Thread: NOS Herder!

I drove by smokey mnt knife works tonight and got a set of them tonight. 3 out of the 4 blades are going to be usable but one is the smallest I have seen haven't measured it yet but its mainly a spine with an edge on it, maybe 2/8 doubt 3/8 but will measure it to be sure all have a uniforn coating of rust have to see whats under that.

Forgive me, but I am a total noob in this. If someone was to get some of these blanks. How hard is it to get more scales and pins and things of that nature, and is there a video that explains how to do the restoration or is it just a figure it out on your own kind of thing?
Thanks,
Photoguy67

Originally Posted by Photoguy67

Forgive me, but I am a total noob in this. If someone was to get some of these blanks. How hard is it to get more scales and pins and things of that nature, and is there a video that explains how to do the restoration or is it just a figure it out on your own kind of thing?
Thanks,
Photoguy67

I do not know for sure but it looks like the razor blanks have not been thru the final grinding process. The final grinding is where the blank, now a single concave ( 1/4 hollow aka wedge) grind is both thinned out on the main section of the blade and a second grind is made along the edge making it a full hollow or Hamburg grind.

One thing is for sure, that a lot of grinding/sanding will need to be done. Maybe even heat treating & tempering.

Sorry,

Hey Randy,

NOT a problem...

We have 'people' here that know how to do this......

C utz

hey Randy
If I had to guess I would guess a little of both. My opinion is these have at least been heat treated but dont hold me to it.

For the price, bought a package of these blades and one of the big 8/8 blades. I don't intend to finish the smaller blades but do not have the skills or equipment to do the grinding and potential heat treating that they may require. Who among you all has these skills and would be willing to finish one or both blades to include scaling? Please PM with details and pricing. Thanks in advance.

OK, update time. I went to Mike Blues workshop today. Mike used his Rockwell testing machine and found that the edge was a Rockwell of 59.8 and the shank-tang came in at 55. One of the tests chipped the blade along the edge. From that Mike looked at the grain size and said it is a fine grain steel. We talked a bit about what needed to be done re heat treating and he suggested a 2 hour temper at 400 degrees just to be on the safe side.

The razor appears to have had the "flashing" from the die ground off but there is still a lot of grinding to go. The razor blank has been formed for a 1/1 or full hollow, bi-concave grind. It is not a 1/4 hollow, single concave grind now and due to the thinness of the grind below the spine it probably cannot be made into single concave grind, wedge without also grinding away some of the thick, deep spine. I will play with the chipped razor, shortening it and grinding it on an 8" wheel to see what happens.

I will report back in about one week.

Randy, Thanks for the update. Keep posting about what to do to refine the blades. This does look like a fun project.
Headdoc

Originally Posted by randydance062449

OK, update time. I went to Mike Blues workshop today. Mike used his Rockwell testing machine and found that the edge was a Rockwell of 59.8 and the shank-tang came in at 55. One of the tests chipped the blade along the edge. From that Mike looked at the grain size and said it is a fine grain steel. We talked a bit about what needed to be done re heat treating and he suggested a 2 hour temper at 400 degrees just to be on the safe side.

The razor appears to have had the "flashing" from the die ground off but there is still a lot of grinding to go. The razor blank has been formed for a 1/1 or full hollow, bi-concave grind. It is not a 1/4 hollow, single concave grind now and due to the thinness of the grind below the spine it probably cannot be made into single concave grind, wedge without also grinding away some of the thick, deep spine. I will play with the chipped razor, shortening it and grinding it on an 8" wheel to see what happens.

I will report back in about one week.

What's happened in your work with these blades. I have not started to work on mine yet- time factors as well as waiting for suggested starts (heat treating, tempering, etc.)
Headdoc

Originally Posted by Doc

I drove by smokey mnt knife works tonight and got a set of them tonight. 3 out of the 4 blades are going to be usable but one is the smallest I have seen haven't measured it yet but its mainly a spine with an edge on it, maybe 2/8 doubt 3/8 but will measure it to be sure all have a uniforn coating of rust have to see whats under that.

Hello Doc,

Is it rust or firescale from the heat treating? or both?