Cartridge and Safety Razors

I guess that technically these are still knives. They are cartridge and safety razors. Safety razors are also known as "DE" or Double Edge razors. I purchase the heads and make the rest of them out of wood. They are really fun, quick and easy to make since most of the work is done on the lathe. The cartridge razors use standard Gillette Mach 3 heads and the safety razors use the standard double edge blades that you can find at almost any store that sells shaving supplies.

The stand and razor on this are both made out of the same piece of Bocote.

The handle on this safety razor was turned form Padauk. It was a birthday gift for a friend.

These both have Bocote handles as well. I kept the safety razor for myself and gave the cartridge razor to my oldest son.

This is another skinning knife that I recently finished. It went to Texas. The blade is 1/8 inch thick D2. The handle is made from Cocobolo and uses stainless steel Loveless style fasteners. the pouch is from Knife Dogs.

Another Straight Razor

This is one that I made from scratch out of a truck leaf spring. I forged the blade and ground it to what is called a "quarter hollow" grind in the straight razor world. The handle is carved from a single piece of Cocobolo that will darken with age. This was a real learning experience and was great fun. It is currently honed to about 1,000 grit and I have finer stones on order. It needs to go to at least 8,000 grit and then stropped with leather before it will be "shave ready". Can't wait to try it.

Straight Razors

I've started playing with making straight razors. Below are what I've come up with so far. They are much different than hunting or kitchen knives.

Above is a cheap razor that I reground the blade on and made a new one-piece handle for out of Lignum vitae. I don't think that it is ever one that I would try shaving with, but it was a good learning experience.

The above two pictures are the before-and-after of a razor that I picked up for $15 at an antique store. My guess is that it is about 100 years old. I re-ground the blade since it had a chip in it. Then I made a new cocobolo handle for it. This one needs honed yet, but I think it may be a good usable razor for another 100 years.

This is a "shavette". Basically it is a straight razor that takes replaceable blades. This one uses standard safety razor blades. I polished the metal parts up and made a new handle for it. The handle is one piece of Cocobolo. This one I have actually used. It does a pretty good job.

It has been really fun with these to peen my own rivets using brass rod and a ball peen hammer.

Cocobolo Skinning Knife

This was made for a friend at work. He is giving it to his step-son for his birthday. The blade is 1/8 inch thick D2. The handle is cross-cut Cocobolo. Jeff Hays of Hays Holsters made the sheath for me and I like how he did it.

Friend's Veggie Knife

I have a friend at work who is a picky eater. He likes certain veggies and cheese. That's about it. He prepares most of his own food and he doesn't like how his kids and wife abuse the knives. So he asked me to make a knife just for him. This was about three years ago, and last I asked, he uses it daily and has never had to sharpen it. I find this hard to believe, but the most important factor in edge holding is how you use the knife. So maybe it's true. The blade was ground from 1/8" thick CPM-S30V. The full tang handle is Cocobolo with stainless steel dovetailed bolsters and pins. I didn't want to make a sheath for a kitchen knife. That didn't seem appropriate. Instead I made a leather blade protector that was lined with thick plastic. I was pleased with it.

Donated Knives

These were donated to church for fund raising auctions. They ended up being bought by brothers. Both knives have blades of 1/8" CPM-S30V.

The top knife was from two years ago. It had brass dovetailed bolsters and Cocobolo scales on a full tang. A spent .22 magnum shell served as the thong hole tubing.

The bottom knife was from this years auction. It had a Diamondwood handle with some fancy spacers and a bolt style rivet. There is also an inlay around the spine of the handle.

Bowie Knives

I don't make very many bowie knives. I just don't see any practical use for them. However I have done a few.

This knife was made from 1/4" thick 440C. I think it is the only time I have used that steel on a knife. It had a Cocobolo handle with a white Micarta spacer. It was made in Moses Lake and I traded it for a computer.

I made this one in Moses Lake as well. It had a 1/4" thick blade of O-1. I forget what the handle wood was. It went to a friend on his birthday.

Skinning Knives

My grandfather had a drawer full of knives that I used to look through as a kid. In that drawer was an Old Timer Sharp Finger. It was a cool knife that he would use to butcher cows with, but it didn't hold a very good edge. So I re-designed it a little so that I could make it out of a 1 inch wide piece of steel. For these knives I used 1/8" thick CPM-S30V. I am getting ready to make another batch out of ATS-34.

The top knife has canvas Micarta scales with stainless steel pins. It was made about three or four years ago for a friend at work.

The second knife has black paper Micarta scales, brass dovetailed bolsters, red liners and mosaic pins that I made myself. It was made a year ago for a friend at work. He gave it to his son as a birthday gift. They used it this year on a really nice buck that his son shot.

The fourth picture shows a knife that I made three years ago with Cocobolo scales and stainless steel pins. My old boss bought it from me.

Next is one that I made with multi-colored Diamondwood scales around the same time as the others. I don't remember who bought it.

Last is one with blue Diamondwood scales that my Dad bought from me. I used bolt style rivets that I really like. They give a bulls eye effect on one side of the knife and there is no way that the handle will come off. He still has it and would be willing to sell it if anyone was interested.

Full Tang Hunter with Finger Groove

A friend of mine drew this about three years ago and asked me if I could build it for him. It had a CPM S30V blade and a Cocobolo handle. He ended up giving it away as a gift (to his nephew if I remember correctly). Then he came back to me and had me build a second one for himself. I was pleased with this design and may make more in the future.