Thread: What Needs To Be In My Workshop?

Originally Posted by Paddington

Don’t worry about it Chris. Like I said it was a great call; I’m sure that if I decide to purchase a grinder I will be able to find one in the UK -- though the price may be a little higher. Beats getting electrocuted and my family having to pay for both a funeral and import taxes!

Do you think that anyone would let me visit them and see how they restore razors? I thought it was all a bit secretive; people not wanting to reveal their techniques, etc. Heh, maybe that’s just my imagination! People seem to love helping each other out here -- it’s a great little community. (Little is the wrong word).

You're spot on, Paddington about our group here being very generous with sharing knowledge. I've heard it said that it's less common among the Bladesmith community in general for Bladesmiths to share their "secrets" (although there is a wealth of info on the few blade forums I've joined so maybe that is only partly true?).

Chris L

Yeah, I have been reading through this forum and the contributions are amazing.

I'm looking forward to any future meets. I'll make every effort to go; luckily I tend to have plenty of free time. .

Anyway, any UK restorers who would let me watch you work for a day or two, pm me! Lol, I'm not really expecting any replies to this, but it's worth a shot!

In the mean time, keep posting ideas for the workshop. It's a good size so anything goes.

Paddington.

Just a quick update:

I picked up a grinder on ebay for only £49. I'll upload a pic as soon as I get it. I'm thinking of making a jig to hold the blade while I work with it -- does anybody do this? I could really do with some ideas.

Paddington.

Paddy,

I can't argue with the desire to pursue this. It's an horrible disease that may well consume you. There is no cure.

But, start with hand tools if you can. Learn, say polishing, by making some polishing sticks and wrapping them with various grits of paper/abrasives. This principle applies to all the processes involved. If you don't understand the basic movements and how to achieve them by hand first, a power tool will simply cause mistakes to occur quicker and most often, in a larger way that is harder to recover from.

Jigs are helpful in the beginning, but eventually you'll find yourself doing without one, especially on concave surfaces. PM sent.

Mike

In reality: if you want to get started, you only need what you already have. Basically, if you have sandpaper for sanding metal (aluminium oxide or silicon carbide) that's enough.
Have a look at my handsanding howto for a detailed explanation about how to restore a blade using nothing but sandpaper and elbow grease.

For making scales: if you have a file and some sandpaper, that's all you need (except for perhaps a saw, and the wood itself).
Drilling the pivot holes is most easily done with a drill press, but a dremel or even a plain rgular drill will do.

Do a search for threads started by me in the Gallery. All those restorations started off with very badly damaged razors, and were finished, using nothing more than sandpaper and common hand tools.
The only electric thing I used was my dremel, for drilling the holes and for polishing the blade at the end.

Today I have some more equipment and I am starting to use power tools, but only because now I know what I need vs what would be nice.
Another reason why I also advise people to start off by using hand tools is that it lowers the necessary investment to get started. Many people start with restoration, but not all follow through. As with all hobbies, there is a significant chance you'll lose interest.

I've had that in the past a couple of times, where I start with something, think I'll like it, buy good equipment and then lose interest sometime later. I am not saying that this necessarily applies to you, but I've fallen into this trap a couple of times in the past, which is why I purposely started out on restoration by hand.

And another factor is that if you do a couple by hand, you'll learn a lot about the materials you're working with.

EDIT: I just realized that Mike is giving the same advice. I should have read the whole thread before answering . Anyway, learning to do things by hand is a valuable learning experience.

hi, where in the uk are you? +1 on Bruno's comments, this hobby needn't be expensive. the difficult bit is deciding between what you want and what you need.......!!!! If i can help you at all, pm me. there's loads of help on this forum.
Oh, welcome.......!
best wishes,

mark....