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Clouds
Well-Known Member
The Gibbs Notcher
When I bought my first Gibbs, I read about the punch and the cutting of the tabs but neither were a satisfactory solution for me. The first jig that I made was more of a template than a jig and I used a Dremel to cut the slots. It worked fine but you needed to be careful using it because the Dremel, besides cutting the blades could also cut the jig.
I then made one on a milling machine, where I slit a piece of metal and used a pin to punch the notch. It works well but not everyone has access to a milling machine and I still wanted to design something that could be made with some basic tools.
This is what I came up with - Yes it was done with hand tools. It also served as a proof of concept for what I ultimately had in mind.
You are going to need:
- A piece of sandpaper
- A 3mm Drill bit that you are going to sacrifice. The 3mm drill shown here has been sharpened a lot. If you have a piece of round 3mm tool steel, which of course a drill is - use that.
- 2 x nuts and bolts
- A drill to match the two bolts (I used a 5mm here)
- A strip of aluminium from a beverage can
- Two pieces of metal (These are 25mm x 5mm thickness)
- Marking pen or scribe (Something to mark the aluminium can)
- Scissors or trimming knife/box cutter
(These scissors are way too big as you will see later)
- Hand drill (although I have a milling machine, I wanted to make this out of basic tools)
Not Shown:
Trimming knife / Box cutter
The two nuts and bolts
Scribe
Optional:
A Clamp (I didn't use one because I wanted to use basic tools)
Drill the three holes.
The two outer ones to match the nuts and bolts that you have. They must be wide enough apart to clear a blade so anything more than about 30mm will work. The 3mm hole somewhere close to the middle
If you have a clamp use it here to clamp the two pieces of metal together before you drill them. I didn't and my two pieces don't line up exactly. If you look carefully at the top of the image you can see this.
I then sandpapered the top end of the 3mm drill bit so that it was flat and snapped it off. Effectively it's going to work like a scissors. If you have access to a Dremel (or similar) rather cut off the excess of the 3mm drill bit. The fact that I snapped it created a problem which I mention later.
While I was doing sandpapering, I also cleaned to the two pieces of metal.
You want to end up with something like the two pieces in the bottom half of the image. The countersinking is optional. I counter sunk the two outer holes because that matched the two bolts that I was using.
Up to now the only mistake that you can make is that the two outer holes are not far enough away from the middle hole so that they interfere with the blade edges when you insert the blade.
The second part of the jig
This is what determines how accurately the notch is done so you do need to be careful
Cut a suitable size strip from the aluminium can. Make sure that you have a small overhang on each side of the pieces of metal.
A - Mark and punch the two outer holes. I used a paper hole punch to do punch these holes. I made the the same size as the bolts but you may want to make them a slight bit bigger, you will see why later.
Assemble the jig, sandwiching the piece of aluminium strip between the two steel plates.
B - Punch the middle hole using the flattened (snapped) drill bit - At this point I found out that my drill was slightly bent from breaking it. It worked fine but I had to pull it out with a pair of pliers - so I suggest that you cut it with a Dremel if you can.
I wasn't going to snap another drill bit so I used the pin that I already had and punched the rest of the small holes in the image.
C- If you have an old Gibbs blade use that, otherwise you are going to have to do some careful measuring. I took a blade that I already punched and marked the aluminium out using that.
D - The Marking pen works fine but I found that scribing it was better.
E - Cut where you need to. Don't cut the excess aluminium that is sticking out yet. You want to end up with the aluminium similar to this. I have no aluminium that touches the sharp edges of the blade.
This is going to determine both the depth and the centering of the notch. It was at this point that I found that the scissors were way too big, so I ended up using the ones on my Leatherman. The aluminium strip is soft and cuts easily. On the second "notcher" I used a box cutter/trimming knife to cut the aluminium and frankly this is the best thing to use.
This part needs to be accurate as it is what does the alignment. The "bigger" holes along with the extra overhang will let you fine tune it a bit. The great part is that if you make a mistake, just cut another strip from the can and start again. On the second notcher the can that I got was not thick enough so I just used two strips.
Now it’s time to re-assemble everything.
When you do, put the pin so the aluminium lines up and then tighten everything up
-----------------------------------------------------------------
To use:
Slide the blade into the jig.
