Smythe
Well-Known Member
She began her life somewhere in the annals of the most notorious cutlery in Sheffield England: Wade & Butcher. This particular model is the Medium Sized Hollow Ground 5/8th notched point, near wedge grind, arched back, humped tang and smiling edge.
Somewhere, somehow she ended up covered with rust and a broken scale no doubt through neglect and abuse, and decades later found herself on the auction block where I (like a knight in shining armor) snatched her up with my last few dollars. “A lady of your pedigree deserves a good makeover” (said the night in shining armor to the lady in distress as they rode off into the sunset)…. But wait, that’s not the end of the story…
It was decided to make new scales as the front scale was broken, 1/8th inch thick black polycarbonate was selected (it was all we had). The original scales are interesting, Bakelite with the wedge piece integrated into the rear scale and brass pins and lock-washers. We glued the broken front side so we could make an accurate trace on the factory protective covering and then cut the two sides of the scales from raw stock.
Both sides were glued (with the protective covering still in place) and the Dremel with Drum Wheel used to smooth the rough-cut edges. We first shaped the outline of the scales with the protective covering and trace still in place so we can see what we are doing before stripping the protective covering. The Dremel Drum Wheel again used to create the traditional round “banana” profile.
We progressed from 220 grit, 400, 600, 800, 1K and finally 2K grit Wet/Dry sandpaper, Most of the sanding was done wet, as water flushes away the plastic “swarf” for efficient cutting, however when the plastic is wet, it is almost impossible to see if the previous scratches ware completely removed, so we dry the work and examine our progress between grits (that second photo we compare our new scales to the original "glued" scales).
After 2Kgrit the finish is almost mirror and all that is needed is to polish for a brilliant shine. We avoid power tools in all cases of sanding and polishing as heat will often distort the final shape of the scales.
The wedge piece was made from waste cutting, it is oversized on the outside and we will do the final shaping/polishing after the butt-end is pinned. Notice: we reused all four original lock washers.
While you guys were looking at the scales my assist labored at the wheels removing most of the rust and pitting from the steel. And with the dagger close to his jugular, managed to preserve her precious birthmarks (etching and tang stamps)… he lives to grind again another day (“Evil Laugh” smiley goes here).
I wanted to give her a mirror shine, but the lady would have none of that, “they must see my rugged roots”.
Behold, a new W&B Medium Sized Hollow Ground from Sheffield England… ‘Applause”….
Now she is not perfect, still has a few pits about the blade… and a few near the edge, but should not stop her from delivering a pain free shave.
Now there’s been a lot of talk in the Razor Honing Carousel, and two of our members got the wheels spinning. Sooooooo, without further delay let’s go to The Razor Honing Carousel.
http://www.coticule.be/the-cafetaria/message/2033.html
Somewhere, somehow she ended up covered with rust and a broken scale no doubt through neglect and abuse, and decades later found herself on the auction block where I (like a knight in shining armor) snatched her up with my last few dollars. “A lady of your pedigree deserves a good makeover” (said the night in shining armor to the lady in distress as they rode off into the sunset)…. But wait, that’s not the end of the story…
It was decided to make new scales as the front scale was broken, 1/8th inch thick black polycarbonate was selected (it was all we had). The original scales are interesting, Bakelite with the wedge piece integrated into the rear scale and brass pins and lock-washers. We glued the broken front side so we could make an accurate trace on the factory protective covering and then cut the two sides of the scales from raw stock.
Both sides were glued (with the protective covering still in place) and the Dremel with Drum Wheel used to smooth the rough-cut edges. We first shaped the outline of the scales with the protective covering and trace still in place so we can see what we are doing before stripping the protective covering. The Dremel Drum Wheel again used to create the traditional round “banana” profile.
We progressed from 220 grit, 400, 600, 800, 1K and finally 2K grit Wet/Dry sandpaper, Most of the sanding was done wet, as water flushes away the plastic “swarf” for efficient cutting, however when the plastic is wet, it is almost impossible to see if the previous scratches ware completely removed, so we dry the work and examine our progress between grits (that second photo we compare our new scales to the original "glued" scales).
After 2Kgrit the finish is almost mirror and all that is needed is to polish for a brilliant shine. We avoid power tools in all cases of sanding and polishing as heat will often distort the final shape of the scales.
The wedge piece was made from waste cutting, it is oversized on the outside and we will do the final shaping/polishing after the butt-end is pinned. Notice: we reused all four original lock washers.
While you guys were looking at the scales my assist labored at the wheels removing most of the rust and pitting from the steel. And with the dagger close to his jugular, managed to preserve her precious birthmarks (etching and tang stamps)… he lives to grind again another day (“Evil Laugh” smiley goes here).
I wanted to give her a mirror shine, but the lady would have none of that, “they must see my rugged roots”.
Behold, a new W&B Medium Sized Hollow Ground from Sheffield England… ‘Applause”….
Now she is not perfect, still has a few pits about the blade… and a few near the edge, but should not stop her from delivering a pain free shave.
Now there’s been a lot of talk in the Razor Honing Carousel, and two of our members got the wheels spinning. Sooooooo, without further delay let’s go to The Razor Honing Carousel.
http://www.coticule.be/the-cafetaria/message/2033.html
