Thread: Getting ready to invest in tools

what about blade polishing, so far I do by hand

I think a lot of the confusion comes from the fact that we all approach the same problem (razor restoration) with different tools and techniques. Try to mentally go through the steps of what you want to do, and think of how you want to accomplish it.

If I were restoring a razor with the equipment you mentioned, I would only use the belt sander (and even that just speed up the process). Razor handle material is very thin and the shape is simple, so a hand saw is almost faster than setting up the scroll saw. I could then clean up the profile on the belt sander, drill, and finish up by hand. The blade is just a lot of sanding. Make a sanding block of the right radius and go to town with the sandpaper. You can even get a mirror polish if you use 3M finishing paper (up to 8k).

Keep in mind that this is just how I'd do it. Your techniques are all up to you.

Phillip

so the belt sander is the #1 tool? I think I have at minimal eliminated the saw option (buying hand coping saw). That leaves me 250 to spend either on A. A great belt sander or 1/2 on sander 1/2 on bench grinder. Any recommendations?

Well, what do you plan on using the bench grinder for? I'm not sure where that fits in to the razor restoration picture.

Originally Posted by BKratchmer

Okay... this probably isn't what you want to hear, but in the end it will help you a ton...


You cannot adequately tool yourself to do full restorations with $250. My advice would be:

Buy a the nicest edge sander $200 can buy, whether it is a belt or spindle is your preference.... something with a flat face, and at least one wheel you can use for inside curves.

Use the remaining $50 to buy a nice medium-cut rasp ("carpenter's file") and a coping saw. Buy your wood pre-thicknessed, use the coping saw to cut it in to blanks and rough shape, then use the belt sander to shape (and make wedges) and do all the profiling of the blade with your rasp.

Although I have a whole, huge woodshop at my disposal the only difference between this and what I do is I have a 14" bandsaw instead of a coping saw. The difference? The amount of time.

Ben has some good advice here. I'd take a belt or spindle sander any day over a bench grinder. I think that for making scales, an oscillating spindle sander is the most pleasant to use. I still use my $200 spindle sander to profile scales instead of using my $2000 KMG. And really, you don't even need the coping saw if you have a spindle sander and some coarse drums. It takes seconds to turn a rectangle into the shape of scale on the spindles.

I'm curious how people make scales without a drill press. It could be just that I'm horrible at hand-drilling, but I couldn't make a scale without mine.

Phillip

I have a combination belt sander/bench grinder, you can pull the grinding wheel off and throw a buffing wheel on. Its my most used piece of equipment.

Baldy, love the boys setup!!!!! He can do just like dad's doing...

$250 is not going to get you very far. A good bandsaw will get you around $1,000. My table saw is around $4K but I do a lot of other wood working, not just scales. You can get a good spindle sander for around $250. If you are patient, you can pick up some nice stuff second hand but you would want to purchase local. Shipping a 400 pound tool across a couple of states is quite expensive. It is really a matter of what your future intentions are. If you plan on this being the gateway to wood working, get better gear. If you are only going to polish a dozen blades and make a couple dozen sets of scales a year, then some middle of the road kit will do just fine.

First item purchased today off craigslist delta saw. 2 years old for$50

Came with 25 new blades