Thread: Guitar theme Resto heartbreak..

So I picked up and old 3/8 Wostenholm pipe razor (wedge) a few weeks ago for $3. After reading a thread about 3/8 razors I decided to go ahead with a full, scales off restore to have a nice little razor for trimming around the gotee.. It started out fine. The scales were a total loss so I ground the peens and started with sand paper. There was alot of pitting. It took a ton of work to get it to a near mirror finish but, I finally got her there. The edge was in terrible shape. A few chips and flat spots that drove me nuts trying to set the bevel. I put it down for a few days and started again this morning. Had a great idea for a guitar theme with the scales since I'm a guitar player so jumped right on it.. The new scales are orange acrylic (matches a vintage Gibson Flying V I have). The wedge was made out of a really thick guitar pick, cut and ground down, of course. I peened it with a thicker than normal brass rod to accomodate washers that I made out of cut in half and ground down guitar string ends (Chrome). Everything looked great so I plopped back down at the table for another marathon of setting this bevel. Here's where the heartbreak comes in: An hour in, a big hair-line crack forms 2/3rds of the way down the blade. I have no idea how it happened. There was no pressure, heat or stress on the edge at all. I just stopped mid stroke to see how the edge was comming along and there it was.. The thing is already so small that there's no saving it now. So, Here I am, tons of work and no razor to show for it. ARRGGGG!!!!

here's a bad and sad pic.. really bad lighting, I'll try to take a better one to post, just to get the satisfaction of showing off the work I can't enjoy.. just out of motivation.. lol

Here we go... a little better..

That thing was probably a 5 or 6 eighths when it started life... so if it makes you feel any better, it probably wouldn't have shaved well (if at all) anyway...

You have good scales, though, just need to find a blade for them! And that's the fun part!

Sorry to hear that. It's happened to all of us. Makes a good argument for setting a bevel before doing any resto work.
Don't do anything silly with that treinta/treinta now

I know that feeling when your heart just jumps into your throat and you realise that all your hard work and emotional investment has just gone down the toilet.
I feel for you brother.
Thats a real shame. On the bright side, at least its Christmas in a few days.
Grant

ya know baldy, your pic has kind of inspired me.. My son loves to watch me shave. I let him with a bladeless de occasionally.. Maybe i'll take the edge off completely and let him "shave" with it... hmm..

Originally Posted by Ryno

ya know baldy, your pic has kind of inspired me.. My son loves to watch me shave. I let him with a bladeless de occasionally.. Maybe i'll take the edge off completely and let him "shave" with it... hmm..

That sucks...was looking really good. Funny, my little guy has watched me shave and always checks out my restores and asks "Daddy when are you gonna make one for me?" I too have thought about dulling one down and making it "just for him" lol

Know the feeling, I got a DD Dwarf in like new condition and we so excited, durring the honing I kept feeling a strange vibration with a weird squeek , took a look and there right in the middle was a crack that I though was a scratch or faint grind mark... Oh well... I'll re-pin it someday to some scales and put in the DOA/Collection box, still a beautiful razor, as is yours

Ryno, Great idea about using guitar string ends for washers. It is good to recycle things and make them one-of-a-kind usable items.

Use a Dremel cutoff abrasive disc carefully, and slowly cut that blade down to a stubby. I did that wih a Union 5/8 half hollow. Cutting should be made with many passes so that the blade metal will not get hot and anneal. I just made a spike tip on mine as a finish touch. That little razor was SO EASY to Hone and Strop! Since you got it for trimming, it would be a perfect candidate for that kind of salvage. Keep those scales and pins the way you made them, or make some compact scales to match the newly modified blade. Try that. Stubbies are neat and fast to maintain. Good luck. Thanks for sharing. Merry CHRISTmas to you, RRR