Bill's Straight Razor Info

New Detour - Custom Pens

2012-01-21T20:02:00.000-08:00

While I haven't added any custom pens to my web site as of Jan 21, 2012, eventually I will have some there, so you can check back for as long as you have the patience to do it.

There is a ton of info out there on YouTube about "pen turning". Some of the videos were really helpful for me, no doubt. While no individual tool is outrageously expensive, the tally at the end of the day for the pile of stuff you need can definitely get your attention. Here are some of the necessary pieces of equipment I have acquired so far to make pens. In addition to these things, you need a pen mandrel that fits the lathe you have, turning tools, brad point drill bits. the actual pen kits, and the blanks that wind up as colorful and interesting barrels to your pen.

This first picture is of a centering vice. Once set up properly, you can drill repetitively without trying to find the center of the pen blank each time you create holes for the brass tube that runs through each pen barrel.

Once the hole is drilled, a brass tube for the particular pen kit you use is glued into the barrel material. The brass tube must be roughed up a bit to allow the glue a good surface in which to bond. Then the over sized barrel material is sanded flush to the ends of the brass tube. At this stage, the piece is inserted onto the mandrel of the lathe for turning.

This is the lathe I chose. It's a Jet Lathe with variable speeds. It operates by using both pulley changes and an electrical rheostat at the left side of the machine. The lathe uses what is called a 2MT mandrel, with MT meaning Morse Taper. At the left of the machine (head stock), the mandrel with the 2MT fits snugly into the hole. If you have ever removed the chuck to a drill press, you will know what that means. It keeps the pen barrel centered perfectly while you turn it.

In between the headstock (on the left) and the tailstock (on the right), the correct bushings for the pen kit you are turning are placed on the mandrel shaft. Then you turn down the material you chose to make the pen barrel from all the way to the outside diameter of the pen bushing. There are also spacer bushings that can be used to allow room for the tool rest that is seen between the head and tail stock in the above photo. Once the material is about a 32nd over sized to the bushing, the remaining material is sanded flush to the diameter of the pen bushing. At this stage, the finish of your choice is applied while the lathe turns. There are a host of choices available for finishing the barrel of the pen.

After finishing the barrel, the pen parts are pressed to fit to the pen kit. There are many ways to do this. I chose to purchase a pen press to do the work.

After all that, you should have some pens that look like this. The barber pole pen is a kit that uses 4 differently-colored laser-cut ribbons of wood that are interwoven and glued together. After the glue dries, the barrel is glued over a brass tube just as the others are done. Finishing from then on are the same as before. Extremely sharp turning tools must be used when making the laser-cut pen kits. There are a variety of these laser-cut kits available. The barrel alone for these kits can run from about $20 all the way to $60. Then, the pen kit that fits the barrel also must be purchased. Pen kits range from about $9 to about $50. Some kits go together quickly and other are a bit more time consuming.

Update - And all...

2012-01-21T18:12:00.000-08:00

Holy crap! Where did all the time go since I last posted. My brain feels like one of those little twisters ( whirlywinds for those of you who live east of Colorado ) that you see traversing a zig-zag pattern on a vacant lot or something. My time is generally spent making razors, engraving - both for me and others, reading western fiction, learning more about my new Canon EOS T3 camera, maintaining contact with family and friends (both of them), keeping up with house chores, and taking my dogs to the lake on my boat. The list is much more extensive, but you get the idea.

As if I didn't have enough to keep my old-ass busy, I decide to buy a mini-lathe so I can make shaving brushes and bowls to go with my straight razors. Well, of course, there was a tangent that sort of just slapped me up side of the head in the process. Since I love writing instruments of all kinds, I had the epiphany to learn how to make pens as well. Not that it would be all that difficult, it's just that it adds more peas to my already-full plate. As it turns out, I started having way too much fun with it. It's much easier than making razors, for sure. Because of all that, I figured that sooner or later I'd start putting some of them on my web site. www.billysblades.com.

Check this out! I ran a post on the only shaving forum in which I still participated. I expressed the same small level of excitement about pens as I have here. Keep in mind, the thread I generated had nothing to do with trying to sell stuff that wasn't even on my site yet. In fact, I never tried to hawk any of the stuff I offer on my site while participating on that forum. My mission there was to educate folks about straight razors, tell them how things were done, and provide a little entertainment along the way. I also donated many items of value to the members of the forum along the way, the last contribution being a custom strop that I would not duplicate for less than $800. I did most of my writing to help contribute to the traffic for the forum since one of the owners of the site is a good friend. Additionally, my contributions were exclusive to that specific forum. I did not copy and paste my information to every other shaving forum on the web. I didn't do it, ever, to put money in my own pocket. For those of you who know me, you know that's true. To add to all of the above, I "purchased" a yearly recurring contributor button at $100 a pop. Imagine my reaction to the following private message that I received from one of the moderators before I even got around to posting a single picture.

"Hi Bill,
I saw your post in the Nib forum and thought I would drop you a note to see if you are interested in a vendor subscription.
As you know sales offers and business promotion can only be done in the Vendors area on B&B to keep the core of B&B non commercial.
I would be happy to move your thread to the Vendors area if you are interested. If not we have to remove it."

Excuse me? I could have chewed nails like they were bubble gum!!! The audacity of these folks to actually attempt to extort an additional $300 a year out of me for the privilege of helping them out with yet another "how to" thread lit a short fuse. The thread I generated had no transgressions whatsoever in it to have the vendor sheriff let me know I broke some sort of convoluted interpretation of a perceived offense. It parallels a CHP officer driving by to issue me a speeding ticket because he sees my wife's Corvette in our driveway. For those accustomed to my congenial temperament, I'm sure you have a slight inkling as to the type of response I had for them. You ready? Waaait for it...

"A vendor subscription? Seriously? Have you not paid any attention to the contributions I have made to this site? Were you not aware that I just made an $800 strop that was given away as a promotion to bring additional traffic to B&B? Are you not aware of the countless threads I have created to help the straight razor community at B&B? What about all the straight razor "how to" threads I generated, all the while having a web site that sells straight razors? If you think I made the pen thread to generate business to sell pens, then you are just plain stupid. Did you miss the "Contributor" tag as well? It's the subscription that I just cancelled with Paypal. Now you want to squeeze me for vendor fees? You can not only remove the thread, you can kiss my ass, you &*^%)!"

That "&*^%)!" appearing in the sentence above was actually written just like that. I didn't use a real swear word like "asshole" or anything. I was actually proud of myself for holding back and not telling him what I really thought of his plan for extortion, and for not delivering it in the manner in which I really thought he deserved to be treated. The mod-without-a-clue writes back:

"Wow Bill,

How incredibly rude.

