Thread: working on a sharp razor

Hello,

A while back I decided that I wanted to try out a few other brands of razors but not have to spend all the money for brand new razors, I hit the local pawn/antique shops and found a few re-honed them and started shaving with them. I have a few that I really really like and would like to make them shine like new but there is a problem.... they are really really sharp. I live in an apartment and therefore have to use hand sandpaper and a dremel. I have found over the course of my life that putting pressure on a sharp object runs the risk of some pretty gnarly cuts and scars which I would like to avoid..Advice please?
thanks

on a side note, I have finally completed my first basic restoration, there was some minor pitting and staining which I managed to take off, The main drawback is that there is a deep scratch that runs the length of the blade from heel to toe which is really impossible to take off without ruining the shape of the blade. But it looks far better than it did and I am enjoying it....my friends think I am crazy because it took me over 3000 passes on my hones to reset the wear on the spine and blade. Whoever used it before me gave it a triangle shape with the base at the heel. My shoulder was tired for a few days but it was worth it. So now as voiced in previous paragraph I would like to take the next step and make some pretty razors

If you honed it once, you can hone it again. I would either dull it slightly or put some tape over the edge. You could attempt to restore it while sharp, but you might as well just cut yourself good with it first to get it over with.

Dull the razors. Lay a drinking glass or glass jar on its side, gently place the heel of the blade against the glass and draw it back along the entire length of the blade using only the weight of the blade. Do a thumb test to confirm the edge is dull. If not, then repeat it until you are satisfied that it is sufficiently dull.

Edit: To clarify the positioning of the blade, imagine that you are going to cut the glass in half so that it will only hold half the water that it did before. You will be placing the blade tangentially to the curvature of the glass.

Lotsa tape. Be ready to re-hone the razor when it's done. Be careful, too. Even with tape, it's possible to damage the blade or yourself.

Oh, and chicks dig scars, right?

I would just run the edge over the side of a glass or bottle to dull it, do the work you want to do and then re-hone it.

The bad news,, Sanding a dull blade will sharpen the blade just enough to cut ya good

There is no safe way other than to build a Magnetic Jig with Rare Earth Magnets, that jig will keep your fingers pretty safe...
Plans for such a Jig are buried here in the workshop You just need to search it out...

Or go slow and be careful,, BTW super glue does a good job at sealing cuts on fingers Muhahahaha

Here is a pic of how i do it. Only need a 10" piece of 2x4 with a notch cut out.

nice set up.
You can take it even further, by adding a few magnets and a steel sheet to hold the razor.
This is a variation of the magnetic jig
http://straightrazorpalace.com/works...harddrive.html
Bill's Straight Razor Info: Making the Blade Safety Jig

You can stick the blade down to a piece of wood with a hard wax, such as carnauba. Some kinds of candlewax might do it, depending on your climate and how hard you plan to work on it, and a pin through the pivot hole would help. The main thing is to have the edge flat against something. That eliminates the need to dull it, which always goes against the grain, and the danger of rounding the edge.

I have glued abrasive paper to a short push-stick with the tip angled at about 30 degrees from its length. This lets you rub hard, with no risk of cutting yourself. It seems to work best with an intermediate piece of rubber or cork sheet, as the paper clogs less easily, and it conforms to the contour of a hollow grind. I glue a complete sheet of paper in each grade I want to a piece of bulletin-board cork, and cut pieces as required.

My next step is going to be a small wood rasp, with individually chiselled teeth, cut up and silver soldered to a metal handle. The teeth held the cork nicely without glue when I tried it with a complete rasp, and they are too short to penetrate through the cork to steel.