Thread: N Mills Warranted.

Ha! Perhaps so.

Looks like you're going really well though. Just be super careful with that dremel. It only takes a fraction of a second to have a horrible accident.

Keep up the good work!

I do like the shape of that blade, nice lines. Good job so far, wear your safety glasses.

I have had 1 kind of tool or another in my hand everyday since I was 13. I have learned how to respect them and Also what happens when you don't. Some years ago I had a Dremmel cutting wheel come apart and I felt something hit me in the chin. I reached up and half the blade stuck in my face. Right under the face shield. I have never been seriously hurt but I have had some really close calls. I had good teachers.

Yeah, at work they pushed safety glasses all the time. I used all the excuses, don't fit right, they fog up, etc. Then after using a wire wheel on a L head grinder and having to pick an errant wire out of my cheek, I thought they were a pretty good idea. My neighbor had a grinding wheel blow up, didn't mess him up, a couple chunks hit his leg. But holy crap, there were pieces stuck in the sheetrock, ceiling, and walls. I've always respected them, but have had them take things away from me over the years from not paying attention.

I really wonder about some guys who might get one for Christmas, never used one before and gos to town on a blade. I've only used a Dremel a couple of times, but I've used a die grinder. At 27K rpm, they can get mean real quick.

Exploding wheels are one of the truly scary bits in the machine shop! Or when the moron lets his mind wander and runs the lathe toolbit into the chuck and the bit shatters. Or, a heavy feed/speed on the surface grinder rips the improperly mounted work out of the magnetic chuck and flings it across the room and embeds it in the concrete wall!

Well I am done sanding. Okay maybe a little more after my eyes clear in the morning but I gave it a little polish and I think I got it. I just picked at it once in awhile but I got tired of it staring at me every time I sat down at the bench so I really went at it tonight. I took some 220 grit and put it paper down on the blade and ran a stick of MDF on it until it took the blade shape. Flipped the paper over and with a little determination pressure it went well. Went over it again with 500 grit and started with some 1000 which I may go over it more with that. Not sure how finished I want it. Mirror might be too much for this razor ? The rest of it is done as far as I am concerned. I like the detail as it is. It looks more like the way it was made as compared to corrosion to me. And look at the size of the pin hole. 1/8' drill bit almost looks like it would go through it and I think it doesn't because the pin was so rusted in. I looked at bone today in the Jantz catalog. I believe that is what was on there. What else did they use at that period? I think it was before the great buffalo hunters time. Antler and I don't know what else? Ivory would be too much and too fancy. I was thinking of putting the old ones back but the crack at the pin bugs me. I am sure you guys could tell me how to get em straightened out and finished but that crack. Well, I got time to decide. It needs a little more finishing and a hone job.



Just a note to all who decide to use a Dremmel on a razor. This was my first and I feel lucky. This blade was a full wedge at one time and it looked like somebody tried to hollow it out with a course sanding wheel for some reason. Maybe to make it easier to hone, who knows. It was extremely messed up. It was way to much work to hand sand for me and that is the only reason I attempted this. I kept the razor on a piece of wood as I used a flap wheel and I always made sure the wheel spin direction was going off the edge and the edge was always laying flat on the the wood. I was also aware at all times which way the blade would go if the wheel did catch and send the blade flying, making sure my fingers and other body parts were not in that path. As for the work...keep the wheel moving and watch carefully what it is doing. Stopping frequently to look close will keep you from sanding away to much in 1 spot or creating more work for yourself fixing ridges and low spots. I used an 80 grit wheel to start and fixed most of the damage that some one else did. When I put on a 150 grit it started to make things look better. Then I noticed deeper scratches started to appear in the blade. I don't know if it was because it was a new wheel or if it was me but at that moment I stopped and started doing it by hand. Yes, it was one heck of a job but my razor is turning out nice and it may have been ruined had I been determined to go on with the Dremmel. My point here is,, there is a time to turn off the power and do it the best way which may not always be the easiest. That is one of the secrets to good craftsmanship.

As I let my digits heal from all the hand sanding I put some tape on the spine and went to the 250k stone a few laps and then the 1000k. As I suspected this was NOT going to be a simple job either. In the pics below you can see exactly why. In the beginning I had noticed the spine was thin in the center on the makers mark side. I knew this was going to mean trouble. You can see this as plain as day on the tape and the effect of it on the edge. I am not to crazy about taking the spine down to make it flat and not sure about how to make a honing frame to put over the spine to build the bevel. Shape some sheet metal and tape it on ?It has a weird smile to it. It is straight about half way from the heel to the toe and then it starts to grin. If I had a 3" wide 1000k I was thinking it might bridge between the low spot and straighten the bevel out. The geometry has not manifested into a model in my brain yet, so I guess I will wait and see what you guys think before I move on.
Thank you maddafinga for the eraser idea ! I used a #2 pencil to get in the tight spots and work on some of the smaller depressions. Will use it again to polish out the high part of this bevel once I figure out this little dilemma .



This side is not so bad yet not perfect.

Looks like a toughy there. I'm not a good enough honer to be able to offer any advice there. I'm glad the eraser thing worked out for you though! It's looking good, and I'm sure it'll come around. Good work!

Well I have been looking at it and measuring and looking and I think what it is is that I haven't gotten all the old wedge taken down enough. At the spine the difference in thickness is .005 narrow in the middle, and that is total of both sides. When I put the back of the calipers along the bevel it teeter totters. I am thinking I will take more thickness out at the middle and end where the bevel comes high up the blade and see if that doesn't do it. The spine matches a straight edge on both sides so close it is hard to see anything off ,even though the detail looks thin. My gut is telling me to mess with the bevel before I touch the spine.

Well the calipers don't lie. I can't tell from the pictures what the issue is. Trust yourself and have at it man!