Many vendors contribute, donate items and still follow our simple rules while comporting themselves like a gentlemen.

Please refrain from posting your business related items in the forum.

Thank you,

... "

Yuh, right! Vendors that donate a sample pack of soap or a couple DE blades. The reasoning behind their donations are only done to benefit their own business. When I donated, it was for the benefit of the forum members as a gesture of good will. I'm not even going to bother with a tally because my money and my time to do it was not the issue. The issue was genuine contribution, not what the vendor sheriff was referring to. What a complete insult that he would compare other vendors as a whole to what I have done for them. And... of course, those other vendors did it while comporting themselves. Comport? Comport? Pompous-ass piece of shit! I got his comport hanging!!! I am not a gentleman, I am a man... a good one. A generous one. An honest one. An honorable one. These folks who pretend to be true gentleman without the good sense to know right from wrong really tick me off! It's important to point out at this point that people without a clue don't know it. I'm sure that mod is walking around going, "What? What? What?"

Needless to say, I won't be leaving any more information on that site. I'm sure my absence won't even cause the most minuscule difference to them, so it's not like I'm taking my football home or anything. Instead, when I have the time, I'll just be able to put what I have to offer on this blog and on my web site.

Ok, off my chest... now off to pens and restoration and stuff. If that site wanted continual information about razors and such, they'll just have to steal it from here from now on.

A Damascus Razor – The Box For It

2009-08-09T03:52:00.001-07:00

I figured I should make a box for this one. After all, it is not a cheap razor. I’m still not very good with the boxes as I am with the razors, but I’ll get there. This one has dovetail joints and is made out of African Amazique wood. I put an escutcheon oval out of sterling silver on one end with the engraved name of the new owner.

I did not include photos of that to protect the innocent from being bonked on the head by his little Mrs. Word gets around, y’know. If any of y’all want to know how to make your own boxes, leave a comment here and I’ll see if I can put that task on my plate of things to do.

A Damascus Razor – Start to Finish – Part Three

2009-08-06T00:16:00.001-07:00

Before I forget, as the design of wire inlay is put into the steel, care must be given to be sure that the weave of the Celtic-like ribbons alternate going over the top and then pass under the next ribbon as it is being crossed. You don’t want two bands of ribbon in a row passing over the top or have two bands going under crossing bands. So, it’s over/under over/under over/under and not over/over over/under. Does that make a lick of sense? Anyone? Beuler? Beuler? Ok, I’ll dispense with the comedy.

The next process is to design and put the wire inlay in the tang. This is also a freehand process. Measured, but freehand, nevertheless. Once again, square channels are cut and then undercut to accept the gold wire. Here is where we are at.

Here is where I messed up a bit… I forgot to take progressive pics of the inlay process for the tang surfaces. Dang it! Well, we will jump right into what it looks like after the gold is pounded into the channel, cut flush, sanded, and put through the heat treat process. Gold melts around 1,700 degrees or so which means the razor bake should not affect the wire inlay at all.. I hope.

I had my friend, Bill Coffey, do the heat treating for me. He took it to 1,500 degrees and quenched in some fancy-dancy special oil. After that, as you most probably know, the steel must be tempered. Since the amount of follow-up grinding was minimal, I did that before completing the tempering process. Nothing that requires much talent there… I threw it in my wife’s oven at 400 degrees, let it cool to room temperature and did it again. Double tempered. When you hear “double temper”, that’s what it means. Not so difficult, eh?

Here is what it looks like immediately after heat treat but before it has been tempered.

Not so pretty at this stage, right? Have faith, my friends. Sandpaper is your friend. And that’s precisely what happens next. Sanding everything down where it needs to be.

Sanding down the steel surfaces with the higher grits of sandpaper also reveals the pattern in the damascus steel. It has to be viewed at the right angle to see it, but it looks pretty good so far. What-a-ya say?

‘Bout time for some tempering. Don’t tell my wife I use her oven for this stuff. Tempering adds a bit of color, but not the right color. It is not etched either, and that’s one of the desireable characteristics of damascus. That’ll come soon.

Now we’re back to some light sanding again to prepare for the acid etching process with ferric chloride.

And here ya have it after a “secret” amount of time in the acid bath and another little trick or two to get this effect.

Now it’s time to put some ivory on this puppy. Oh yeah! Let me remind everyone that this is legal ivory. It came from a tusk that came to the U.S. in the 40’s as a decorative carving. I’m thinkin’ that there is more art in the form of some nice scales than in carvings, so the short tusk got cut up and put to good use in addition to just being able to look on with some appreciation at nature’s beauty.

I also made a box for the razor so it can be displayed or just have a safe place to sit while you prepare for your shave… Oh, and does it ever shave!!! Pics of the box to come…

A Damascus Razor – Start to Finish – Part Two

2009-08-05T13:49:00.001-07:00

This will give you an idea how much area the wire inlay covers. The practice plates have outlines on them in the shape of my humpback style straight razors. The middle design has only been cut in the shape of a square channel. I colored in the design with magic marker so I could see where I left off during the cuts.

After gaining a bit of confidence with my ability to actually put in some wire inlay on the razor itself, I set up some thermo-loc from GRS tools to prevent damage to the blade while I worked on it. I love this stuff. Remember, ask for Linda if you want stuff from them. Actually, in the process of adding a link to their site for you, I just discovered that they now offer on-line purchasing, so calling them isn’t really necessary unless you have questions. I hate it now that they are offering on-line buying… only ‘cause now I’m going to go broke when I see all the neat stuff they have to offer.

Anyway, here is the blade clamped within the thermo-loc and in my ball vise. I applied a purple-ish dye to the surface so it was easier to see what is scratched into the surface. Within the four equally measured sections, I drew in the design I wanted… freehand.

Next, it’s time to start cutting with a #37 flat graver. That looks like this:

This next pic shows the dye sanded off. The residue from that sanding process filled the area that was engraved. I only left it in place so you could distinguish the outlines better. If you look closely on the spine, you can see the divisions of the steel of the damascus pattern in the shape of half circles.

Once the pattern is cut to the proper depth and all of the edges are undercut, I used my engraving system to pound the 24K gold wire into the channel. That produced this:

Once the gold is pounded in place, I cut it flush using a wider flat graver than the one I used to dig the channel. Then I sanded it flush and outlined the gold with a “V” border. I cut the border in the steel rather than the gold so that the gold didn’t lose any width in appearance.

It is a difficult process in that the steel is much harder to cut than the gold and the graver tip could easily drift off into the softer material. Also, it’s very important to be accurate with the cuts because the slightest variation off of the true outline would easily be noticed. Especially since the wire is so thin. If you look closely, you can see the two small legs that had not been cut prior to taking the picture.

