A Simple, Inexpensive and Effective Tool

I have a very nice razor that was given to me by the owner of Hoffritz Cutlery back in the early 1980's. My first wife cut me with it and by the time I got home from the hospital the blood had stained the blade. I put it away then and stayed away from straight shaving until about two years ago when I started the collection all over. I only just found my old Hoffritz razor when we moved last month. The blade was still stained which I was sure I could clean but I didn't want to damage the beautiful gold wash. I tried a pencil eraser (Brits and Canucks call them rubbers) and it worked well, very well. I came up with this easy method to make an eraser bit for my hand held (Dremel type)grinder.
First cut the eraser end off a pencil. Leave about a quarter inch of wood below the metal band:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3300/...28ce714138.jpg
Then drill a hole in the center of the wood by drilling out the graphite core. The graphite is much softer than the wood so the drill bit will follow it perfectly. I used a 3mm bit. Be careful to stop when the bit hits the rubber. Otherwise you will make a tool that is very good at messing up your razors:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3336/...a3d7f0935e.jpg
Then just glue the drill bit into the hole. I used thick (gap filling) cyano acrylate:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3603/...e6fb001292.jpg
A drop in the hole, press the bit into the hole and give it a quick shot of accelerator (I love that they came up with accelerator for "instant glue" for those awfuil times when instantaneous is just not fast enough). Mount the tool in the chuck (or appropriate collett) of your Proxxon type machine and use only the tip of the spinning eraser:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3402/...dceffcbb4c.jpg
And it only cost as much as a cheap drill bit and a pencil!

Brad

have to love the creativity!:)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by icedog

My first wife cut me with it and by the time I got home from the hospital the blood had stained the blade.

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:roflmao
Great tool idea...and an even better beginning to the story!

Sorry man but you post begs the question.

What did you do to make you wife want to shank you?!?:rant::jedi:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by detroyt

Sorry man but you post begs the question.

What did you do to make you wife want to shank you?!?:rant::jedi:

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He kept taking her pencils. ;)

Good job creating the tool.:tu

Great tip Brad. Did you find any one drill speed better than another?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by icedog

I tried a pencil eraser (Brits and Canucks call them rubbers)

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Nope, they are erasers up here (least in my little corner)! :) I recall one of the Indian guys I went to university with asking me if he could borrow my rubber ... I told him I could get him one but I certainly didn't want it back after he was done with it.

That's very clever and ingenious. I like it! :tu

Great idea
...but whats wrong with the erasers that Proxxon supplies?
I use them all the time.

Thanks Icedog. This has been, WIKIFIED!!!

yeah, forget the tips, I want to know why your ex sliced you. :D

Red

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Big Red

yeah, forget the tips, I want to know why your ex sliced you. :D

Red

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Yes I love the tip but I want the Paul Harvey rest of the story bit!!!

note he said "first wife", There's a lesson to be learned here.......

Women may come, and women may go, but a Gentleman takes his razors to the grave :)

She was at the end of one of her frequent drunken cocaine binges. I made the decision that she had had enough. She flipped out and came at me with my beautiful razor.

A few years later she was drunk and eating grilled steak. She began shouting at me with her mouth full and aspirated her partially chewed steak. I made a decision to give her the Heimlich maneuver and she spat the meat across the kitchen and resumed breathing normally. In retrospect after a few more horrible episodes, I regretted performing the Heimlich maneuver. I should have performed the kick her in the face manuever or the hold her head in the toilet maneuver.

Olivia, I never saw a Proxxon eraser and if I had seen them, I didn't have one in my kitchen this morning.

Brad

Sad story Brad. Glad that you survived and moved on and I hope she has recovered from her addiction and is doing well now. That said, your pencil eraser tool is very cool. Thanks. Here is a way to put the rest of the pencil to good use in case you hadn't seen it.

Well, having it in the kitchen is the point! :)
Proxxon has about two different grades (red and green) I know.
Might be a bit more firm but basically similar stuff.

Sorry to hear what you've been through. Guess it can only get upwards from there.
Take care! :)