Tom’s razor creations

Discussion in 'Safety Razors' started by twhite, Jun 11, 2020.

  1. twhite

    twhite Peeping Tom

    I have been asked by several members to create a page on all of my razors I have made. I will start in chronological order. First a bit about myself. My name is Tom White. I started wet shaving in 1980. At that time I did not know then what it was called. I started out with a 1980 Gillette 109 and canned goo. My blades were whatever I picked up at Sav on. I continued this mundane process until 1990 That is when I married my wife. I then switched to disposables as that is what she bought for me.

    Shaving was always a chore for me. Fast forward 20 years to 2010. I had become increasingly unhappy with the cost of disposables. My birthday was coming up. My wife asked what I wanted for my Birthday. I am a hard person to buy for. I am happy with what I have. Anyhow I am not sure why I decided I wanted to get back to basics of shaving. Not really having a clue as to where to go. My wife told me to get in the car. She noticed a shaving store in our local mall. You guessed it it was AoS. I was awestruck as to the stuff they had.After looking at all of the offerings of Merkur razors. I had narrowed it down to either a Progress or Furtur. I chose those 2 because I was familiar with adjustable razors. My wife liked the looks of the Futur, so that was the razor. I also picked out a Badger brush, AoS soap and AS balm Sandalwood.
    After I started shaving with this setup. I began to actually enjoy shaving again. It was not so much a chore. This went on for almost 5 years with the exact same setup. That is when on September 11 2015 I found my second home. TSD if you don’t know . Blessing or a Curse it all depends on who in my family you ask.

    As most of you know from experience. The AD’s kick in fast. I dabbled in them all. My AD turned out to be razors. First DE,s. Then when I got my first SE in a lot razor purchase. A Gem 1912, my love of shaving exploded. This razor instantly gave me far superior shaves than my DE’s. So I had to get all the different Gem models. I loved and still love them all. Somewhere in the mix I acquired an injector. A Schick E2. Again this was love at first shave. All of this in a span of 3 months.

    A bit about my other self. The non shaving part. I have always been a tinkerer from the time I can remember. So much so that my dad bought me my first tool set. A 100 piece Craftsman set with the box. For Christmas when I was 7 years old. Still have the box and most of the tools 50 years later. He mainly did this because I was always using his tools.

    Growing up I would call myself lower middle class. I always had food and a roof over my head. So us kids 3 myself and an older and younger sister. We did not have the cool stuff the other kids on the block had. It did not bother me in the least. As I was always outside fixing my bike or others on the block. Playing with my legos and an erector set. I would make stupid things that I thought up.

    Anyhow as I was an average student. I knew that College was not for me. I had always take industrial arts classes in middle and High school. During the last semester in my Senior year. The guidance counselor came to the machine shop. They were looking for somebody that wanted a part time job. Remember those days when there were industrial arts classes? Employers actually actively looked in schools for apprentices. Well I got a job working in a Mold Making company learning how to become a Mold Maker.

    This was a dream come true so to speak. I got to put into practice all I learned from the classes at school. They were also totally cool with you making your own stuff on the equipment. So I started making lots of my own tools. I was also able to make what is known as G jobs. Totally unrelated things. Sorry for getting off subject so much.

    So mid December 2015 I got the bright idea of trying to make my own razor. I wanted to make an Injector razor. I know what you might be thinking. Why not start out simple and make a 3 piece DE. Simple answer I was in the midst of injector RAD. So I put the thought in my mind and then I tend to forget about it in my conscious mind.

    A week later I had my basic idea. I wanted a razor that I could adjust first and foremost. Having recently acquired a Schick H. I was drawn to the fairly simple spring and holding design. I also was interested in having an open comb if possible. I had my basics all set.
    Off to the drawing board. Actually my computer an the program I did all my designing and programming on. MasterCam. First things first from perspective. I layed out the blade. Then created tangent points to create blade exposure and blade angle. Working from there I designed the spring profile and comb profile. While doing this I settled on a simple but inconvenient way to make an adjustable comb. It would just slide fore and aft to change exposure while leaving the blade gap alone. Never intending to ever have others shave with this. I was fine using a screwdriver to adjust the razor. The end result was the Bunny V1. From sitting down to design to the first finished razor was 5 days. I figure the actual time designing it was 4 or 5 hours over the course of a Couple of days. Then getting time after work to machine it up.[​IMG]

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]


    There was one jig I needed to make. That was to bend the main spring. Here it is bending later springs. I did not document my V1 very well.
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    This pretty much wraps up everything on my Bunny V1. Next post will be about me sharing my creation with you guys and the exciting road that I started following.

    Tom
     
    Last edited: Jun 11, 2020
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  2. brit

    brit in a box

    very cool Tom..
     
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  3. Keithmax

    Keithmax Breeds Pet Rocks

    :smiley respect::smiley respect::smiley respect::smiley respect::smiley respect::smiley respect::smiley respect::smiley respect::smiley respect:

    Looking forward to reading about all your creations.
     
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  4. Jim99

    Jim99 Gold Water Shaver

    Fascinating for sure! I can’t wait for the next episode!