I put a bit of gun bluing on the spine for the next picture to highlight the effect of the pattern in gold.

This next pic will give you an idea of the relative size of the work done on the spine. It’s a pretty intricate process, yet very rewarding when it comes out OK.

A Damascus Razor – Start to Finish – Part One

2009-08-05T01:26:00.001-07:00

I started talking about this razor elsewhere and decided to finish it up here on my own blog. Here I don’t have to tolerate the occasional piss ants who attempt to garner attention for themselves arguing about truly idiotic ideas based on their own limited skills and knowledge base on the premise that there is no right or wrong about building razors… a premise, mind you, that there are only opinions and no facts. Sheesh! The trouble with ignorance is that it picks up confidence as it rolls along. More on “Razor Balance” later, right along with where I point out the difference between an opinion and a fact. I digress… back to the damascus razor.

In an effort to get all controversy out of the way from the get-go, I would like to mention that my use of the term “damascus” can raise the hair on the back of the neck of some boys. Lately, it seems to be a bone of contention with many guys in regards to the true meaning of the word as it relates to their entire bank of knowledge... Wikipedia.

Some insist that “pattern welded” steel is not the same thing as damascus steel. Fine. I’m not here to argue any of that. Call it what you want. For the purpose of this blog entry, however, I’m referring to the razor being made as a damascus razor. I called the maker of the billet, Robert Eggerling, and asked him if he calls his steel damascus or pattern welded. He said that either is fine, but he refers to it as damascus. That’s good enough for me. His word trumps all the dinkweeds who probably just spent most of the week running their fingers through the toilet paper.

I have made razors in the past using damascus with varied results… with most of them not meeting my standards or expectations. When the same steel is used on a knife, I have achieved killer results. The problem with making razors has been that, invariably, two or more of the steels in the damascus wind up meeting in several places along the cutting edge at some pretty steep angles. Because the edge is very thin, the damascus, regardless of who made it, had a tendency to microchip at those junctures. The razor would function, but it was not a comfortable shave. They were also a bear to hone and strop. A good size chip in the edge would also mar a good strop… that’s not good either. Aside from a Zowada razor, I think you’ll find that most folk were not all that thrilled with anyone else’s damascus razors, including mine.

I have found that this microchip anomaly is characteristic of most damascus or pattern welded steel made in the past 10 years. This was the primary reason I quit using damascus for razors for many years. It surely was pretty… it just didn’t function very well. I haven’t tried powdered damascus, so I cannot comment on any advantages or disadvantages on those. Sandwiched steel doesn’t even count in this discussion. It’s great stuff, but it’s unrelated.

An excellent knife/razor maker, Tim Zowada, solved the microchip problem by running the pattern parallel to the edge. I decided to tackle the problem a little differently. I had Robert weld a narrow strip of 1084 carbon steel on the edge of the billet. That way I get the beauty of the damascus and the surefire edge of a solid piece of steel along the cutting edge. You get the best of both worlds, so to speak. I only refer to “beauty” in damascus as the forefront of desirability because modern steels are as good if not better than any damascus around… past or present. So, I’m saying it’s my take that damascus is mostly for looks rather than function in this day and age.

The very next step in production after the steel comes through the doors of my workshop is to profile the shape of the blade. I decided to use my original humpback design and dress it up a bit later on down the road. Here is the preliminary outline/profile with the Burr King grinder and specific attachment I used to do that portion of the work.

Once the profile is ground, what is called the “master grind” is applied to the blade, giving it the 1/4 hollow ground shape along the cutting edge. All my razors are 1/4 hollow ground. The thickness at the cutting edge is kept above .030 of an inch for now. It’s also a bit rough… like an 80 grit finish. Before heat treating the blade, I will take it down to .025 of an inch and use a 120 grit belt. I cannot go thinner at the edge because the 1,500 degrees necessary to heat treat the blade would warp the entire cutting edge, making it look like the bottom fin of an electric eel.

At this stage, some detail is added. The hole for the pivot is drilled and the tang is tapered to take a bit of the weight from the back of the blade. Since I decided to gussy this one up a bit, I had to practice my engraving skills a mite to include some wire inlay. I used copper and brass for practice, but knew that I would be using pure 24K gold wire inlay for the final design.

Using gold wire is not for the faint of heart. Especially at today’s prices for gold. I’m going to use 24K, 24GA wire. As you can see, it’s not cheap. I’ll probably use half of what is in the package.

Here is the gadget I engrave with. It’s a contraption that acts like a miniature jackhammer with the power coming from a machine that delivers air to the handset with variable beats per minute. The range is from about 400 to 8,000. Most work for me is in the 2,200 BPM range. Gold is pounded into the channels at 1,400 BPM. The chisel-like tool in the end is called a graver. They have to be precisely sharpened with special fixtures on diamond hones to achieve optimum performance. The gravers come in different shapes to do different tasks. If you want to learn how to engrave, there is a dandy place in “tornado” Kansas to learn. It’s called GRS tools. All the info is on their site. Ask for Linda. Tell her I sent ya.

For wire inlay, I put in a square “trench” with a flat-edged graver. After the depth is slightly more than half the diameter of the wire, I go back and undercut the entire length of the trench at the outer edges on both sides so that the gold does not come out after it is pounded in place.

The next pic shows some copper wire that has just been pounded in place in one of the designs I considered using for the tang on the razor. I got to thinkin’ it may be too busy and went with something else. Stay tuned. The second pic shows what it looks like through the stereoscope I also use to do my engraving. You will see where I have started to cut the excess wire flush to the surface.

Here are the next progressions in pics. The first show the tip configurations for the gravers I use in the magnum hand piece. The second shows the wire cut flush and sanded. Now, the wire has to be outlined with what is called a “square” graver. It is tilted on edge to form a “V”. I also change the degree of the angle of the “V” on the graver to 105 from the standard 90 degree angle.

I’m going to give it a rest with this section. I’ll come back shortly for part two, etc…

Making the Blade Safety Jig

2009-02-25T01:10:00.000-08:00

Here is a simplified version of how to make the "new and improved" version of the blade safety jig that Kerry Jones shared with me. There really isn't a whole lot to it and the materials photo should enable you to figure everything out. If not, then maybe razor restoration may not be something you should be messing around with... know what I'm sayin' there, three fingers?

The wood base can be just about any type of wood. Since you will be putting a piece of thin metal over it, wood hardness is not an issue. Instead of a popsicle stick, you could use any similar stick that is commonly found in any craft store. Or cut your own. Just be sure it is not thicker than the width of your razors because the extra height gets in the way.