Lay the jig down flat.
Insert the pin and give it a smart tap. Repeat for the other side. I just used the screwdriver in the image to tap it.
The top of the image shows one side done and the blade inserted before doing the other side. The test here is to turn the blade around keeping the same side up and cut the second notch. Check it in your Gibbs and if its straight you have it lined up perfectly. If its not - remember the overhang that I mentioned - loosen the bolts, move the aluminium across a bit, tighten up and test again. Once you have it right, trim the excess off.
Does it work - absolutely perfectly, all the time every time. Its also fairly quick to use.
See the bottom part of the image. The blade is perfectly lined up in my Gibbs.
My OCD kicked later and I milled the edges so that the corners are all square just to have it neat and tidy, but as you can see it's not necessary.
This is where I ultimately wanted to end up. I saw that my idea worked fine so all I really did was build a pin/spring arrangement on top.
I also wanted to be able to use it in a reloading press, hence the thread and the little piece on the left hand side. Using it in a reloading press is extremely fast but I mostly use it as shown on the right.
This was done using a lathe and a milling machine. Left part of the pic shows the components (I forgot to put the white handle in the pic) and the other side shows it in use. Insert blade, smack the white handle, turn blade around and smack the white handle again. Job done (Quicker to do then to type)
I bought, the bolt and the two pins. I have no idea where the spring came from, I have a packet of springs that have come out of "things" over the years and its was among them. It needs to be fairly strong. I built it over two evenings.
Is it Overkill - absolutely
Was it fun to build - absolutely.
Is it Quick and accurate to use - absolutely
Any questions, I will do my best to answer. I would love someone else to build one.
When I bought my first Gibbs, I read about the punch and the cutting of the tabs but neither were a satisfactory solution for me. The first jig that I made was more of a template than a jig and I used a Dremel to cut the slots. It worked fine but you needed to be careful using it because the Dremel, besides cutting the blades could also cut the jig.
I then made one on a milling machine, where I slit a piece of metal and used a pin to punch the notch. It works well but not everyone has access to a milling machine and I still wanted to design something that could be made with some basic tools.
This is what I came up with - Yes it was done with hand tools. It also served as a proof of concept for what I ultimately had in mind.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
You are going to need:
- A piece of sandpaper
- A 3mm Drill bit that you are going to sacrifice. The 3mm drill shown here has been sharpened a lot. If you have a piece of round 3mm tool steel, which of course a drill is - use that.
- 2 x nuts and bolts
- A drill to match the two bolts (I used a 5mm here)
- A strip of aluminium from a beverage can
- Two pieces of metal (These are 25mm x 5mm thickness)
- Marking pen or scribe (Something to mark the aluminium can)
- Scissors or trimming knife/box cutter
(These scissors are way too big as you will see later)
- Hand drill (although I have a milling machine, I wanted to make this out of basic tools)
Not Shown:
Trimming knife / Box cutter
The two nuts and bolts
Scribe
Optional:
A Clamp (I didn't use one because I wanted to use basic tools)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Part 1Drill the three holes.
The two outer ones to match the nuts and bolts that you have. They must be wide enough apart to clear a blade so anything more than about 30mm will work. The 3mm hole somewhere close to the middle
If you have a clamp use it here to clamp the two pieces of metal together before you drill them. I didn't and my two pieces don't line up exactly. If you look carefully at the top of the image you can see this.
I then sandpapered the top end of the 3mm drill bit so that it was flat and snapped it off. Effectively it's going to work like a scissors. If you have access to a Dremel (or similar) rather cut off the excess of the 3mm drill bit. The fact that I snapped it created a problem which I mention later.
While I was doing sandpapering, I also cleaned to the two pieces of metal.
You want to end up with something like the two pieces in the bottom half of the image. The countersinking is optional. I counter sunk the two outer holes because that matched the two bolts that I was using.
Up to now the only mistake that you can make is that the two outer holes are not far enough away from the middle hole so that they interfere with the blade edges when you insert the blade.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Part 2The second part of the jig
This is what determines how accurately the notch is done so you do need to be careful
Cut a suitable size strip from the aluminium can. Make sure that you have a small overhang on each side of the pieces of metal.
