Thread: Win some, Lose some

Maybe I'm wrong, but straightening a razor with dowels and a vise isn't unheard of. It's worked for me before.

mrsell63 - Yes, I have a friend that's a welder but no, I have no plan to weld it.

I have done quite a few with the 3 dowels and a vise myself, you always have to expect them to break...

Honestly you can usually tell if they are soft enough to bend before they get to the breaking point... As you start to apply pressure look to see the give in the metal, if there is a springiness,, it will bend, if it is very stiff, and makes you want to crank on the handle, back off and go another route...
I have also noticed the thicker tangs seem to bend easier, perhaps they are not as hardened

This is not foolproof, and it doesn't always work, it is just an observation I have made...

A little ducktape can fix that.





J/K, I feel sorry for you and your blade , good luck in repairing

Just a word of warning here.

Some razors have been hardened in such a way that the blade gets the full effect of the hardening and the tang remains somewhat softer. In these cases you might have success trying to straighten the blades. Do note that I stress the word 'might' because the slightly softer tang can still be brittle enough to shatter.

In particular I would like to remind everyone that the new series of blades coming from Thiers-Issard (135 Carbonsong steel) are hardened all the way through, end-to-end. Anyone trying this same 'straightening' routine with one of these new blades is asking for trouble.

If you have any issues about the straightness of one of the new TI blades, talk to your supplier... before you take up the hammer.

Glad its not just me. I was very carefully and ever so gently trying to shorten a blade the other day. It didnt end up well.

It just depends on how the temper was done. When I was working with Bob Allman in his shop, we intentionally didn't harden the whole razors (tang and tail left out) so that we could adjust the tang if necessary. He had broken several of his razors trying to fix just that issue, but had much better results after changing his tempering process...

A question:

. . . Could you put the wide part of the blade into water, or wrap it with wet cloth,
. . . and anneal (or at least soften) the tang?

That would let you bend the tang so that the blade centered in the scales, without cracking the blade. I don't have enough experience with hot steel to know whether it's feasible or not.

Charles

that could be tig welded youll have to notch out the back of the blade

thanks for posting that. the info from the other posts on possible fixes and past run ins with the same issue has been interesting reading.

I would expect this to work with thicker razors (mostly Sheffield) because quite a few were not quenched all the way. I've tried drilling through a tang on some damaged razors, and the Sheffield blade did not put up a fight while the Solingen blade was impenetrable (my drill started bending).

Originally Posted by cpcohen1945

A question:

. . . Could you put the wide part of the blade into water, or wrap it with wet cloth,
. . . and anneal (or at least soften) the tang?

That would let you bend the tang so that the blade centered in the scales, without cracking the blade. I don't have enough experience with hot steel to know whether it's feasible or not.

Charles

This is possible. I've known Mike Blue to do it.
However you have to know what you are doing (wet cloth won't suffice) and the tang will discolor severely.