I use T-88 epoxy for most of my needs when it comes to holding things together. To me, it's the best adhesive ever made. With that said, go ahead and ignore the wisdom and use your own dang glue to hold the steel sheet that you have cut slightly over sized to the block of 3/4 inch thick wood. Of course, that's after you have drilled three holes that are approximately 1 inch apart on a straight line 1 inch in from the edge of the wood. Make sure it's the left edge... (that's a joke, son, I say, that's a joke.) In place of the metal sheet, you could try some Formica, but still cut it a tad bigger than the wood. Contact cement works just fine for this. Works for the metal sheet too, come to think of it. It would be faster than the T-88 thing if that is an issue.

After the metal sheet isn't going anywhere, go ahead and use a file to take the edges down to the wood. That's really old school, but it works. Otherwise, use a belt sander to make quick work of it. Once it's done, run some pilot holes for some 3/4 inch brass brads to hold the popsicle stick down. Also glue it. Any of the aforementioned gluing procedures will suffice. It will look something like this when you are done. If you are intending to fasten the jig to a workbench, drill some holes for (2) #6 screws and countersink them.

This last pic shows how the razor is placed on the jig to keep the cutting edge down on the surface of the metal and help prevent damage or injury to you while you work on it. Extreme caution must still be your foremost concern. This jig will only help you keep your fingers... but it doen't guarantee it.

For those of you who still don't want to make your own, I should have some ready in the next day or two. You can go here to get them.

Recent Razor Output

2008-11-17T19:18:00.000-08:00

Some of you may know that I also make custom straight razors in addition to restoring the vintage ones. In case some of you missed it, I also make custom knives. Drop by for a visit:

http://www.billysblades.com/

Anyway, I just finished up 11 custom razors, with 9 more close to a completion date as well. I am in the process of honing 8 of them that have just been purchased. This first one is my humpback model with stabilized curly maple scales. I thought it would look good with a bit of color, so I added a yellow gemstone to the blade. Oh, I also took up engraving so I could dress my work up a tad.

This next one is my humpback model with Kauri swamp wood. This stuff has amazing grain and its appearance is hard to beat. My good friend, Gary, from New Zealand sent me some choice pieces of this wood. Gary kind of dropped of the end of the earth. Hopefully, it's only temporary. Gary, I'd like to hear from you...

This one is my Irish/Slope point humpback with stabilized spalted maple for scales. The scales have an acrylic finish that gives the appearance of being covered in glass. I engraved the top of the spine with an alternating leaf pattern and the bottom of the tang with the same motif.

This is one of my favorites. It's a sloped humpback with Mopani for scales. I also lined the scales after embedding some colored twisted wire on both sides.

The blade is engraved with a running wheat pattern on the spine and the bottom of the tang. I also ebellished the top of the spine with a 2mm yellow gemstone.

This last one for show and tell is my sloped humpback with cocobolo scales. Engraving is a running wheat pattern on top and bottom.

Making Wedges

2008-03-30T23:47:00.000-07:00

This may help those of you who want to make your own wedges for the butt of your straight razors. It is not difficult, especially after you see how it is done. Many materials can be used, including the same stuff you used to make your own set of scales.

It is important to remember that the wedge is just that... a wedge. It has to have a slight taper. Otherwise it becomes just a spacer. Spacers do not belong at the back of a razor. Make sure you taper whatever material you use. Colored plastics work great. One of my favorites is the use of buffalo horn.

I often get the statement that it is too difficult to match the angle of the dangle to ensure that the inside surface that is perpendicular to the side of the scales is, indeed perpendicular. Towards the end of the video, you will see how easily this is accomplished.

Bill's Straight Razor Info: Any Questions

2007-06-17T23:32:00.000-07:00

Bill's Straight Razor Info: Any Questions
Safety Jig

Celluloid Rot

2007-05-24T09:23:00.000-07:00

Some of you may have heard of celluloid rot, but never quite understood it... probably never saw what it looked like either. There might even be a few of you who knew of it, never saw what it looks like, and might not really understand it until it bites you.

To put it simply, celluloid rot is when the celluloid scales on your razor go south and the gasses emited from the breakdown of the composition causes the steel to rust quickly. It will even chew through light coats of oil to do its business. It's ugly and it can ruin a razor collection because it's basically contagious. That means that a razor with celluloid rot will stimulate the same process in the celluloid scales of your other razors that may be stored in the same box or container or whatever. *Addendum ~ that is what I had been told from other razor enthusiasts for many years. However, I think what is more likely is that the infected set of scales merely attacks the exposed steel of the other razors, especially if they are in a closed container together. So saying that it is contagious isn't all that wrong to say since the whole idea is to remove the infected razor before it damages the others in your collection.

I have noticed a couple of things. Black scales don't seem to ever get celluloid rot, and the ones that get it the most are the semi-transparent amber and orange colors. If any of you have had different experiences, please share them. I have found almost a perfect illustration of celluloid rot, as sad as it is, because I could have fixed this razor up really nice and added it to my site. Because of the "disease", it will be quarantined and be relegated to a life of experiments. Vile experiments.

The pic of this razor from the auction page is no longer available because it was quite a while ago. I forgot to copy it... my bad. There wasn't exactly a whole lot of info in the description, and the pictures the seller provided sure didn't show the detail I would like to have seen. I must admit that I might have missed the pattern of damage anyway, mainly because celluloid rot isn't running rampant through the razor population.

This first pic shows the razor closed. Notice that there isn't a whole lot of rust above the edge of the scales. This is one of the things to look for when trying to discover if the scales have rot, or not.

In this second pic you can see the areas of the blade that are affected by the gasses being emitted. Looking at the "stains", it's hard to tell that those are relatively rough areas well on their way to forming their own colony of pitting.

This third pic shows a little closer look at the damage. Can any of you spot anything different or similar about the pattern?

Picture 4 shows the detail on the other side of the blade. Look at the pattern closely and see if you spot what is going on.

OK, I will remove the mystery. Look at the areas I have circled in this last picture. Can you see the correlation between the colors and the rusting patterns? The white/yellow areas of the scales do not have the disease, whereas the orange shades have it bad.

Remember, the most prominent characteristic of celluloid rot is that the rust will be within the confines of the scales as opposed to the area exposed to air. The areas exposed to air usually would rust first. There will be a pop quiz on this subject at the end of the year, so remember it....

