obtain a straight razor, German made razors have never failed me yet.
Another good point about razors, is that some are valuable to collectors and are worth great sums of money,
dont turn a $100.00 straight razor into a experiment or at best a $30.00 carving knife,
obtain razors from auctions or flea markets, stear clear of pakistanni razors they dont hold an edge,,
lets give it a try,
questions and comments are requested.!!
click here to continue to tutorial,
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Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Tutorial, how to grind a straight razor knife
This tutorial is off site of this blog, its an album on my picasa site,
the album is pretty much documented, step by step,
there is 85 pictures so it should keep the guys interest that wants to try making one, you may have to scroll down to read it all, i got wordy.
REMEMBER I'm not saying that my tutorial is better than anybody else,
im saying this is how i made this knife!
Tools: if you attempt this tutorial, i used a 6"bench wheel grinder and 1x30" belt sander, remember to use eye protection,
Note on metal temper.
You are using a straight razor because of its great carbon steel quality, its high carbon content 60-90%, thats been hardened and tempered properly.
the one thing that will wreck the steel temper is heat from fire or friction.
The temper can be re accomplished if sent to a specialist, but its rarely worth the cost,
So keep your metal cool, dip it in water, then make a pass on the grinder without hesitation immediately dip the steel back in the water, Cold grind. ice water wouldn't hurt.
If for some reason the steel turns color like peacock blue, that section is wrecked, grind off the steel effected under the color {not just the surface color.} and see if you can salvage the rest of the steel for a detail knife.
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4 comments:
Glad you put this up when you did. I do have a question. I was at a flea market this week-end and a gentleman had some razor-knives for sale. He was asking $15.00 for most an $45.00 for a second. Is this a good price.
Robert,
i get German made razors here to the house from different places for less than $5.00 the most $10.00 each including shipping, but i make them knives for resale, so i got to be picky,
i guess if your making them for yourself, you should consider razor cost, s&h, grinder stone wear, belt sander belt, then your time.at $10.00 per hr. electricity. and try to keep it under $30.00
haggle with them flea market folks, 3 for $20.00 and top 3 for $25.00.. you will be surprised what prices you can get on volume.
Dont be afraid of all chipped razors unless the chip runs all the way through the back thick part of the razor,
bids on eBay .99 cents with high bid including s&h for $10.00 ea. razor.
i have spent $15.00 per razor only when i was in a real bind.
for a first time project experiment i dont think it really matters though, most of us spend that on cold drinks we dont need in a week.
Thanks for compiling and posting this tutorial. I have already made one knife (didn't turn out too bad, but then it's for my own use), but I have 3 more trimmed of the cutting edge and the length cut down. I want those three to be nicer than my first and your tutorial gives me some good ideas on how to proceed.
I got my razors off ebay for a fair price (all 4 for just under $20) and if I get good enough, I might try recouping my expenses by selling one or two in the future.
Great blog! Keep up the good work!
Ed Hulett (bigEd_H)
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