Razor Knife - Pics & Steps

Sinter · #1 09-02-2005, 06:46 PM

Here are pictures of the knife I made the other night. I attached 5, but have links to some others, as well.

I started out thinking "Dunkle High Point", but after some over-zealous grinding, it wound up having the profile of a scalpel, which actually works very well all around. The bevel (the whole knife, actually!) was more difficult to grind this way. As anyone of you who've done this know, the tip, since the stock is so thin, is really easy to overheat.

The handle is oak - I cut the rough shape out on my bandsaw, then used my grinder - I know, it burns the wood. I had to sand a lot of that out. The handle isn't finished yet - I'll do that this weekend. I was *really* tired when I finished this thing (~2:30 AM), so the little details will come later.

It cuts like a champ, better than any other carving knife I have, and I am going to make more. Some *really* fine detailers, a big rougher, and some different point profiles in between.

http://www.stoutheart.com/Razor/tan.handle.close.jpg
http://www.stoutheart.com/Razor/just...file.first.jpg
http://www.stoutheart.com/Razor/tang.ground.jpg
http://www.stoutheart.com/Razor/palm.ground.jpg
http://www.stoutheart.com/Razor/handle-notset.jpg
http://www.stoutheart.com/Razor/epoxy.jpg
http://www.stoutheart.com/Razor/first.shave.jpg
http://www.stoutheart.com/Razor/initial.profile.jpg
http://www.stoutheart.com/Razor/all.done.shavings.jpg
http://www.stoutheart.com/Razor/profile.shavings.jpg

The knife actually would cut wood right off of the 36 grit grinder, before I sharpened and honed it - wild. I used a phone book to press the tang into the handle, it it went through it like it was nothing, with no damage to the point.

The grind near the back/spine of the blade is not as pretty as the rest of the blade, but, due to the hollow grind of the razor, I'm not bothering with it - it works just great. The blade has been honed and polished to a mirror finish - sure looks a lot different than the inital tarnished steel. I included a picture of the original razor, BTW.

So, the handle still needs to be finished, but other than that it's all done. I'm carving a St. Nick with it right now - it is so far better than the other knives I was using, I'm actually annoyed! I'm spoiled - with the sharpness I can get from it, I have wicked control - big chunks, transparent shavings - it does it all. I tried to show some of the little curls I could get with it, but one of the mahogany shavings is so small my camera wouldn't capture it. It curled up four times, and I was *holding the knife between my thumb and index finger* near the end of the handle! Wild - I can't wait to make more!

Hi_Ho_Sliver · #2 09-02-2005, 10:49 PM

They do cut good! But they are also very time consuming to make, I finished the other half of my razor and posted in the gallery..blade is 1 1/2 inches long and the handle is colorado juniper...looks a lot like the Cats Claw handle on the other knife...biggg difference in hardness of the two handles tho lol

Sinter · #3 09-03-2005, 12:22 AM

I think it took me about 4 1/2 hours to make the knife. The next one shouldn't take nearly as long - a little impatience grinding @ 3450 RPM costs a lot more time to fix than otherwise necessary. It really is a matter of "Grind - cool - grind - cool" for quite a while. I need to dress my wheel, too - that should save me a LOT of time. My wheel is very glazed at the moment, so I get too much heat and not enough stock removal. A different wheel would help, too. It's just generic grey "carborundum" from Union Abrasives - a good Norton stone would make a world of difference - so would a belt grinder!

The next project, though, is to finish creating a storage solution for all the wood I've collected - it's not a pretty sight in my basement, right now.

Hi_Ho_Sliver · #4 09-03-2005, 12:37 AM

Yeh, I just grind for a 1/2 second and dip in water and back and forth, don't want to take a chance of burning the steel

Colin_Partridge · #5 09-03-2005, 10:04 AM

Sinter great knife I only wish I was talented enough to make a knife I just wish I could find somewhere where they teach you how. Must be very rewarding to carve with a knife you made yourself.
Colin

Hi_Ho_Sliver · #6 09-03-2005, 11:31 AM

Colin, ricks tutorial helped me a lot.....and there are several knife making tutorials if you do a search. I have a book around here somewhere on making a knife, but its not a carving knife, the principles are all the same however.. if you decide to make one, take it step by step and I or we or all of us will help you with it.....start with a good piece of steel and cold grind....that making the knife with the existing steel and temper you can always get into tempering later......I have been shying away from that...as I am project poor now! if I see it , I have to try to make one....personality flaw ha ha.............let me know if I can help....Dave

Sinter · #7 09-03-2005, 01:12 PM

I'll admit, I've been interested in knifemaking for a long time (~12 years), but this is the first knife I've ever actually made. The small knife was a good starting point, and now I'm HOOKED. I have read a lot of material over the years about making knives, and I learned a lot about metallurgy when I was a tool salesman.

There are some *great* books by Wayne Goddard on making knives, and on the cheap.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...books&n=507846

The biggest thing is SAFETY. You can seriously hurt yourself, even with little blades. In my mind, eye safety comes first.

You CAN make your own knife, if you have a grinder and lots of patience.

BillinO · #8 09-03-2005, 03:00 PM

I made a razor knife about a month ago, I use a 1in by 42 in belt sander, starting with a 50 grit belt. Grind and cool every few seconds. I then work my way down to smoother grits to about 120 grit. I then move to medium diamond stone and then to hard arkansas stone. Finish honing on leather and felt wheel. I am hooked on knife making off to a flea market tomorrow to look for razors. My information is from Ricks tutorial, I made adjustments according to the tools I have. ope this helps.

Bill in Omaha.

Hi_Ho_Sliver · #9 09-03-2005, 03:23 PM

show us some pics of your razor knife!

Sinter · #10 09-03-2005, 03:43 PM

I'm getting set up to do forging...I plan to make my own small set of gouges. The old European masters often used to make their own tools - knowing how to craft and care for them was the first step before starting carving. The old apprentice metalworkers used to have to make their own files, then craft other tools with those files before they got started.

Anyway, I think others have mentioned the "One Brick Forge", pioneered by Wayne Goddard. There are other ways to make forges inexpensively - for a guy who really goes over the top when it comes to "making it from scratch" check out David Gingery's series. He starts out with a Charcoal fired forge (I built a version of it, but modified it to make it work with a propane torch - I was making my own *real* charcoal, but I would smell like smoke for days - that doesn't jive with my profession!)

Forging isn't for everyone, not even everyone who wants to make a knife. I visited the workshop of a relatively local knifebuilder earlier this year with my kids. It was awesome to watch him make a Damascus blade out of the stock he had fused and forged earlier in the day. His workshop was amazing. I hope to study with him in the near future, if only for a while. Here's a link to his website:
http://www.doveknives.com/index.html

Awesome guy - very generous with his knowledge and time.

Anyway, you make do with what you have. Wayne Goddard shows how you can build his GNBN (Good News Bad News) grinder for ~$5 from an old washing machine motor. The good news is how inexpensive it is, the bad news is that it's nowhere near as good as a $2500 belt grinder!