Blade Safety Jig

2007-02-06T16:23:00.000-08:00

Credit for this invaluable jig goes to Kerry Jones. It's nice to see someone take something I might have said and run with it.
Thanks a ton, Kerry
I made improvements to my own "Kerry Jig" by rabbeting a 1/4 inch thick by 1 inch wide area along the base of the hardwood and set a bar of solid copper there that is held in place with a thin bed of epoxy. This helps dissipate the heat that is generated when using sanding discs, wheels, or buffs near the edge of the blade. You can also use aluminum. Both items can be found at your local hardware store.
The round objects in the photo are magnets. Use a series of the strongest ones you can find in a piece of hardwood to hold the blade down while you are working on it. This allows you to use both hands and also provides a flat surface to protect the cutting edge. The best I have found are rare earth magnets. They are here: http://www.rare-earth-magnets.com/

A cordless 7.2 volt dremel has two speeds. The slower speed works pretty good when you work a blade edge. I would not get close to the edge with any grits larger (rougher) than 320. Use fresh discs. Once they become worn, they heat everything up too much. Use light pressure as you are sanding and keep the disc moving to lessen the heat build up.

Use an old blade that is useless to practice some of your "moves". Intentionally heat the blade edge with the discs until it turns color; it will usually be brown first and go right into a "cemetery dead" blue. Then, you will have an idea what not to do on your good blades. Once the blade turns ANY kind of color other than shiny, the blade is toast there in that spot and it will be worthless as a shaving implement.

For those of you who don't want to, can't, or have the tools to make one of these jigs, guess what? I have made a few of them and they are available on my web site. Here is the link:

http://www.billysblades.com/Other%20Goodies/4567.htm

My New Restoration CD is out

2006-07-31T23:23:00.000-07:00

Haven't had much of a chance to hang around here lately. I've been very busy moving into a new house, setting up a new workshop, and finishing my updated CD on Straight Razor Restoration.

The first CD had a generous 74 meg of information dealing with the basics of fixing up that ole razor of yours. This new one has closer to 300 meg. Part of which is a little over an hour of video instruction.

Even if you aren't in a position to restore your own razor now, this CD will not only let you know how the work is done, but will allow you to spot the work other people may have done to the razor you just bought.

It will also let you know what to be looking for in a razor so you don't wind up wasting money on lemons. Either way, it's a good read... I promise.

Go to my site to learn more about it...
http://www.billysblades.com/Straight%20Razor%20Book.htm

Pinning

2006-02-18T20:50:00.000-08:00

Hey Y'all...

I will do the pinning thing, but I need to take care of some other things first. I also have to pick some razors to pin and then photograph everything. Yada yada.

In the meantime, send me some pics of the scales I know all of you have made by now...

Making Scales 110

2006-02-05T10:28:00.000-08:00

Back to the sanding process... Sand the profile of the "single" scale, using all the work spots of the sanding belt as defined in the last section.

Don't forget that you can use the leading as well as the trailing edge of the sanding belt to remove everything that doesn't look like a set of scales. Go slow, especially with the rougher grits of sandpaper... remember, you can't put the material back once it is gone.

I did not have the machine running for the photos. Didn't want any mishaps. Notice how the gentle curve of the back can be easily sanded by turning it vertically.

Before going to a finer grit paper, make sure you are completely done with the scales with the current grit. Then, progressively work your way to finer and finer grits. This is a good progression:

80 grit
220 grit
400 grit
600 grit

Much of my work is done freehand and by "eyeball" You can get pretty good at it with a little practice.

Do be careful when sanding your scales as illustrated on the left photo. That sanding belt has no respect whatsoever for your fingers and knuckles.

It is about here that you will actually see why I said it was important to line the scales up at the dividing line of the materials. Lookin' good, eh?

I'm going to throw in a photo of another set of scales I was working on to illustrate how I use the upper contact wheel to finish the inside curves.

This area of the wheel is indespensible for all of the inside curves and edge bevels.

Once all of the profile is finished, you are practically done. It is time to address the edges of the profile.

I slope mine a tad like the gentle roofline of a toolshed, not just round them. It allows me to dome the sides to give a well rounded and pleasing contour.

You can also leave the edges relatively sharp and striking. Here is where you play around to develop your own style.

My knives are like that. When I was really active with them, people knew I made a specific knife simply because of the style. Most good knifemakers develop this attribute.

I use the sanding belts to round all of my edges, but I don't even go near them until I am down to 400 grit. Otherwise, you will remove too much material. Practice with a curved piece of wood before working on a set of scales with liners. Practice being the key word.

After doing what you can with the machines, do the rest with files, rotary tools, and sandpaper. Have some patience... you will get down to this...

Buff the "single" scale out. Once that is done, take a utility razor knife and carefully separate the two halves.

Use your thumb to roll the rubber cement on the insides of the scales into a huge booger. You can toss it in the trash can or play with it for a while like you did as a kid. Sand the insides lightly.

Seal the inside edges with thin superglue. Try not to get any on the outside of your new scales or glue your fingers to them like I did. Sand lightly with 1,000 grit paper. Take the burr off the inside edges of the scales with the same grit paper. Put renaissance wax over the whole kit and caboodle. Renaissance wax is expensive, but you will only need one jar and it works really great for scales and blades.

Here we are! Wall Ah! Or, if you prefer... violã. This concludes Making Scales 101. Next will be putting them on a blade. I guess that would be called Pinning Scales 101.

Addendum: Drill the holes except the one at the heel or butt all the way through on the one scale. Once that is done, put that scale on top of the other one. Make sure the two halves are lined up perfectly as they were before you separated them. Take it to the drill press and run the bit slightly through the holes you just made just to provide the starting point for drilling on the inside of the other scale. Separate them and finish drilling the holes, being very careful as the drill bit breaks through the material of the scales so they don't chip out. There should only be 3 holes drilled for now.

If you are interested in the pinning lessons, I need to know. Now is the time to make comments, not only for what I have already written, but for encouragement for me to continue. I need more than 5 or 10 of you to say something to put it here on this blog. No interest here and I'll just put it in the update on my CD.

Hope you have learned something. Send me pics of your projects...

Making Scales 109

2006-02-05T09:13:00.000-08:00

Now that we have one "temporary" scale, it is time to do something with it. The outsides should already be parallel and rough sanded.

Go ahead and sand the profile the scales using the tools of your choice...

This is where it would be nice if you had one of these as a partner... However, do not despair... you could use the trusty old Sears sander/grinder similar to this one below.

If you don't have one of these either, you may want to limit your scale making to, like, 3 sets a year.

You can do the work with a Foredom or rotary tool, but it will take much longer to maintain the same quality. Make full use the different portions of the machine's work spots to do your sanding.

Definition: Before I forget. When you are working with metal, the machine/work is called grinding. When you are working with wood or other organic matter, the machine/work is called sanding.

