifically designed to inflict injury and (so far) I havent had a problem with them... I'd spent about 2hrs on the grinder and buffing machine just before this happened. Just goes to show you... when you think the risk is gone and you're just going to do a quick job with the vice... that's when it gets you !!

Good news is... if you're thinking of running a straight razor over your skin in a careless fashion... it doesnt hurt a bit... not at all.

Never mind... every campaign has its casualties... and we all must suffer for our art :eek:

When I finish this razor I will definately post pics... I havent bothered previously... it's now become a sentimental favourite.

Greg Frazer

Well done; Joe's a good man to emulate . . . let's see pictures! :D

Let's see the bloody vise-razor pictures!!

Actually, I was working just the other day with a similar set up and was thinking how much it would suck to lose sight of that edge sticking up.....

On an up side, at least the metal was clean when you decided to introduce it to your insides.... Imagine one of those gunked up eBay specials shaking hands with your blood supply?! :eek:

Sorry to hear of your injury, but sometimes the best lessons are learned the hard way....

C utz

Tempered the old-fashioned way - doused in human blood!

Sorry to hear that Greg and I hope all is well (no infections or anything like that).

James.

ahaha... will post a couple of pics on the weekend

As a couple of you know I work a week on/week off basis remote from my home (and toys) so i dont have my digi-cam with me... going home friday night though

C.Utz... you're right, Ive thought that myself. I secure the razor this way because i find it easy to rub with micromesh with the fat side down. And i have often looked at the sharp edge and thought it would suck to come into contact with it.

When using rotating machines i always hold the work about 5mm away from the belt or wheel and picture in my mind which way it would go if I lost my grip on it... obviously if it looks like coming toward me i find another contact angle to achieve the same result, if it looks like it wont come toward me i go ahead am make contact with the belt... i guess you tend to see a stationary vice as a lesser threat.

No infections or anything Jimbo... nice clean cut... spotlessly clean razor.

Actually... this ties together well with the thread in "off topic" about public health care. It was sunday when this happened, so the public ER was the only viable choice... while i had to wait 5hrs to get treated, i couldnt see this as the fault of the ER staff who were all fantastic... i counted about 8 ambulances that rolled in with people much more hurt than i was.

The doctor that stitched my arm up was Iranian... had been here only about 12 months. But he did a great job and was an interesting and funny bloke to talk to... i doubt an Aussie quack would have done any differently.

Jimbo you might be right about the "old fashioned way" the japanese may consider this razor to have its own soul now that it has drawn blood... have to ask my partner about that (she's japanese)

Actually... might not ask her about it... Im already getting the usual treatment from her over this.

Greg Frazer

hope your feeling better real soon,sorry for being a pest and I know every one has their own way of doing things , so forgive my stupidity ,but I jus can`t imagine why it would be necessary to place a razor in a vice blade side up,come to think of it I can`t remember ever placing a razor in a vice at all. I`m not having a go at you ,I`m just curious, thats all , anyway I hope your on the mend and back in the saddle real soon
Kind regards Peter

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bg42

... so forgive my stupidity... etc

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I have 12 stitches in my forearm that shouldnt be there... so I wont be casting any stones :tu

In fact it's not a stupid question at all.

The reason I do this, and I hasten to add that i only do this at the very end of working on a blade, it so that when I am rubbing the blade with the 12k micromesh pad then pressure is naturally being directed into the curve of the hollow... that doesnt even read right to me...

If you picture a line running through the blade from spine to leading edge... you're looking at the blade head on... sharpe side up... I want the rubbing pressure to be at 45degrees to that line... down and accross.

I imagine there are better ways of achieving the same end and i might look into this a little more... though, fact is that i didnt get cut while working on the blade. The mistake i made here was securing the blade in the vice then walking away to do something else. When i spotted what i was after on the bench I completely lost sight of the blade still in the vice... like it was invisible.

Lesson learned anyway...

Greg Frazer

I've had the blade like this in the vice, because I've been playing around with custom file work, and to get the underside of the tang....well, you know where I'm going.

Also, since I use a pivot clamp, I tend to clamp down the tang and sand the blade face that way..... I don't have the Bill Ellis fancy blade holder-set up. I'd like to rig one someday though. Probably after I slice open my arm on my vice-clamped razor.

;)


C utz

A little masking tape folded over the "business end" is a good safety device.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kyle76

A little masking tape folded over the "business end" is a good safety device.

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Yep... excellent tip

I've done that in the past when not working on the whole blade... maybe just the tang or the jimps...
But on this occasion i needed the blade to be clean.

Anyway... as requested... photos!

Before and after... so far... will post more when the handlebars are done.

Greg Frazer

ps. My photography sucks in a big way... this is why i dont bother posting pics normally

Wow, beautiful work on the blade! :bow But, OUCH! :eek:

Crikey, mate!

http://straightrazorpalace.com/attac...3&d=1188006663

...you'll be fightin' off the chicks with THAT one!



...cause, as we all well know....


PAIN HEALS....


(...c'mon guys....throw me a bone here...)

-whatever

-Lou

...ahem!...

PAIN HEALS...


...anyone???

......anyone???

-whatever

-Lou

errrm... and chicks dig cars?

James

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jimbo

errrm... and chicks dig cars?

James

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No, wait, that's not right. Pain heals, and chicks dig spas! No..... wait ..... Mars?? That's it!! Women are from Venus, Men are from Mars. :tu

James.

...and you're from freakin' PLUTO!!!!;)


...anyone ELSE???...anyone???



(...but, extra credit to Jimbo for reading girly books!...)

-whatever

-Lou

OK...enough of hijacking Greg's thread...with apologies to all...especially Jimbo, for that uncalled for wisecrack about the 'girly-book' thing....

Greg...I'm truly sorry about your arm, but that blade turned out beautiful...

nice work:tu

-whatever

-Lou

Quote:

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Originally Posted by scarface

OK...enough of hijacking Greg's thread...

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hijack away mate... that sort of thing never bothers me...

As it turns out, my pain has served a higher purpose... ive ended up with not one but two new converts out of this incident. One of the OHS instructors at work and the boyfriend of one of the ER nurses (she was there when the doc put the stitches in and took them out herself yesterday)... both have expressed interest in learning more and trying it out for themselves.

Shaving with a straight, that is... not running one over their forearm

So i'm putting together loaner sets for both of them now... which i suspect will end up like tony's loaner set and never be seen again. :eek:

But this is a small price to pay for saving two brothers from being King Gillette's bitches.

Greg Frazer

Ouch that looks like it hurt!! I think everyone's done it at some point or another. I was happily shaving away and daydreaming one day and managed to remove the tip of my thumb on my left hand, thankfully it cauterised ok and I didn't need stitches.

Injuries focus the mind, or so I've found. :)