straight razor handle construction and design

[azurefire]

hey im a art metals student at umass Dartmouth looking for feedback on designs and construction mechanisms for straight razors. a few months ago i formed this straight razor using both forging and stock removal. there are some obvious defects such as the shaft being un proportional and the blade being to wide however thats set in stone and im not changing it.

however now i am in the process of designing a handle for this blade. i have been trying to figure out a good mechanism for building the folder. the plan i have came up with so far has been to make the entire handle out of 6 layers of 16 gauge copper. i would first construct using the inner most layer a skeleton with 3 rivets( not marked but 2 on back spine one at top and possibly one front side below the blade to terminate the motion of the folder. the other two layers are going to make the framework for the Champlevé enamel drawn. these two plates which will be soldered together and fused by the enamel after composition will be riveted through the entire handle through respective tube spacers. i am intending to use this image to create a resist so i can electro pierce through galvanic etching to produce the cells in which my Champlevé will rest. everything dark will be where the resist is applied except for the places with the cross hatching going through it which i will manually apply a different color resist so that i can use them as a guide to keep my rivets lined up for the mechanism

the fulcrum for the blade has been posing an bit of a challenge as the hole in the blade seems to small for a spacer tube to be passed and have room for a adequately strong rivet to be passed through. so im trying to find a way to insert the fulcrum without compressing the sheath against the blade as a rivet with out a spacer would. on top of this i am hoping to be able to set using the same rivet to bezels on eacher side of the fulcrum that will house two lapis lazuli cabs represented by the circle in the drawing.

so here is what i am looking for input on( input on anything would be wonderful but these are the things im really trying to figure out).
1 i have a feeling the profile of my design might be a bit visually heavy and unbalanced( i like the form based off the anti radial curves im using but that made me go bigger which is part of the problem) so does the profile work and if not what can i do to improve it and reduce its weight.
2 i really want to find a mechanism that will keep it closed and that will limit the range it can open
3 how should i solve the previously described fulcrum situation
4are there any procedural or aesthetic concerns you have with this design or any thing i could simplify down

thank you for your feed back
-David Pogue

[Rich Hale]

CAn't go back or my first suggestio wouild be to take a rzor apart and see howit worksw and then make any changes youi see fit, With such a nic eblade yoiu have done I would sto now and back up a bit,,duplicat your blade in mild steel and make a handle of sheet metal like yooiu wish to make for your good blade. Work oiut all of the kinks and then use that for patterns for handle for the nice blade.

[pkrankow]

Straight razors are friction folders. The spacer between the scales is called a "wedge" because it is typically wedge shaped so the scales flex apart slightly when unpinned. This makes the tip portion of the scales catch the wide part of the blade and prevent the blade from over closing. The third pin can function to prevent over closing as well.

While this is not IFI, this site has a lot of good information
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/188442-Need-help-with-Restoration-Sticky-Redux!-*****Look-Here*****

I like the design, but it is bigger than necessary. Try making a set of acrylic or Lexan, this way you are in time and have a good pattern to work from at low cost.

Phil

[BIGGUNDOCTOR]

There are a couple of straight razor forums out there. Cruise them some to get an idea for what you want to do. Generally speaking though, the scales are very thin, and lightweight compared to knives.

[Robert Yates]

I like your design , very inovative and well thought out now it will be up to you to exacut it in some thing like copper,aluminium, silver or such ( even a combonation of them ) to maintain the light weight of a razor . well done on the blade part .

Sam

[Frosty]

While I can't be much if any help with your question I must say it's a beautiful razor. Sure you aren't satisfied but that's normal, none of us are really satisfied, it's all part of improving our skills. I really like it's proportions and the fluidity of the spine, it sets well with the pattern weld.

Frosty The Lucky.