A work spot is defined as follows:

The supported platen area directly behind the flat work table.
The slack portion of the belt that is between upper and lower pulleys/contact wheels.
And the most important area for me, which is the contact wheel at the top/front of the machine. This area is not considered a working surface on the Sears model, I'm sure.

On the burr king, this upper wheel is hard, but flexible, rubber. It reduces chatter when sanding/grinding. Chatter is not your friend... remember that. This upper contact wheel area on my Sears grinder is mostly covered by a protective hood. It is for safety and it keeps the ground debris from flying all over the place.

If all I had was this Sears model, I would use a hack saw to remove as much as I could of this hood area to provide access to that wheel. The part that needs to be removed extends back to the tangent of the top curve and the sloped back area. Somewhere around 2.5 to 3 inches. Don't cut any of the supporting wall on the left, just the hood area. You do realize that this little maneuver just might void your warranty on the machine, no?

The upper contact wheel is the area where inside curves are finished. If you do not want to change the grinder, then you will have much hand work do do with rotary tools and files. If you want to do something like this and still don't know what I am saying, email me and I will try to take some photos for you.

I got carried away talking about machines, so I will end this section and pick it up again on the next go-around...

Making Scales 108

2006-01-31T23:00:00.000-08:00

Ok... Leave your scales as oversized as you can. You can always sand material off... can't put it back once it's gone. With that in mind, flatten the insides first. They don't have to be perfect. Then profile them back to the metal. BARELY to the metal. Forgot what profile is? Guess you'll just have to go back and find it in 101 thru 107.

Sand the material side of the scales uniformly for thickness. Both of them. Use calipers if you don't have the eye for it. Also make sure there is no twist to the material. In other words... don't have scales that measure .12 at the right front, .11 at the left front, .10 left back, and .12 at right back. If you don't quite follow what I just said, let me just say... you be lopsided, fool. I don't do mm, so don't ask me to convert these measurements for you. :-)

Once that is done, cut out some fiber liner material in your choice of colors. This stuff is also called spacer material. Before you epoxy anything to the scales, drill those 1/16 holes through the liner and material side of the scales on one side only. This is so you don't lose track of the holes once the fiber liner goes on.

You can see the outline of the black liner I chose for these scales. Putting this thin material over steel will help protect it from rust. You will not have to do this with brass, gold, silver, or aluminum. It's still a nice touch, and I use it for brass and copper too. If you do use the black fiber, it will still need to be sealed later. I actually use the thin super glue for this process. A few drops near the end, then spread it with anything round that you can throw away after using it. I use wood skewers for bbq stuff.

Spread epoxy on the scales, then apply the black liner material over the metal liner. Do this for both halves of the scales. Use mini clamps again to keep everything together until it cures. I clamp right and left scales together. Just don't put epoxy between the black liners. That would be ugly. Remember, you are making two scales, not one.

You should be looking like this:

After the epoxy has cured, remove the clamps and separate the scales. Sand the insides lightly for flatness. Then profile them again.

Now, you are going to put rubber, notice I said rubber cement between the scales directly on the black liner material.

Fit them together at the divider line of the scales. Do not line them up at the heel or the pivot end of the scales.

It is here that you would be wishing you hadn't jumped the gun by drilling the holes on the other half of the scales. Cause, guys... they just won't line up. If everything did line up, go buy some lottery tickets cause you done been a lucky sumbich. (street talk grammar... I talk that way too, sometimes)

You may be off as much as in these photos, and that's ok. Remember... you should be making things slightly oversized. It is of the utmost importance, though, that you line up both scales at that dividing line between the different materials of the scales.

In these two photos, I don't have the black liners in yet. I took the pics at this stage cause I figured I may forget about it later. Just pretend you see the black liners sandwiched between the scales.

This is what I was talking about:

I'm going to repeat what I said just a bit ago...

Rubber cement the two halves together at the divider line of the scales. Do not line them up at the back or the pivot end of the scales.

What we are doing is making ONE scale...
temporarily.

Making Scales 107

2006-01-24T18:37:00.000-08:00

Pick the set of scales you want to put on the razor and sand the inside surfaces flat. Just the insides. I know that I don't have to tell you to pick the best looking surfaces of the scales for the outside. Once that is done, draw an outline of the liner directly onto the material being used. In this case, that is the oosik.

In the example here, I have made the lines very thick just for illustration purposes. After you have done this for both halves, use the band saw or scroll saw to cut them out.

Cut out the other pieces you are going to use on the top half of the scales up near the pivot pin. In this case, I am using dyed green/blue/yellow stabilized maple. Sand the edges of all the pieces down to the profile of the lines that you drew. Just leave the smallest of line showing. Everything will be slightly oversized for now. The only thing that has to be sanded very close is the dividing lines between materials.

Cut out a piece of spacer material to go between the oosik and the stabilized maple. You can get this stuff in sheets at the following web site.

http://www.knifeandgun.com/catalog/spacer_materials_186709_products.htm

The stuff I used here is about a 16th of an inch. You can laminate different materials together to create a little more contrast. Epoxy them together as a unit and sand the sides lightly and the edge of one side flat before you use them as a spacer here. It makes things easier and eliminates gaps that have a tendency to show up when gluing multiple pieces together.

To show you what I am talking about, check out the following spacer combination I used on this hunting knife. I still have this one for sale, by the way.

Epoxy all the pieces together using a good quality product. I always use T-88 on every knife I make. I'm not a great fan of the 5 minute epoxies, but in addition to the regular line of 24hour epoxy, T-88 came up with one that has met my standards thus far.

Here is but one place you can get the stuff:

http://tinyurl.com/db2mb

Use clamps to keep the materials in place. Leave them until the epoxy sets. The clamps can even be paper clips, as you can see. Those things come in handy for a lot of things.

Let me say this right now. If you think you can use "Gorilla" glue... forget it. I am sure there is a use for that stuff somewhere, but it will never be in my shop... for anything.

When the epoxy is cured, you will have something like this. Notice that nothing is very pretty right now.

It's at this point that you will start sanding stuff down. First, go for all the stuff that really sticks out. Work your way around a little here and there until you get down to something that looks like a single slab.

Do not worry about the profile right now. The profile is considered the outline or edges of the scales.

It will start to look something like the pic below. When we are all done, you find that there is no real mystery to doing this stuff.

Making Scales 106

2006-01-23T00:37:00.000-08:00

Once you have both sides of the liner roughed up a little, it's time to check some fits. Most important is the relationship of the blade to the liner. Most 6/8 and smaller razors will fit within the confines of just about any razor scale silhouette. But, once you get to 7/8 and 8/8, there is a whole new program going on. You need a tad more length and a little more width. Keep what has worked for you around in the form of templates. You can use something as simple as paper or something a little more durable, like plastic or metal. Don't forget to mark them.

