Making Straight Razors WIP - stock to Str8

[Substance]

did the primary ( 50 grit ) flattening & shaping ready for the rough bevels tonight hopefully,
still need to drill pivots then check the tangs center etc before moving to the 120 & 240 grit for pre-heat teat finishing

note the small Kamisori is now out & a smaller object due to a disagreement with a small hammer to remove a bend
and the object below it is wrought iron with a piece of 1095 steel forged to the end (twice) as the first time failed, so not sure if this will be a small kamisori, a small knife or even a chisel, I will have to see how the 1095 steel lines up with an edge not looking to good so far LOL

also took a pic of the sheep's foot utility knife, at a similar stage for @Ferret619 it is a 3" blade from 30*5mm 1095 steel hollow ground blade & the tang is hollowed ready for tapering post Heat treat.

 

[Ferret619]

did the primary ( 50 grit ) flattening & shaping ready for the rough bevels tonight hopefully,
still need to drill pivots then check the tangs center etc before moving to the 120 & 240 grit for pre-heat teat finishing

also took a pic of the sheep's foot utility knife, at a similar stage for @Ferret619 it is a 3" blade from 30*5mm 1095 steel hollow ground blade & the tang is hollowed ready for tapering post Heat treat.

OMG OMG OMG
That looks amazing,I’m soo excited about this!

 

[Arnold J Rimmer]

That is a pretty sweet story so far. Can't wait for further updates.

 

[Substance]

gress
50 grit hollows ground in, pivots drilled, tangs tapered and checked for centering

Thanks for looking

 

[LukehGee]

@Substance whats happening in the last photo? Is that the cantering check you mentioned? Can you explain what is happening there?

 

[Substance]

Got the 6/8" blanks ground to 120 grit and heat treated
All the O1 straight blanks got normalised at 850c to room temp then
Triple quenched 815c +/- 5c for 5 minutes soaks then into Houghton-Quench K at 35-47c each time
Also did a 1095 sheep's foot blade while I was there
It got a 855c to. Room temp normalising then
850c ( non magnetic) into 38c houghtons K also
Now all are tempering at 225 for 2 hours

 

[Ferret619]

They are all looking awesome!
Love the shape of all of these blades.


Sheepie is best though

 

[Substance]

@Substance whats happening in the last photo? Is that the cantering check you mentioned? Can you explain what is happening there?

Yeh mate,
what I use is 2 pieces of 3mm G10 and some 1/16" Microfasteners and bolt the faux scales to the pivot, this helps to check the tangs are even and the blade will be centered and that the tangs are vertically tappered or at least parllel and not wider at the edge instead of the spine
So when I make the final scales all is right, I also checks there is enough room for movement, I do a similar check when I make the wedge the keep them about 3-5mm wider each side of the tang at the pivot to allow for the tail to rotate through the scale with out hitting

 

[Ferret619]

Man I gotta know, what are you thinking for scales on the razors and even more curious about the knife

 

[Substance]

current plans for the 6/8" Str8's
I made a laminated G10 blank of 0.5mm red-white-black on a 3mm black G10 backing (club jersey colours) for one 21st
I am thinking the JWest style will suit the Faux Tortoise shell
& I have a couple of experimental options going on for the last 2

the 8/8" when I get to them will most likely be naturals - horn, antler, bone or burl options

2 of the str8's had minor warping during heat treat that need correcting most likely due the triple quench I did on them to keep the O1's grain as fine as possible
1 has been flexing to more than 3mm & back over a 60mm width, so have it over night under tension to re-align it

The sheep's foot is now a stanley knife due to a dis-agreement during some post heat treat alignment corrections in the vise
pics to follow tonight since I had to walk away last night
but seeing the 8" hollow was only about 1.5mm at the thinnest hollow point, I think it may be to thin for its size after final grinding anyway
but the grain does look nice & fine, so I may make a dedicated option for a new sheep from 20*5 O1 about 3/4 the size of this one with a flat or 36" hollow grind instead

 

[Ferret619]

Those scales sound amazing!
Flat grinds make up the VAST majority of my collection, donno why but they just look great, then again sometimes you get a hollow with swedge and they are just so fascinating to see.
Sorry to hear they are being a little disagreeable

 

[Substance]

The Stanley sheep lol


And the blanks cleaned up with a worn 120 grit

Also found a crack in 1 blank at the heal to tang transmission

 

[Ferret619]

The Stanley sheep lol


And the blanks cleaned up with a worn 120 grit

Also found a crack in 1 blank at the heal to tang transmission

Oh Mr Sheepie, why you do this! Your cowardice is influencing the other blades.

 

[Substance]

So 5 forginging became 3 near ready 13/16" str8 blades
Now the decision of what scales for each
1 is to be the red white and black g10
But the other 2 are TBA
Leaning towards the blue & purple resin for the HoshiTombo inspired blade at the bottom
and some pin ups in resin for the last one
do have some options thought

Been doing a bit of juggling as I have been working on 2 other str8s, 1 of mine with horn scales
and reground a Vintage JA Westa and got some black mother of pearl and nickel silver for its scales that's been in the planning for a long while now
also a 12C27 knife with G10 & gidgee scales, just waiting for the glue to cure fully from last night then to the shaping & onto a sheath
Cheers
Dion

 

[Substance]

Calling this one done, all bar my makers mark, final honing and a shave test

Also got another 2 sets of scales from "I done it" resin blanks, shaped and sanded to 400 grit, still need to go up to 5000 for these then final polish but the look promising
Blue dyed resin with Chameleon Color Changing Pearl Powder (Blue-Purple-Red)

Pinups in resin with Chameleon Color Changing Pearl Powder (Green & Yellow)

 

[Ferret619]

Amazing work bud!
Gutted the sheepsfoot died

 

[Substance]

next up of the rank is the Pinup

 

[LukehGee]

Beyond amazing man. The pin ups are fantastic. Heaps of possibilities. I'm imagining a comic book inspired one with some vintage Kirby art

 

[Substance]

yeh I like the idea of it also, these pin ups are all Gil Elvgren items,
but I have been considering a Marvel inspired Str8 or knife for my oldest lad

 

[Substance]

Another finished up finally
Hoshi Tombo inspired
13/16” O1 steel
Custom resin scales
SS pins & eyelet washers
Brass thrust washers