Anyone have a dual wheel counter-rotating razor grinder? SEE PICS INSIDE

I checked out the razors on www.straightrazordesigns.com. Wow. I thought custom knives were expensive! :) There are no details on the damascus used but it looks like Damasteel. Those are some nice pieces but they really carry a hefty price. I'm not much into razors myself and since I've never studied their geometry and such I don't make them. Hope you run down somebody to make you what you're looking for. :thumbup:
 
Kevin,
It seems to me that there is a hole in the market for excellent razors.
I am going fast forward making them now using excellent steels and handles along with good geometry!
 
Darrel you're a god awful tease you know that? For starters you're my favorite knife maker as it is...and now you talk of straight razors. I can't even afford ONE of your knives...couldn't imagine a set of 7 razors. I'm just hoping I can scrape the dough together this year for my first Venturi.

I'm sure I can come up with the proper dimensions for a serviceable razor and in fact I could probably enlighten you guys on some of the aspects of a straight razor simply because I'm a forumite in the straight shaving community. As for sharpening that's the whole point of the double hollow ground edge. The geometries are such that the spine of the blade is the sharpening guide with the blade being laid flat on the hone. With a flat ground blade you would then have ALL that material to remove. Many old barbers razors were flat ground to stand up to heavy use but were a REAL bitch to hone properly. The double hollw gives you a heavy spine for the guide while leaving the edge thin enough that you are only removing material from the cutting edge itself as you hone.

I think there's a mathematical ratio for blade width to spine thickness but it eascapes me at the moment. I'll try to look it up. The project is still up for anyone who can grind these provided I find the proper information.
 
I'd love to have a double hollow grinder as pictured in the first post! Gawker, where is that picture from?

As Darrel mentioned, with grinding straight razors, the devil is in the details for sure!

:)

-Darren
 
Gawk,
I don't mean to tease..
Those razors are just fascinating to me.
A friend of mine awakened me to them about a year ago.
I have been studying them so that I can make them right.
The geometry has to be right as you said or they are just boat anchors.
Hell grinding 7 of them would take me 6 months:D I would have to think about it to long.
If anyone is going to Vegas please stop by the table.
I might have a surprise there!
 
Darrel Ralph said:
Gawk,
I don't mean to tease..
Those razors are just fascinating to me.
A friend of mine awakened me to them about a year ago.
I have been studying them so that I can make them right.
The geometry has to be right as you said or they are just boat anchors.
Hell grinding 7 of them would take me 6 months:D I would have to think about it to long.
If anyone is going to Vegas please stop by the table.
I might have a surprise there!
Click to expand...

The ratio of dimensions for the straight razor is 3.5...I know I know that sounds a lot like the Hitch Hikers Guide saying the answer to the BIG question of the meaning of life the universe and everything is 42. And Darrel...if you DO start making straight razors...you WILL have to reserve one of the first few for me or I will fly to Ohio and find your shop and cry.

Here's how the razor works. In order to get the correct edge angle using the spine as a guide...the dimensions of the spine in relation to the blade width is W/3.5=S

Or for a 5/8 inch wide razor (measured from edge to spine) the proper spine thickness would be about 0.178 inches or 178 thousandths of an inch (right?). Likewise a 7/8 inch razor like I'm wanting would require a spine thickness of 1/4 inch although I can't verify that as I don't own a 7/8 razor yet. The reason for the ratio staying the same based on blade width is to account for the angle changing as you push the edge farther from the spine.

If you leave the spine the same thickness, as the edge moves farther away the angle would become more acute and beyond a certain point the edge would become weakened to a point that it can't be useful anymore. By keeping the ratio static you achieve a larger blade with more material giving more heft to the blade while retaining the same angle at the edge that has been proven to shave well over the last few hundred years up until Gillette starting brainwashing the public into thinking he had a better way.

PS...I want to go to Vegas now just to see the DDR table...Darrel when are you coming to Texas?!
 
I measured mine and it is .185" at the spine, and 11/16" wide. The feathered portion is about .009" and runs for slightly more than half the width of the blade.
 
Darrel, you may just be onto something there! Once you have the design info to make a proper blade then you just need to be able to grind 'em. I bet if you check around in retirement homes in upstate New York you'll find some old timers who can tell you all about it! :D They used to make a lot of straight razors in those factories and I think they were ground by hand. Or check the unemployment office in the Solingen region here in Germany! They may be able to hook you up. Actually the German Blade Museum in Solingen might be able to help you for real. They have a lot of stuff and many contacts in the area. Ther email is: klingenmuseum@solingen.de If you want a grinding machine, that's also the place to look.