In the following picture you will see the blade, a third-pin bead and the liner in its tenative size. Here is where you see if everything is going to work together.

Take a measurement from another razor to kinda give you a starting point for the pivot pin hole. Put the hole in the tang over the that portion of the liner. Don't mark it yet. Move it around til it looks right. Liner too small? MAKE ANOTHER ONE! If not, continue by placing the bead in the crook of the blade and tang. This is what will keep the blade from swinging too far into the scales and exposing a sharp edge on the other side.

Ideally, the bead should wind up along the centerline of the liner. Take the blade off temporarily to see where it is at. Anything more than a 32nd of an inch off line, and you should probably move the bead toward the pivot pin so it is close to the centerline. Or, get or make a larger diameter bead. The tolerances in this project are very close because I am making scales for a Henckels 8/8 blade.

If things look good, mark the pivot pin location and the third pin hole location with a permanent marker. No, it doesn't have to be a permanent marker. It can be a pencil. Before moving anything yet, also mark the limits of the swing of the blade on the butt of the liner. When that is done, mark the line where the spacer will be attached about a 16th from the blade swing line. Ignore the dot for the hole in the spacer for now.

Make your spacer a tad less than half of the thickness of the blade. Then sand it with the slightest bit of a taper from flat side to the round side. A couple of degrees is fine. It does not have to be measured. Remember, do what looks good. Make the outline fatter than what it needs to be, but sand it close to the lines of the profile.

Now I want you to drill the pivot pin hole and the third pin hole on this one liner only. Once you get the hang of this stuff, you won't want to drill any holes until you are about ready to put the scales on a razor. We are doing it here because it is important that you don't lose the relationship between the holes. Just for a reference, the line next to the third pin on the liner is about 3/8 of an inch away. This distance can vary, depending upon the size of the materials you have available. Most look the best and are most functional, though, between 3/8 and 1/2 inches away. Mark and drill the hole next to the third pin. Leave the spacer pin hole in the butt of the liner out of it for now.

OK, guys... It's here that you need to participate a little. I only know if you are interested in this info by the comments that are left. They don't have to be long, but it would be nice to have some feedback. Something as simple as "Cool, right on, more detail please, less detail, thanks... etc" I also want to know if I am giving too much info, or not enough. I want to be thorough, but don't want to put you to sleep either. I am doing this for your benefit, not mine... I already know how to do this stuff. I'm thinkin' I may withhold the last session or two and email them to those who have at least taken the time to leave a single comment.

Making Scales 105

2006-01-17T21:35:00.000-08:00

Ok, where did we leave off. I think it was with the three sets of scales sitting on the horizontal sanding disc. Onward and upward. For the project here, I picked the set to the far left in the picture. That would be the second set of scales as they were cut on the band saw.

Next is picking the liner material. The thinner the better... within reason. .001 won't cut it. I don't think I would pick anything thicker than 1/16 of an inch, either. Too much weight. If you pick standard weld stock from the small sheeting aisle of Lowe's, you will also have to line that too. If not, you will definitely have to keep an eye on the liners to keep them from rusting. Always keep them coated with some kind of oil after the scales are made and attached to a blade. Even if it's vegtable oil. If they are without protection, they will rust overnite. No joke. Don't, I say, don't oil them during the construction of the scales. Epoxy and super glue do not stick very well to oily surfaces. Remember, there are also choices in lining material. You can pick weld steel, brass, or aluminum from most of the major hardware stores. If you wanted to get really really really fancy, you could get silver or gold too. Let's not use those two while you are learning, ok? Draw an outline from the size scales you want to make on the sheet steel.

Now cut them out. If you don't have a metal band saw, take an old 1/8 inch blade and put it on your wood band saw, crank up the speed to the max and friction cut them. If you don't know what I was just talking about, use a standard hand held jig saw with a metal blade, or a coping saw with a metal blade.

Stay on the outside of the lines. This is a rough cut. Once you have done that, sand to the inside of the lines using that handy-dandy Sears belt/disc sander you just bought for this class. This does not have to be perfect. The metal will also curl a little. Don't worry about it yet.

Notice that I am using a 1 inch belt on my sander that has a capacity for 2 inches. I like the flexibility of the narrower belt. You can really crank out some work this way. I use the "slack" area of the belt a lot... a lot. A lot.

You can grind inside curves with the narrower belts easily. 2 inch will work too, but get yourself some 1 inch belts in 120 and 220 and 400 grits. In the following pic, I am grinding on the trailing edge of the belt. In simpler terms, that's from the right side of the liner to the left side of the liner while moving the whole shebang from left to right. The right side of the belt is doing the work. Think ahead when holding anything up to a fast-moving 120 grit belt. It removes flesh just as easily as metal and wood.

Once the liners are pretty close... close, not perfect, they will look something like this little french fry critter:

Flatten it out on a flat surface using a wood roller like this one.

Now sand both sides to make the surface look like a place any respectable epoxy would want to spend some time and become intimate with. Keep in mind that fresh sandpaper creates less heat than worn out paper. Notice I use no gloves for this process. It's just something I've gotten used to. If it's too hot to hold, I stop... then there is no danger of ruining anything because of the heat.

OK... That's all ya get for now. Ask your questions now if you have them. But only for the stuff we have covered, not about anything we haven't gotten to yet. I won't have time to come back after we are done to explain anything. Kinda like if you don't pay attention in class, you don't graduate. There will be a pop quiz at the end. You will be required to pass this test if you ever plan on attending one of my weekend workshop extravaganzas.

Making Scales 104

2006-01-16T23:17:00.000-08:00

Well... Chris decided to take the scales, so this is what he gets:

Now that you have seen the beginning and the end, I will get back to telling you how to get your scales to look like this. Stay tuned...

Making Scales 103

2006-01-15T23:43:00.000-08:00

Just so y'all know... This is what your scales will look like when we are done. This set may go to Chris, but don't know for sure. If he doesn't want them, they will be for sale as a set or I will put them on an 8/8 Henckels blade I have. Anyway, what do you think?

Single Piece Set of Scales

2006-01-14T08:39:00.000-08:00

Here's a one piece set of scales that I just finished up for Chris using a 7/8 Henckels blade. The scales are desert ironwood. Not too bad...

Making Scales 102

2006-01-14T06:57:00.000-08:00

Don't be afraid to leave comments, everyone. It's the only way I know anyone is interested in this drivel. I would like to know if this info is helpful because it is going into the update to my CD. Especially ask questions on things that were already covered. Sometimes I just assume that some of the things I do are common knowledge. That may or may not be the case. In addition, if you have a tip you would like to add to the process, let me know. Some of you guys have some very good ideas. If you don't want to say anything on this blog, email me at officerE@comcast.net.

