[SchreiberBike]

I read on the Little Shaver's page about carving knives made out of straight razors, and being naturally cheap and lucky enough to run into some razors for $5 each at the flea market, I decided to give it a try.

Like everything, it's harder than it looks. The steel is very hard and wearing away the unwanted material takes a while. Also, the spine or back of the blade is much thicker than I thought it would be.

I’ve reduced the blade from 3� long by .68� wide by .18� thick down to 1 ¾� long by .37� wide by .08� thick. It’s roughly a spear point shape. The blade is close to wedge shaped, but I haven’t started sharpening it yet or put it in a handle.

That’s what I’ve done so far. Now I’ve got my newbie questions:

1.How thick should the blade be when I’m done?
2.Should I maintain the back of the blade and grind away the sharp side, or do I grind away the back to drop the point and narrow the blade as it goes out to the point?
3.How do you keep the bevel from getting convex? I had to flatten the bevels by running them along my scary sharp setup while the tang was clamped in a vice-grip which was sliding along a reference surface.
4. What cutting angle should the blade be at? I haven't measured mine, but it's very small, probably around 10 degrees.


Thanks so much for your expertise, John

[SchreiberBike]

Rick. I've learned a lot from reading your website, now I've learned a bit more from you directly.

I'm sure I'll have to make a couple of knives before I get one I'm truly pleased with, but you have really helped my learning curve.


Thank you.

[SchreiberBike]

I hope to get a picture of my new knife up soon. I'm very pleased with it. The handle fits my hand perfectly and the blade is wonderful.

After whittling hard maple for about 20 minutes, It still takes the hair off my arm.

What kind of finish do people prefer? I see that the handles on Rick's site are very shiny. Right now, I've got it sanded to 220 and have put a couple of coats of danish oil on it. I almost feel like I liked it better when I had sanded it with 80 grit. But I didn't like how easily it got dirty.

[squbrigg]

Want a truly nice finish for your handle, try a mix of: 50% BLO, 25% Turpentine, 25% gloss varnish (oil based) and mix it up well in a can . Flood the handle with it, use it as a wet lub for sanding, wipe dry. Then apply a few more layers over a week, and hand rub them in, wipe dry afterwards, Let dry overnight between coats. You can apply a layer whenever you feel it needs it later. Nice even finish, like bare wood, only protected.

Caution with your rags, they are very flamable, so dispose of them by soaking in water first before hanging to dry or dispose of them in a sealed metal container.

Bob

[ROTTWEILER]

I had a friend remake me a knife out of a straight razor and there is one spot about 1/2 inch down from the point that won't get very sharp.It is only about an 1/8 of an inch long the rest of the blade is very sharp including the point.How can I fix this because I really like the feel of the knife.If someone has an idea or answer to my problem please let me know.

ROTTWEILER

[SchreiberBike]

Originally Posted by ROTTWEILER

there is one spot about 1/2 inch down from the point that won't get very sharp. It is only about an 1/8 of an inch long the rest of the blade is very sharp including the point.

I would guess that a bit of the blade was heat damaged while the excess material was being removed.

It's very easy to make that mistake. There's a constant balance between wanting to take off as material as quickly as possible while not letting it get hot enough to change color.

It is theoretically possible to re-heat treat the blade, but without knowing the exact alloy of the blade and having some sophisticated temperature measuring and control equipment, I think it is very hit or miss. Regardless, the blade would have to be removed from its handle to re-temper it.

I suggest finding an old straight razor and make your own (and taking your time on the removal of the excess blade).

[Thomp]

My Straight razor carving knife is thicker and heavier than i truly need but when i got it that close i decided a war club was better than nothing, "i had the itch to get it done and didn't want to wait." I wanted to use it so to satisfy my inner child i put a handle on it and polished the blade out. sharpened it and honed it back to razor sharpness.

besides its way better than going back to the middle quality range of the walnut hollow chip knifes i had been using,

Its a pleasure to carve with my big ole clumsy too thick of blade, straight razor knife, its like setting on the porch with an old friend,
I did had to duct tape some of the heal of the blade as its too long, and the index finger on my right hand keeps creeping out on the blade while working. because i left the blade over 1-1/2" long..

usually i dont even take the strop out there with me to the porch, i can carve for hours without having to re-strop the blade, while my other blades are 50/50 knives spending as much time stropping as carving.

but i have a dull spot in my blade about 1/2 or 3/4 inch back from the tip,
it wasn't over heated while grinding, im positive,
just my eyes isn't good enough to see it but im suspecting there is a dip in the blade that hasn't worn down to the stone while i was sharpening it, or its something like that, but i never use that part of the blade that far back. i pull very small chips and take my leisure carving. I fitted it with a big hulking handle as my hands cramp when trying to hold too small of handles... and just coated it with some water soluble carver Tripp stain-danish finish wipe on.. i like the dry not slick handle it done slip in my hand.

when making a second knife, im just at the mapping stage of the blade. and drawing the blade shape on the straight razor, i think its just plain old wasteful that there is enough razor to make 2 knives out of one straight razor but the second one wouldn't have a tang.. dang it.

i dont use much blade, about 1/2 inch or so when carving,
i do have a great roughing knife made from a Rockwell plainer blade 1/4"x2"x18" the blade was ground to full tang, like a hunting knife,
, talk about hard to shape.. them plainer blades wear down the 6 inch grinder wheels fast...
but its a good roughing knife. and the whole blade is sharp on it. but its way too long and clumsy to carve with.

