Success is so sweet... :)

[JoshEarl]

Well, on my third attempt I have finally made a razor that shaves really well. The other two I've done weren't heat-treated properly, I think, so they shaved but pulled a little bit.

This razor is actually kind of thrown together because I just wanted to test my heat treating methods. It's simple carbon steel--1084.

The blade has a semi-mirror finish; it has visible scratches but a decent shine to it. My rough grinding is coming along pretty well, and now I need to focus on my finishing. The proportions are a little wacky, as the tang is short enough to be awkward. The edge is a little uneven, which creates some unevenness in the bevel. Tim Zowada gave me some advice to help with that.

The scales are lacewood finished in CA; they were a set I ruined last month, so I just threw the blade in them so I could hone it.

I honed it last night, and it took less than 30 minutes, including setting the bevel by hand. My previous razors took several hours each to hone. I could tell this one was better just from the way it honed.

The shave this morning was pretty amazing. At the risk of bragging, I can honestly say I prefer this blade to most of the vintage razors I've used. It was in my top 10 most comfortable shaves ever.

The challenge will be figuring out why it works and then repeating that. It could be the grind, the heat-treatment, the honing... Lots of variables to work out in there. It's nice to know I'm on the right road, though....

I'm going to use this razor for a while to see how the edge holds up. We'll see if it falls apart on me after a couple of shaves.

Josh

[kerryman71]

Geez, I was happy on my success in my first
honing and you have to go and MAKE a razor!
Looks really nice. Hope it continues to work out
for you. Great job.

John

[Jacques13]

Great looking blade, nice work.

If you want to send some freeby demos away to try I'm a taker....just send pm I'll give you my address.


Great work, keep it up and show us more.
When you do something great it'S OK TO BRAG ABOUT IT.

Jacques
Quebec, Canada

[crichton]

That looks sweet Josh - hurry up and get the process down so you can start taking orders!

[LegalEagle]

That's great, Josh!! Hopefully you can get all the kinks worked out soon so that you can make me one! How long till you're taking orders?

Congrats!!

[Kyle76]

Nice work, Josh! That lacewood looks familiar ...

[Sharp&Shiny]

Lovely keep up the good work.Paul

[JoshEarl]

Day two's shave was equally good. I'm going to make this blade a nicer set of scales, something that balances the blade better. These are for a bigger blade. This razor will probably be my daily shaver for a while.

I did manage to nick my ear. Dang roundpoints--I always cut myself with them.

Josh

[bjrn]

Great work. It's goo to hear things are going so well!

[danb]

Is it just me or does Josh, as the maker of a nice-looking razor, deserve the title of Razor pornographer...?