The next photo shows the small ridge lines left on the material from the band saw. These are the ones that need to be taken off by the sanding stages. If you don't have a disc sander, an upside down mounted belt sander would work. So would a regular stationary belt sanding model. The real throw-back would be a 12 by 12 inch block of granite to be used as a flat base for sanding paper. 100 grit wet/dry paper would be fine for this process. You can get 12 by 12 blocks of granite at any good leather hobby store. They are used as a base for tooling leather.

Once you have flattened the slab, it should look something like this...

Now it is time to slice the two halfs into matching scales. To do that, we use the rip fence of the band saw, jig saw, or scroll saw. The jig saw being the last choice. Actually a table saw would be the last choice. Using that would eliminate one set of usable scales entirely.

I set the rip fence to approximately 1/8 of an inch. Remember, there are more sanding steps, so some of this 1/8 of an inch is going to disappear. Notice the piece of wood beneath the piece of oosik. That is used as a support to the thin slices that will be made. Otherwise, the larger slot in the table of the saw allows too much movement of the material as it is being cut. I hope that made sense.

I keep forgetting to say something about the appearance of my workshop area. It normally does not look this messy. I am in the process of packing everything up for the move to my new house, which means everything is coming off the walls and out of the storage cabinets. My move is tentatively scheduled for the second week in April. I have been taking the things I figure I won't need and taking them to a storage unit that is only a mile away from the new house. Of course, once it has been moved to storage, I wind up needing it...

Once you have cut one half of the material into equal slices, do the other one. This particular piece of oosik gave three sets of usable scales. Not too bad. Keep the matching sets together. Also keep in mind that this piece of oosik was only about 4 1/2 inches long. It was going to be used for a knife. But, it is of no consequence because this blog is how to make scales with liners. Oosik is probably strong enough to be used without liners if it is long enough. But, I think you would have to have a solid 1/8 inch finished dimension to make them work. Remember, this stuff can be found in two foot lengths, so keep an eye out for it. Knife shows are your best resource.

End of Making scales 102. Comments please...

Making Scales 101

2006-01-09T22:19:00.000-08:00

DISCLAIMER!! Your injuries are your own, not mine. Accidents happen. Be mindful of what you are doing and they will happen less often. I am assuming it is a given that I wouldn't have to warn you about getting your fingers in front of a moving band saw blade. This is how the work is done, not a safety course.

OK, Guys... please be mindful of my copyright material. I don't mind if you print this instruction out for yourself. But I do not want any of this information to be used in any publications or other web sites without my permission.

The material picked for this set of scales is oosik. You may have run across it in the restoration section called New Hybrid with Oosik Scales. This is a different piece, and don't know myself how good this set will come out. I am taking pics as I go. For those who don't know, oosik is the bone from the penis of a walrus that has been dead so long, the material has fossilized. Not petrified... fossilized. It has been one of my favorite materials for handles/scales on my knives.

The procedure for making scales is basically the same, no matter what material you decide to use. Knowing how to make a set with liners will enable you to pop out those single piece scales with ease.

Oosik comes in different colors and sometimes in lengths of two feet. How cool is that? White to brown and sometimes with other colors in the bark generated by minerals in the soil where the creature came to his final resting place. The bark is the outermost section. Here is the piece we will be working with.

Okeedoke. Draw a line down the center of the material with a sharpie. If you need instructions on how to find the center, you may want to skip the rest of these instructions. I am going to assume that those interested in making scales have a basic understanding of working with common tools. Please don't take it as an insult if you are the one who needs to skip the rest of the instructions. I just won't have time to explain every little detail. I did not measure mine... I just eyeballed it. I have always adopted the premise that if it looked good, it was good.

If you do that, you sometimes pay the price. It turned out that I was off by a 32nd of an inch after making the third set of scales from this material and I will be lucky if I am able to use the best part of the bone, which is the outer bark. The reason I say better is because that is usually where all the color and character of the boner is seen. I happen to like the inner section where all the blood vessels were just as much because I can use different color epoxies to fill in the spaces.

Make the cut down the center of the sharpie line you drew on the bone on your band saw. No band saw? Bummer. But you can still do this. My next choice would be a scroll saw. Those are only about a $100, sometimes less. Try, though, to get access to the band saw. It makes this part a piece of cake. I know I don't have to tell you to be careful. Cut slowly, and watch out for your thumbs. I do this free hand. If you want to figure out a taper jig or use a rip fence, that's ok too.

Here we are about half of the way through. If you are not wearing a mask by now, I'm thinkin' that you wished you had. The worst case of flatulence has nothing on this stuff when it is cut or being ground down.

Once you get all of the way through, it will look like this.

To get the most out of this material, you are going to need at least 1/8 of an inch thickness for each set of scales. Set your rip fence on your band saw to that thickness. Before you go to slicing any more, however, you need to sand both halves of your material flat. Notice I said flat. It does not have to be smooth. Wear a dust mask at the very least. A cartridge type of respirator is much better if you have one.

I made up a horizontal 9 inch sanding disc specifically for this type of sanding because I do a lot of it. You can accomplish the same thing with a vertical one that has at least a 6 inch disc. There are combination belt/disc sanders at, where else, Sears. That tool will also be in the photos here pretty soon. Here is the horizontal one.

This concludes Making Razor Scales 101... to be continued with 102.

Are you learning anything?

Any Questions

2006-01-08T09:50:00.000-08:00

Well... I am still learning how to publish this stuff on this blog. Keep in mind that I am a slow learner.

Before I go any further, I need to let you all know that there are many things that I have also learned from you guys on the various forums I have frequented on a semi-regular basis. Some of those tips will be included here once in a while. I will give credit to the person I got the info from.

If there is a specific topic you would like me to address, post it in one of the comment sections of this blog. Ask questions. If I have an answer... I will give it. I will not blow smoke up your ass if I don't, however. And if I don't know, I will tell you that also. If it's one of those things that I would have to google to give a response, you are on your own. You can do that as well as I can. And if that's the case, come back with an answer, and I will post it here for you... with your name in lights.

Also understand that I have a life outside of straight razors and this blog... and forums. I may not always be punctual with posts and such. I also have a CD to update and a book on the jail to write. Good thing I'm retired...

In the Beginning

2006-01-07T02:46:00.000-08:00

Okedoke... I am getting my ducks in a row. I will try to update this blog thingie at least as often as I get lucky. Well... maybe a little more than that.

This specific drivel is only to get the blog going for me to figure out adjustments. I will start to post some info on how to make scales (handles) for those straight razors you got on eBay.

I'll start you out with something like these:

Are you ready?