    Thanks, Tom.
     
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  5. richgem

    richgem suffering from chronic clicker hand cramps

    Thank you Tom, for giving into peer pressure. :D
    Great post!
     
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  6. twhite

    twhite Peeping Tom

    I will try to get the next chapter out this weekend. Writing and composition is not a strong point with me. It is very fun recounting the events though.
     
  7. Jim99

    Jim99 Gold Water Shaver

    Tom, it was a very enjoyable read. Btw, I know what it’s like to be the the middle child of 3. I also have one younger and one older sister. As one of my buddies always says, Oy vey!
     
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  8. Jayaruh

    Jayaruh The Cackalacky House Pet

    Supporting Vendor
    I am so glad you started this thread, Tom. It is going to be fun to see all of your razor creations. I have the Bunny V3, the original TNNSER, and three 3D TNNSERs. I also have a Red and Black Old Type with matching badger brush and a 3d printed brush you did. Eventually, the brass TAR will come to live in my den. I have been blessed with much @twhite Creativity.
     
  9. twhite

    twhite Peeping Tom

    Back to where I left off. After making my Bunny V1. I set about giving it its first shave. Before I forget. I had posted pictures on the razor and a bit of what was going on. Anyhow, first shave I set the razor up on its mildest setting. Having no clue as to how this contraption would shave. Much to my surprise on the first stroke on my cheek. It felt good. With the first stoke down I was much more relaxed and went about my normal 3 pass shave. It was a total success to my amazement.

    So I posted my results on the single edge and injector page. I started getting a bunch of positive feedback. People showed an interest in wanting to try it.
    Taking some of the big changes suggested. Get rid of the 3 screws that keep the top spring in place. There were a few suggestions to use 2 like on the Schick F. Well that is a sexy razor. So be it I made it so. The other major change was the addition of interchangeable fixed Open combs at various aggressions. MILD, NOTSO, WILD.

    Back to the computer and maybe a week later I had Bunny V2. It still has the detachable handle. I initially chose this design for ease of manufacturing. Very little waste cutting from a small block and turning down a rod. After all this was just an exercise to see if I could make a functional injector. I also switched from brass springs to spring Bronze. I made 3 V2 Bunny’s. One I kept for myself. The other 2 were sent to 2 members I very much respect and value their opinions. They are @Karl G and @Billyfergie
    [​IMG]

    Well in the time I made the V2 and sent them out for evaluation. Most people wanted a single piece razor. So back to the drawing board. As I already had the head designed. It was just a matter of coming up with a handle to blend into the head. So another week later voila V3 was born. At this time there were way more people interested in trying it than I ever could have imagined. As some of you know. I ended up making 6 razors for a truly international pass around. And the rest they say is history.
    [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG]
    [​IMG]


    Over the next several months I think I made a total of 25 Bunny V3 razors for members on various forums. There are only 1 V1 and 3 V2’s. Again in hind sight, I wish I had kept track of who got the razors. Oh well.

    Please feel free to ask questions. I would be happy to try and answer them.

    Stay tuned for what was next.
     
    Last edited: Jun 11, 2020
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  10. Jayaruh

    Jayaruh The Cackalacky House Pet

    Supporting Vendor
    jr_bunny2.jpg Proud Bunny V3 owner.
    [​IMG]
    Here it is with the Bunny B400.
    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Jun 11, 2020
  11. twhite

    twhite Peeping Tom

    Keep the pictures coming guys. That is great.
     
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  12. riverrun

    riverrun Well-Known Member

    I
    I'm the proud owner of two V3s:

    [​IMG] [​IMG]

    Another picture of one of them:

    [​IMG]
     
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  13. twhite

    twhite Peeping Tom

    Yikes!

    I just got done transferring all my photos related to my various creations to my iPad. Looks like I will have 10 different designs to chronicle. Several are variations of razors and a melding of different razors.

    I plan on going in order of actual finished razor. This is going to take a lot more remembering than I thought. That means a bunch more typing. :angry019:

    Thanks you wise guys who made me do this. You know I am easily brainwashed. :shocked029:
     
  14. richgem

    richgem suffering from chronic clicker hand cramps

    :signs136:
     
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  15. Jayaruh

    Jayaruh The Cackalacky House Pet

    Supporting Vendor
    If I recall, Igor was next. Tom's adjustable SE razor.
    [​IMG]
     
  16. twhite

    twhite Peeping Tom

    Very much so. Although I had a design that I never finished before Igor (eye-gor). It will get a quick mention next.

    So glad you guys have nice glamour shots to post.
     
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  17. Jim99

    Jim99 Gold Water Shaver

    And the hits just keep on coming!

    :happy096:
     
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  18. richgem

    richgem suffering from chronic clicker hand cramps

    "You know, I'm a rather brilliant surgeon. Perhaps I can help you with that hump."
     
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  19. twhite

    twhite Peeping Tom

    Hump what hump?
     
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  20. Primotenore

    Primotenore missed opera tunity

    Article Team
    Great post from a great member. Thank you, Tom.
     
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