Kevin part IV, a New Hope

Turning

Shaping

Shaping

Fine shaping with a skew

Sanding

Hand sanding

Fine sanding

Wet sanding

Plastic polish

Wax

Assembly tail

Assembly head

 

Kevin part 3, the revenge of Kevin

Measure and cut

Drill

Paint and glue tubes

Turning begins

Roughing

Shaping

Fine shaping with skew

The sanding begins

Each step sanded lengthwise as well

So. Much. Sanding.

Wet sanding with Micromesh

Plastic polish

Wax

Assemble the tail

Assemble the head

Kevin part 2

 Today I turned the upright to one of two stands for Kevin's project.

Roughing with a carbide gouge.

Shaping.

Fine shaping with a skew.

Sanding at 100 grit.

After each level of sanding, I stop turning to sand the blank lengthwise to remove perpendicular scratches.

I sand at 100, 150, 220, 320, 400 and 600 grit (above), stopping to sand lengthwise each time. 

Wet-sanding with Micro Mesh pads. The lowest grit is about 8000 and there are about 10 steps going up to 32000 grit. The water keeps things cool.

The piece is dried and wiped clean.

This friction polish activates by heat.

A second coat of wax and polish dries and is then removed.

The metal setting is inserted into the brass tubes on a pen press.

Kevin part 1

Kevin and I have been in correspondence for a while now, planning razors with stands as gifts for his brother and dad. I (finally) started working on them.

First, the matching pieces are measured and cut. The stands are about 1/8" longer than the shave handles.

Each piece is drilled at 7mm to accommodate the brass tubes. Here the blanks are drilled on the lathe, which turns the blank against the steady drill bit. 

The holes are then painted white. Since the acrylic has translucent swirls, the paint will help disguise the brass tube and reflect light back out, accentuating the blanks' brilliant colors.

After the paint dries, the tubes are epoxied in place.