Yesterday I grabbed a random razor from my to do pile. It was a 4/8, makers mark unknown to me (if anyone recognizes it, please let me know) with some small chips toward the nose. As I'm honing, I'm impressed with how slender and dainty the blade is compared to other 4/8's I've honed. After working out the chips it honed up quite nicely and took a great edge. Upon closing the blade I realized why there were chips, it was closing onto the wedge. I decided to put it at the top of my rescale list and started the work this morning. Sorry, no before or in process pics, I didn't even think of that. Here are the results and I'll explain the materials after the pic. Like I said, the blade felt dainty and I wanted the scales to match. A green, transparent popcorn bucket from the dollar store came to hand and a yellow top from an herbal OTC pill bottle was sacrificed for the wedge. The thinnest scales I've ever made, the material miked in at .05 inch, and everything worked out sweet on it. Thanks for letting me share, I was really tickled with how well the found materials worked out.
The little duck figurine looks frightened where it should be in awe Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
What stone? Oh, that one! It's another project rock, chert I believe. I'd been fascinated by chert since my first visit to Grand Falls near Joplin, Mo. I don't know if the rock this was cut from came from that area or not, it was part of the landscaping at the house my son in law rents I'd read somewhere that chert could be used as a hone, so when a suitable piece was spotted I had to give it a try. The rock was all that my Harbor Freight 10 inch tile saw could handle, this piece is 3 1/4 x 6 1/2 at the longest point and it took over 2 hours to cut this slab off. It lapped easier than the quartzite and soon it was flat and worked up through 1k grit paper.It has a very fractured looking surface, but the razor doesn't seem to notice those, which I suppose is fair since the stone doesn't seem to notice the steel either. It doesn't cut or polish as far as I can tell. I may lap it at 400 and see if that gives it any tooth, but for now it's an interesting prop for razor pics. It's fun to find and cut stones, but it can be hit or miss if they'll end up being hones.
