Thread: First Non-Folder

I have been drooling over the non-folders by shooter, baldy, paco and of course Charlie Lewis for some time, wishing someday that a razor would fall into my lap that I would be ok with modifying to a non-folder. (not lumping anyone in the "modification" rather than "maker" category, I was just listing my motivations). At the same time, I had this Dubl Duck lying around that was my first restore, and one that I was damn proud of. However, the scales I was so proud of made it impossible to strop, not to mention WAY off balance. So, today I got a wild hair up my butt and decided to use my first restored blade as my first reshaped/cut/ground/blacked/non-folded blade. The pictures to follow depict that process. Hope you enjoy looking at them. I enjoyed making it.
So to recap, this is what we started with.


Unpinned and pulled the blade. I used this as practice for unpinning a razor without marring the scales. I was successful! That was nice to be able to accomplish. This picture is after I profiled the tip and the shoulder.


Milling the handle blank. I started with some beautifully figured walnut, but royally messed the milling up, so scrapped it and went with this. The guy I got it from said it was "lyptus". I'm assuming that is eucalyptus?


Used a drill press to drill holes perpendicular to the end.


Handle roughed out.


Boiling the blade to black it. I used the H2O2/salt/vinegar/boil method like baldy did on his "Darkness" fixed razor.

Handle finalized and stained. The pin hole was drilled. I included this shot to explain something. I decided to "antique/distress" the handle by using a bag full of pennies to whack the handle repeatedly. It worked, however, the handle was so thin, and the wood was so stringy, that it cracked longitudinally in four places. I about scrapped the piece and started over. Then I decided to just try a brass band. I grabbed a sheet I had lying around and cut a small sliver off. I secured it to the wood with super glue. It actually worked perfectly, and made the handle nicer and sturdier to boot!


And here it is finished!! Please excuse the fingers. I got super glue then stain all over them.


On the stand. Everything is meant to be rough cut. I guess the whole project kind of gives me a flintlock, pirates, log cabin vibe. I don't know how the pirates figure in there, but it seems to me that they do.....Hmmmm........anyway.......




And one final picture. While sanding, I got a little too deep/figured the angles wrong and got into the tang channel. Sooooooo......instead of trashing the whole thing, I wrapped the tang in brass and called it a design feature! Old Indian word for "mistake."
Maybe I'll get my name engraved there or something.


Anyway, hope you enjoyed the process. I sure did. I've been working 48 HR shifts for several months and I needed to do something tonight to get myself recentered. Even if it doesn't shave, it was worth doing. Last 48 for a while starts in 6 1/2 hrs! Goodnight y'all!

Looks like you had fun. Very nice job.
BTW lyptus is a man-made invention. If I remember correcly it is a cross of eucalyptus and mahogany.
Good, strong, quick growing, saves natural hardwoods. I use it fairly often in my woodworking adventures.

Looks great, very nicely done.
I dig the wood, the brass, the whole piratey log cabiny vibe. Congratulations.
Grant

Very tastefully done. I really like how you shaped the wood.

Beautiful design and execution, the shapes and colors all go together very well. You know you are good when you can turn a mistake into feature.

Charlie

Gentlemen, thank you for the compliments. I have talked with all of you through PM and board post several times, and your compliments mean a lot.

I looked it up. Lyptus is a EucalyptuQs hybrid/cross between two different species of Eucalyptus. It is very similar to mahogany, which is obvious when holding it next to the small life of mahogany I have. It works well, I'll definitely use it again. I think it would take a great oil rubbed finish.

As far as turning the mistake into a feature, it was really more a case of trying to salvage the work I had in the project already. If it was going out for public consumption, I'd have redone the whole thing. I see little stuff I missed. The tip isn't right, the shoulder isn't perfect. The finish is messed up on the handle. It was a learning experience. I have another razor that is about junk that I'm going to do another one with. Any advice is greatly appreciated. Feel free to tear it apart guys. It only makes future projects better.

Brian!! i like it.... turned out sweet... and the brass i really like.....


the blacked out blade gorgeous........ *(shame that damn blade won't shave).....

and if you don't mind explain the blacking process a bit better.... i have a razor i would like to black out....

Looks good, like the "pirate look"

But how come it doesn't shave?