A - Mark and punch the two outer holes. I used a paper hole punch to do punch these holes. I made the the same size as the bolts but you may want to make them a slight bit bigger, you will see why later.
Assemble the jig, sandwiching the piece of aluminium strip between the two steel plates.
B - Punch the middle hole using the flattened (snapped) drill bit - At this point I found out that my drill was slightly bent from breaking it. It worked fine but I had to pull it out with a pair of pliers - so I suggest that you cut it with a Dremel if you can.
I wasn't going to snap another drill bit so I used the pin that I already had and punched the rest of the small holes in the image.
C- If you have an old Gibbs blade use that, otherwise you are going to have to do some careful measuring. I took a blade that I already punched and marked the aluminium out using that.
D - The Marking pen works fine but I found that scribing it was better.
E - Cut where you need to. Don't cut the excess aluminium that is sticking out yet. You want to end up with the aluminium similar to this. I have no aluminium that touches the sharp edges of the blade.
This is going to determine both the depth and the centering of the notch. It was at this point that I found that the scissors were way too big, so I ended up using the ones on my Leatherman. The aluminium strip is soft and cuts easily. On the second "notcher" I used a box cutter/trimming knife to cut the aluminium and frankly this is the best thing to use.
This part needs to be accurate as it is what does the alignment. The "bigger" holes along with the extra overhang will let you fine tune it a bit. The great part is that if you make a mistake, just cut another strip from the can and start again. On the second notcher the can that I got was not thick enough so I just used two strips.
Now it’s time to re-assemble everything.
When you do, put the pin so the aluminium lines up and then tighten everything up
-----------------------------------------------------------------
To use:
Slide the blade into the jig.
Lay the jig down flat.
Insert the pin and give it a smart tap. Repeat for the other side. I just used the screwdriver in the image to tap it.
The top of the image shows one side done and the blade inserted before doing the other side. The test here is to turn the blade around keeping the same side up and cut the second notch. Check it in your Gibbs and if its straight you have it lined up perfectly. If its not - remember the overhang that I mentioned - loosen the bolts, move the aluminium across a bit, tighten up and test again. Once you have it right, trim the excess off.
Does it work - absolutely perfectly, all the time every time. Its also fairly quick to use.
See the bottom part of the image. The blade is perfectly lined up in my Gibbs.
My OCD kicked later and I milled the edges so that the corners are all square just to have it neat and tidy, but as you can see it's not necessary.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The Ultimate NotcherThis is where I ultimately wanted to end up. I saw that my idea worked fine so all I really did was build a pin/spring arrangement on top.
I also wanted to be able to use it in a reloading press, hence the thread and the little piece on the left hand side. Using it in a reloading press is extremely fast but I mostly use it as shown on the right.
This was done using a lathe and a milling machine. Left part of the pic shows the components (I forgot to put the white handle in the pic) and the other side shows it in use. Insert blade, smack the white handle, turn blade around and smack the white handle again. Job done (Quicker to do then to type)
I bought, the bolt and the two pins. I have no idea where the spring came from, I have a packet of springs that have come out of "things" over the years and its was among them. It needs to be fairly strong. I built it over two evenings.
Is it Overkill - absolutely
Was it fun to build - absolutely.
Is it Quick and accurate to use - absolutely
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Any questions, I will do my best to answer. I would love someone else to build one.
Clouds
Well-Known Member
Thanks
Repeat...
I did the initial jig over Christmas/New Year. I had to wait for the stores to re-open to get the big bolt, so second week in January.
OK. I did some more work. Instead of the sheet of metal from a soda can I decided to use the plastic from a yoghurt box. The reason is, I can cut it easier, it is a bit thicker so I can put in the blade more easily and there is less risk damaging the edge. I try to make the hole a little bit wider. A punch is used to make the holes. I still have to align the blade a little bit. I used old blades to test.
Last edited:
Clouds
Well-Known Member
| Gibbs - New Adjuster plate My latest 15/17 project - the modification that most Gibbs owners want. I made up a completely new adjuster plate for my Gibbs so that there is no modification to the original razor parts and no need to modify blades. And the answer to the most important question is "Just like a Gibbs" |
Clouds
Well-Known Member
Thanks evh
Thanks - here let me correct that for youGreat work.
We need to keep youin quarantineimprisonedlonger!