[Plain_Ol_Ed]

What kind of finish do people prefer? I see that the handles on Rick's site are very shiny. Right now, I've got it sanded to 220 and have put a couple of coats of danish oil on it. I almost feel like I liked it better when I had sanded it with 80 grit. But I didn't like how easily it got dirty.

I've used quite a variety of finishes on my knives, but the ones that I like the most I just sanded to 120 or 150 grit and stopped. Didn't apply anything, just let the natural oils from my hands do the job over time. Of course if I was going to sell them I'd do a lot more sanding and apply a "real" finish of some sort.

[Just Carving]

I finished four red oak tool handles--a skew chisel, a gouge, and two straight chisels--with clear, satin Minwax Poly-Wipe On--a wipe on polyurethane finish. It comes in satin and gloss--pint and quart. It can be used on furniture, interior doors, trim and other woodwork, hand rails, banisters, etc. The cost was $7.99/pt. at the local hardware store--probably cheaper at the home improvement stores.

According to the instructions, using a clean, dry, lint free cloth, you wipe on one coat, and wait 3-4 hours--depending on air temperature, humidity, etc. Sand with 220 grit sandpaper and repeat the process for a second coat. If desired, a third coat can be added. Wait 24 hours for curing. I coated the handles outside on a relatively humid night, and it was dry to touch within a few hours. The odor was minimal--no stronger than the average enamel paint and there was no residual odors on the handles either. The Poly-Wipe went on smooth--no brush marks, nor cloth marks.

For drying, I suspended the tools from a wire coat hanger by clamping a carpenter's spring clip over the business end of the tool with the hanger wire in between the clips arms, and handles hanging down. I hung the coat hanger on a nail in a roof joist in the shed. I had the four tools evenly spaced on the hanger with plenty of room in between each for air circulation.

I wanted to wait 24 hours to allow the handles to be good and dry before sanding, and applying the second and possibly third coat. But looking at the tool handles, you wouldn't think recoating would be necessary.

The handles are slightly darker--more enhancement of the wood color than anything. There is a a slight gloss finish, and I think it will even help the grip on the tool handle. So far, I'm happy with the results, and it was a lot easier than working with brushes, sprays, etc. Clean up was hanging the cloth and a pair of latex gloves up to dry.

Here's a link to a pic in my gallery.

http://www.woodcarvingillustrated.co...00/ppuser/2366

[SchreiberBike]

Ok, I'm trying to upload digital pictures. I'm not much of a woodworker or a carver, but I'm a darn site better at either of those than I am at taking pictures.

Please let me know what you think so I can improve on the next one.

The narrow picture is a profile of the blade and handle. The 2nd picture is an attempt at a closeup on the working end of the knife (unfortunately, you can only barely see the blade there).

There are some definite problems:

1. I angled the front of the handle like I have on the knives I use for letter carving. It works very well there, but those knives are really closer to skew chisels than they are to whittling knives. I won't do that again.
2. I made the handle in two halves, mortising out the space for the straight razor's handle. You can see a gap between the two halves in the 2nd photo. Next time, I'll do a better job of fitting that. I found it much harder than I thought to make the mortise just the right size.
3. The maple that I used looks fine, but for such a small piece of wood, it makes sense to use something that will be more dramatic even if it costs a bit. I have some cocobolo I plan to use in the future.
4. With the angled front of the handle, I wasn't able to sharpen up to the base of the blade. I used a Dremel to remove the edge of the blade which I couldn't sharpen. That looks to me to be a weak point on the knife, but it has held up well so far.
5. I really like the shape of the handle, but I think it could use just a bit more belly, and aesthetically, the blade just doesn't go with the handle the way Rick's do on his pages. I can't quite see what I would do differently, but I can tell it's not right.

I like the way it feels and the wide tail feels very right to me for a roughing knife. The edge the blade holds is better than any other I have used. The "furrel" is a copper cent, drilled, cut and filed then epoxied in place. I haven't decided if I like that yet or not.

I am pleased and hope to make a couple more so that I can get it right, but I have Christmas gifts to get done first. Again, I'd appreciate any feedback.