I'm trying to learn to make top quality lockbacks right now, as well as 2 1/2D CNC machining so my dance card is full, but I'm looking forward to seeing what you come up with. I know it will be great, just like the knives you make. :thumbup:




Darrel Ralph said:
Kevin,
It seems to me that there is a hole in the market for excellent razors.
I am going fast forward making them now using excellent steels and handles along with good geometry!
Click to expand...
 
Actually I'm a member of probably the largest straight razor forum on the net...and other than DOVO, Thiers Issard, Henckal, and a myriad of older now defunct companies...there AREN'T many options for straights. In fact the ONLY maker I knew of from my travels on the forums until Darren was Maestro Livi and to be honest...I'd be very unlikely to shell out the kind of dough he charges for a razor. His stuff IS very nice but I just don't know that it's THAT nice. In fact maybe it's about time he had a little competition.

Darrel if I can be of any use either through information or pure encouragment from a fan...let me know. I'd LOVE to see some DDR razors on the market, and I know you'd be more apt to create things that appeal to me than Mr Livi.
 
Kevin,
I actually built a pantograph razor grinder for my burr king.
I will be hooking it up after the NY show in Feb.
For now the few that I will have in Vegas will be fixture roughed and then hand finished.
I think I will have to hand finish grind every one but no big deal .
Gawk.
I have to say we are on the same track.
Most of the razor nuts I have talked to like the 7/8
that's what I am building for Vegas!
If you really want one please email me off list.
:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D
I have a block of IMITATION Tortoise, and Titanium handles!
I figured all synthetic for the water problem.
Please keep in touch I will be making these razors one of my standard knife lines soon.
I will also build some in very exotic steels and handles.

I love making knives!!!
COME TO TEXAS?
Hell come to Ohio!

I will be coming to TEXAS soon.
I have a gulf fishing trip planned with a good customer of mine.

Ill take pics of them before Vegas!
 
Darrel Ralph said:
Kevin,
I actually built a pantograph razor grinder for my burr king.
I will be hooking it up after the NY show in Feb.
For now the few that I will have in Vegas will be fixture roughed and then hand finished.
I think I will have to hand finish grind every one but no big deal .
Gawk.
I have to say we are on the same track.
Most of the razor nuts I have talked to like the 7/8
that's what I am building for Vegas!
If you really want one please email me off list.
:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D
I have a block of IMITATION Tortoise, and Titanium handles!
I figured all synthetic for the water problem.
Please keep in touch I will be making these razors one of my standard knife lines soon.
I will also build some in very exotic steels and handles.

I love making knives!!!
COME TO TEXAS?
Hell come to Ohio!

I will be coming to TEXAS soon.
I have a gulf fishing trip planned with a good customer of mine.

Ill take pics of them before Vegas!
Click to expand...

To be honest Darrel...I was pricing a trip to Ohio last night for around my birthday (Feb 26) and trying to come up with ideas on how to convince my wife to make the trip possible. She's not likely to be swayed with talk of balisongs, damascus steel, and exotic inlays, nor of seeing the master in action so in order to make this possible I have to find something in your area that draws her interest so the trip would be worthwile for the both of us. She's interested in historical sites and things and I assume there must be some good examples around the Columbus area which is about 20 miles from you if I'm correct. At around $400 per person plus hotel and car...it'll probably be a while before I can afford to make my pilgrimage to the DDR Mecha. Hopefully when the weather warms up and the off duty jobs start rolling in I can start putting in extra time to save up for a trip in the summer.

Please don't mistake my comment as assuming you'd come visit me...I just thought maybe there were larger knife shows like in the DFW area you might be attending.

As for the razors...well I'd LOVE one but I'd have to see what I could afford. I'll be sending you an email discussing some details of the idea in MY head as you might find it attractive to your tastes as well as inquiring into one of your first razors for my collection. I do find it odd that there's a chance my first DDR custom WON'T be a bali though. Wish I could make a trip out to the Vegas show but I think I'd rather save up for a trip up your direction and see your stuff in the shop setting than on a table in Vegas. Probably be more affordable that way anyhow :D

Hope you enjoy the fishing. I don't live near water so it's been forever since I've gone. If you travel through my area you'd be more than welcome to make a pit stop for the epitome of tex-mex cuisine and a tour of GW Bush's home town...cause I live here :) Just do us the favor of keeping us well informed on this new front as the availability of a DDR straight razor will likely bring another bunch of people to the wonderful world of the single bladed razor and the luxury of a shave that has been turned into a miserable chore by modern marketing. Plus I'd be willing to bet you'd find a nice market for the razors in the members of the straight razor forum I'm on.
 
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