Tonight's Endeavors

So today I probably spent a good 8-10 hours on straight razors. I really really shouldn't have speant that long but I did anyway (and my test on monday will probably reflect heavily). I started out taking the scales I superglued last night and buffing them with steel wool to a smooth finish and then buffing them to really make them glassy. That took a little bit of time. I also worked on getting them all ready to pin up tomorrow and played around a bit with the pins I got today from Germany. Found out I ground all my wedges way too steep and will need to use different wedges that are either not as steep or flat, technically a spacer in that case. I was also assembling them incorrectly as you're supposed to pin the butt first and then the pivot. I'll try that tomorrow and see how it goes. All in all I took way too long at what I was doing but the scales are all ready to pin up. Oh today I also cut, drilled, glued and finished a pure badger hair shaving brush/handle (handle made out of deer antler) for a friend. Tomorrow I will make his strop.

Tonight I also spent a good 4 hours trying my hand at honing. I have 2 multi-grit stones and 1 single grit. The multi grits are both Norton and there's a 22o/1000 and a 4000/8000, the other is a 12000 grit chinese waterstone. I lapped all of them first (at least an hour was spent lapping the 12000, that sucker is hard! After that I practiced honing and the verdict is out: I suck at it! I could barely get an edge that would bite into my fingernail let alone one that would shave hair. I know I should look into it a lot more but I was pretty discouraged with my first session. I guess I was just thinking it would be like my knives, where I can get them hair popping sharp in about 5 minutes... Oh well, it will give me something to work on!

Scales are Drying...

So right now I'm sitting here, way past my bedtime, waiting for 6 sets of scales to dry enough for me to put another coat of CA on them. For future reference the scales I am working with right now are all hardwoods: padauk, purpleheart, maple, cherry, walnut and ash. I thougth the purpleheart would be my favorite but it's a flippin pain to work with as it burns incredibly easily on the grinder. I really liked the look of the raw padauk but was a little hesitant with the finished product but oh man was I wrong, the padauk is by far my favorite of all of these. It takes a gorgeous finish and is an absolute pleasure to work with.

I am putting on very light coats of CA but they still seem to take forever to dry once you have multiple coats already on. Some people will go as many as 50 coats and then sand off about 20 of them, leaving 30 coats of superglue and then buff with jeweler's (white) rouge. We'll see what I end up doing. Since I recently acquired a buffer maybe this is the best route to take. I am looking for a "glass" finish to the scales that will be nice and waterproof and hopefully this will be my answer. I've only done 1 other superglue finish and I really liked how it turned out but it was a royal pain in the butt because I didn't investigate and learn enough about the proper procedure before I attempted it. Ya know, the whole trying to reinvent the wheel bit... Not a good idea! Anyway, I'm spent, wicked tired, and I think these are ready to go for another layer. Wish me luck.

Freshly Honed

So tonight I shaved with 2 of the 3 razors that I had Larry Andro hone for me. All I can say is WOW! I really like my Solingen and I thought it was sharp but now I have a whole new level to compare to. The razors were a Case Red Imp and a Double Arrow custom and they both performed very well. I was particularly surprised by the Double Arrow. They are often regarded as trash razors due to issues in machining but this one was reground by a professional and it shaves like a champ! It's pretty too in its bubinga pants. I'll have to post pics of the case Red Imp later. Anyway, 2 thumbs up for Larry's honing service. I have hones now and hope to be able to perform the same service to my own razors.

Frustration

So I am working on making my first set of scales. I'm making them out of kydex since I have a ton of 1/8" kydex that I have no use for and its waterproof so why not? I'm putting them on the blade I had to regrind because of the crack (the one from Laura's parent's house). Anyway, after burning through a foot of brass rod with unsuccessfull peining I decided to go with the stainless steel fasteners I have. Anyway, long story short, I can't get the blade to center for the life of me! Quite frustrated right now. Oh well. Off to study and do some handsanding. Wish me luck.

Introduction

This blog is basically for my own enjoyment and documentation, dedicated to my new-found obsession of straight razor shaving.

A couple weeks ago somebody posted a straight razor on one of my favorite forums, asking for money or trade for a knife that I happened to have an extra of. So we traded for the blade, my first straight, a gold embellished Solingen in tortoise celluloid.


Since I make knives I already have strops that I've made and I made a brush out of a pure badger knot set in elk antler. I got a couple different soaps and watched a lot of video on instruction of shaving and I went for it and never looked back.

The first few shaves were a little tricky and I was shaking like a leaf out of fear that I would end up with a bloody cheek laying in the sink but it all went very well with minimal mishaps. Since then I really feel comfortable with the razor and feel good about the lather I'm able to work up with my brush.

Along with my obsession of looking at beautiful custom razors to lush after (Laura calls it my porn) I have purchased a dozen or so blades in need of restoration. These range from chipped, cracked, rusted blades to clean blades that just need new scales. I have purchased a bundle of wood to make scales from that includes purpleheart, padouk, maple, walnut, cherry and ash. Tonight I started on my first set of custom scales to dress up the blade that was left at Laura's parent's house when the original owner died. There was a major crack in the blade so I had to grind it off and make it a mini. Larry Andreassen honed it up for me and I made some scales out of something that I've never seen on a straight razor - kydex! It will be interesting for sure but should make a nice flat-black set of scales that will be quiet and subtle.

I was also asked by a friend to make her husband a brush and strop and get some blades ready so he can pick one out of my collection to start shaving with. I am really excited about that and really hope I'm able to help introduce more people into this seemingly long-lost art.