Best Weekend Ever! And All It Cost Was....

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02-16-2010, 03:14 AM
richmondesi

Best Weekend Ever! And All It Cost Was....

Some Tongue Tacos:rock: They were good too BTW!

So you've all seen Bob Allman's unique work. What you haven't seen is how great a guy he is. After meeting on SRP he graciously offered to let me come spend some time with him in his shop. WHAT A GREAT EXPERIENCE!

Bob and his lovely wife were incredible hosts who opened their home to me and my brother and treated us like family. They put us up, fed us, and were great to just hang out with. On top of that, Bob guided us both through the process of making razors. That is an eye opening exercise. He told me several times that it takes "2 days to make a razor, but only 2 seconds to screw one up". I learned that lesson while hand sanding one of my projects to the point of "tin foil", and big bro learned it while nearly taking his thumb off on the buffing wheel :gaah:...

So... Here are some pics!

Designing my 8/8 Full Hollow (pretty ambitious, but :roflmao)

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a0...D550/ry%3D400/

Blank Canvas

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a0...D550/ry%3D400/

Etching out the design

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a0...D550/ry%3D400/

Grinding!

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a0...D550/ry%3D400/
02-16-2010, 03:15 AM
richmondesi

That get's hot!

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a0...D550/ry%3D400/

Drilling the pivot pin hole

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a0...D550/ry%3D400/

Heat treat

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a0...D550/ry%3D400/

Buffing after oil quench

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a0...D550/ry%3D400/

Working on that Full Hollow

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a0...D550/ry%3D400/

Making Scales!

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a0...D550/ry%3D400/
02-16-2010, 03:15 AM
richmondesi

FINISHED PRODUCT!

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a0...D550/ry%3D400/

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a0...D550/ry%3D400/

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a0...D550/ry%3D400/

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a0...D550/ry%3D400/

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a0...D550/ry%3D400/

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a0...D550/ry%3D400/

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a0...D550/ry%3D400/
02-16-2010, 03:16 AM
Maximilian

Awesome and yes, Bob is a great guy.

Did you get any beer? :beer2:
02-16-2010, 03:17 AM
richmondesi

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a0...D550/ry%3D400/

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a0...D550/ry%3D400/

What a great great weekend...

Many Thanks Bob :nj
02-16-2010, 03:18 AM
richmondesi

Quote:

Originally Posted by Maximilian

Awesome and yes, Bob is a great guy.

Did you get any beer? :beer2:

No, but there might have been some vodka in the vicinity :beer1:
02-16-2010, 03:24 AM
Jrichmond

Yeah, we couldn't thank Bob enough. He was truly one of the nicest guys I've ever met. This was a truly great weekend.

edit: I wasn't able to finish mine, so Bob finished it for me. I can't tell you how much I appreciated all they did (mine's the one in longhorn).
02-16-2010, 03:49 AM
SoCal

Congrats on a great set of razors
02-16-2010, 08:44 AM
baldy

Beautiful. What an achievement. Among all the other things I like about these razors, I really like those deep jimps.
02-16-2010, 01:28 PM
spazola

Wow, what a great time, it looks like you two had a ball. The razors look awesome.

Charlie
02-16-2010, 02:21 PM
pstrjp

Thank you for that it was cool to see razor creation from start to finish. Awesome design btw!:rock:
02-16-2010, 02:28 PM
ShavedZombie

Oh, Lord, those things are GORGEOUS!
02-16-2010, 03:06 PM
Jrichmond

There is one more that looks like it will make it to completion. Bob said it was too awesome to be set in regular scales, and has a set of red deer antlers that he's going to scale it in. More to follow when he gets around to it. Again, Bob and his wife are amazing people.
02-16-2010, 03:52 PM
Sailor

Those razors look great. Did you heat the blades just enough to get the steel red or did it last any longer?
Excellent work indeed!
02-16-2010, 03:59 PM
richmondesi

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sailor

Those razors look great. Did you heat the blades just enough to get the steel red or did it last any longer?
Excellent work indeed!

We heated it until it didn't respond to the magnet. Someone with more knowledge of the process will need to explain it.
02-16-2010, 04:58 PM
Lynn

Awesome Stuff!!

I'm bettin' you're hooked now........:)

Nice designs too.

Lynn
02-16-2010, 05:17 PM
flylot

Congrats on your finished products. It is quite the experience, isn't it?
Bob has a great shop and a wealth of experience.

And, now he has another "training aid" to go along with the two I made for him! Welcome to what I call the "two second club"! :)

I am glad to have met you at Bob's and BTW, thanks again for lunch!
02-16-2010, 07:10 PM
richmondesi

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lynn

Awesome Stuff!!

I'm bettin' you're hooked now........:)

Nice designs too.

Lynn

Yes Sir... I'm already thinking of what equipment I need to really get into this!
02-16-2010, 08:16 PM
Spartigus

Those are absolute beauties!! You must be very very proud!!!!! Thats excellent work!
02-16-2010, 10:42 PM
RonnieNC

Really nice designs! ..........Know you will enjoy the razors.......They really are purdy!!!!!!!
02-17-2010, 12:20 AM
richmondesi

Quote:

Originally Posted by RonnieNC

Really nice designs! ..........Know you will enjoy the razors.......They really are purdy!!!!!!!

I think my brother has family in your neck of the woods:fim:
02-18-2010, 09:27 PM
ScottGoodman

Simply gorgeous & I'm sure the experience was awesome...
02-20-2010, 02:12 PM
Seraphim

Wow!

Nice work, Paul!
Did you do all the grinding, etc? Or did you just do the design?

I want to go spend a MONTH at Bob's place! I could give up the GD mods if I had access to all his goodies and toys!
02-20-2010, 02:36 PM
ndw76

Those are fantastic looking razors. It's good to know that when I become dirty filthy rich there are people here who can advise me on what I need to buy to truly indulge.
02-20-2010, 03:05 PM
richmondesi

Quote:

Originally Posted by Seraphim

Wow!

Nice work, Paul!
Did you do all the grinding, etc? Or did you just do the design?

I want to go spend a MONTH at Bob's place! I could give up the GD mods if I had access to all his goodies and toys!

Yeah, the one in the jade ghost is mine. I did almost all of it. Bob helped me with some parts of it (prevent/fix minor problems), but I did most of it (including the grinding). It has some boogered up parts, but I'm really proud of it. The grind isn't exactly even, and there are some other issues. The next attempt should be better though. I've been thinking a lot about the process, and I've learned a lot from those mistakes. So, I'm really anxious to try my hand at it again. Craig, you'd love going through that process. It was a blast!

That was a pretty ambitious design for a first attempt and to have it come out is really really cool. The first time I successfully took a razor from dull to shave ready, I thought that was something that every man should experience. For the dedicated straight razor guys like us, shaving with a razor that you made is the same way. I just can't get over how cool that was!