First straight razor blade

Matthew Gregory

Matthew Gregory

Chief Executive in charge of Entertainment
Joined
Jan 12, 2005
Messages
6,399
Hey again!

Just finished grinding my first straight razor blade - boy, are these suckers nasty to grind! It needs to be hand rubbed and buffed, but what you're looking at is a 1200 grit machine finish.
It's an 8/8 profile (meaning it's eight eighths of an inch from blade edge to spine), ground on a 3" wheel, and the edge is .005" thick. The steel is 1095, and I think the material that this one will get for scales will be some really nice cocobolo I've got.

Thanks for looking!

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That looks really great, Matt. Nice clean lines. Are you going to let us know how it shaves?

Jordan
 
Wow, that's absolutely beautiful. What kind of scales are you going to put on that?
 
That is oh so cool. I'd love to have one - seems like such a traditional "guy" thing. Just think I'd be too much of a wus to actually use one.

Roger
 
Karl B. Andersen said:
That's awsome, Matt.
How far did you grind before you hardened it?
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Thanks guys!

I ground it to around .045" before heat treat... worried about warping. They (I actually made 5 - two in 1095, three in 1084) stayed nice and straight. I just thinned 'em down with a 50 grit Blaze afterward, with two tempering cycles at 325 degrees just to stress relieve. My guess is that they're somewhere in the neighborhood or RC65, and I have to rethink my choice of belts for projects like this. Klingspor 400 grit j-flexes don't even touch them at this hardness. I must have used 3 belts on one side before I gave up and switched to Trizacts and Noraxes...

Also, technically, this isn't my first. I had the other one in 1095 completely finished and buffed out, when I decided to make it just a little more perfect - that's when the buffer took possession of it. Just glad I have all my lil' piggies intact!:eek:
 
Can I call dibs on one now? It looks like it turned out wonderfully. I'm sure it will look even better in person.
 
it does look
REALLY nice matt, good job so good I can't even tease you about it..but wait a minute you've got another thread muwhaha...
Paul
 
RogerP said:
That is oh so cool. I'd love to have one - seems like such a traditional "guy" thing. Just think I'd be too much of a wus to actually use one.

Roger
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That IS cool. I don't think i'd have the nerve to try one either. I have several vintage ones and it must be a "guy" thing, as the reason I have them is, I have some innate attraction to them.

I do use them for some things such as cutting leather and they work EXCEPTIONALLY well.

Peter
 
Matt,
That looks very nice. I'd love to see it finished.

Roger, Peter,
I loved the idea of shaving with a straight razor and bought all the stuff for it a couple of years ago. I was quite nervous to use it the first time, but a lot of knife know-how applies and it went quite smoothly.
I love it. I'm the guy that never found a regular razor or electric that didn't cause razor burn and breaking out (the neck especially). After getting the hang of it (2-3 times), I get smoother shaves with no irritation. I highly recommend it. Just do a little homework first and ask some questions. I've been using it for two years now and would never use anything else. I even pack up all my stuff when I travel.

Nick
 
gator belts to A45 then hand sand (buff then) if you want ot go mirror

the bigest trick on razors id keeping crisp grinds before buffign and then to only buff a bit
that or make satin belt finishes


boy aint it fun to "pull" the hollow grind out on a small wheel
 
butcher_block said:
gator belts to A45 then hand sand (buff then) if you want ot go mirror

the bigest trick on razors id keeping crisp grinds before buffign and then to only buff a bit
that or make satin belt finishes


boy aint it fun to "pull" the hollow grind out on a small wheel
Click to expand...


Thanks, Butch!

I spoke with Tim Zowada and he pointed out a few things I'm doing wrong - all in time for me to correct them on this batch. I reground both this razor and the one the buffer took from me last night (now it's kind of a 5/8 spike) and brought both of them to .001" or less at the edge!
He also pointed out that I had been victim of the myth surround razors regarding them being left fully hard. I tempered these back to approx. RC61-62, so they should hold up better and be easier to hone.
I'll try and get some pics of them up ASAP. They haven't been buffed yet, but they're hand sanded to 800 grit.
 
Thanks Nick - that's encouraging - I might just have to scrape up the nerve to give it a try.

Roger
 
Here's some pics - not only are they nasty to grind, they're nasty to photograph!

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...going to try and work on some scales for these in a bit.

Thanks for looking, and thanks for all the comments!
 
Damn - it looks like I could get a pretty nasty cut just from the pic! :eek: Looking forward to seeing a completed piece in person. :thumbup:

Roger
 
These are very cool. :cool:
Funny, I was thinking how good a cocobolo handle would look on one of these before I read that's what you were planning.

Are you going to BLADE? Love to see one of these.
 
Kevin Jones said:
Are you going to BLADE? Love to see one of these.
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Yep, Kevin - I'll be there! No promises on getting these guys done for the show, though... I about broke myself Friday trying to get one of these to index properly in the scales I made for them... think I drilled the hinge-pin hole off just a bit. Ah, well... next attempt will be better!

MAN these are tough to do!
 
I just shaved with a straight razor for the first time tonight. Unfortunately, the only razor I have is a cheapy disposable, but I must say that I have never had a better shave. I have a plastic-handled straight razor that needs to be sharpened but I'm looking for a better razor. Yours look brilliant. How much would you charge for one?
 
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