I cut copper laminate for making printed circuit boards by scoring it deeply
on both sides with a Stanley knife and then snapping it. The blades get
blunt very quickly and I've found that I can sharpen them on an ordinary
oilstone. I've been using the same blade for months.
Leon
I keep telling SWMBO, "I'm not cheap, I'm just value oriented.", but
last Chanuka she got me a little porcelain figurine of Disney's Scrooge
McDuck anyway. I was born at the end of the great depression and learned
how to make do before america became a "disposable" economy.
I never had great success sharpening utility knife blades on a stone,
but once I got a 320 grit "diamond file" with a working area about 3/4"
wide by 2" long, WHAT a difference. A couple of strokes on either side
of the blade and it's good enough for me.
Thanks for the mammaries,
Jeff (Who remembers sharpening double edged Gillette "Blue Blades" by
rubbing them around the inside of a straight sided drinking glass.)
Or you could get a carbide tipped scoring tool from a building supply
store. It is commonly available for scoring Formica type laminates. It'll
last about forever, on in my case until I misplace it and then can't find
it...
"Jeff Wisnia" wrote in message
...
Damn, Jeff - You must be even older than I am... ;-}
Strange, but my uncle did that trick with the blades and that was one of
his favorite sayings too...
There was a lot of "foolin' around" with electric meters back then too.
He tells me that some had "steel" parts which could be slowed or stopped
with proper placement of strong magnets, and some used a small wire
through or around the seals to "jam" where the gears meshed - pulled
before the meter reader got there...
reclaiming oil with osmosis and a lamp wick was slow but seemed to do
the trick... Lot's of others, but I'm beginnig to forget those...
JHbs
Until they needed sharpening again of course
Can't really recall how often they needed resharpening. I'm sure it
depended on how good a shave I thought I needed at the time. Like if I
was already late getting started off for work, "fughedid". Or if I had a
hot "first date" that night, let's see how "smooth" I can make it.
Anybody else remember the fun and games when the Wilkinson Sword
stainless steel blades first got noticed by americans? Guys were vying
to see who could get their hands on some first, asking airline pilot
friends to bring 'em back for them, and holding bragging competitions
over who could squeeze the most shaves out of one blade.
My dad, rest his soul, always wished that someday he'd be rich enough to
use a new Gillette Blue Blade for every shave, without feeling guilty
about depriving the rest of the family of money for something they needed.
And finally, anyone remember the "foxhole radios" from WWII where the
detector was made from a Gillette Blue Blade and a common safety pin?
Happy New Year,
Jeff
snip----
Surely, you jest!
My face hasn't seen a razor since spring of '64. I couldn't care less if
blades cut, or not, nor if they lasted for one shave or a thousand. I don't
care if blades are made of stainless, or beryllium copper. I see no
reason to shave, and I don't.
Harold
Gunner
"War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded
state of moral and patriotic feeling
which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing
for which he is willing to fight,
nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable
creature and has no chance of being
free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."
- John Stewart Mill
[deleted]
I'd actually try that if I could find one of the blades. I have experimented
with a small piece of galena and a wire as a detector, hooked up to a signal
generator. It actually worked occasionally when I poked the wire around on
the galena.
Leon
My dad had a ritual where he would carefully rinse the blade after each
shave and then blow sharply across each side of the blade in attempt to rid
it of as much moisture as he could, and then he wrapped it in a piece of
toilet paper. He also had an interesting device that you inserted the blade
into and twisted a little crank on the side. Two leather coated drums would
strop the blade, retract, and then flip the blade over, and strop the other
side.
After the stainless blades came out he quit the stropping and when the twin
razor cam in he used those.
I find the best economy is with the cheap Gillette disposables. I have one
in the shower to make the roughing cut and one at the sink to make the final
pass. When the one in the shower gets grabby I replace it with the
finishing razor and grab a new one for the finishing cut. This way I get a
week or two between new razors and it is cheaper than buying blades.
Ah yes, wiggling the cat whisker. One of the joys of crystal radio.
--RC
"Sometimes history doesn't repeat itself. It just yells
'can't you remember anything I've told you?' and lets
fly with a club.
-- John W. Cambell Jr.
If you shop at the 99 cent stores you can get 20 double bladed
disposables for a buck. A nickle apiece.
Gunner
"War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded
state of moral and patriotic feeling
which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing
for which he is willing to fight,
nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable
creature and has no chance of being
free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."
- John Stewart Mill
I can't believe how many different versions of blade sharpening
there were.
My dad is 84 and lives in retirement central down in
Ocala,Florida. He started collecting shaving "stuff" years ago.
At last count he had well over 30 different patented and produced
devices. Some single edge, some double; all meant to get one more
shave out of those blades.
Yes, he has the plastic cased one with the rolling leather spirals
that are turned by pulling a cord - sound like what your dad used?
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Keep the whole world singing . . . .
DanG (remove the sevens)
snipped-for-privacy@7cox.net
As a kid I used to spend hours late at nite when my parents thought I
was asleep listening to the one powerful AM station I could hear clearly
on my homemade crystal set. I was hooked to the radio adventure serial
"I love a mystery":
formatting link
IIRC you can also use a rusty "non-blue" blade in a "foxhole radio". Try
cleaning off whatever's on 'em when they're new with steel wool and
stick the blade in a damp flowerpot's dirt for a couple of weeks. That
ought to rust it pretty well.
I think it's just the oxide and the point contact which creates a
rectifier. I seem to recall that before the daze of selenium rectifiers
copper oxide rectifiers were around. IIRC these had a very low forward
voltage drop and were often used as to convert ac to dc in low voltage
ac meters.
Happy New Year,
Jeff
It'd just bore you to tears!
Don't use any blades, but I've worn out a couple pairs of hedge trimmers
keeping it cropped short enough to keep it from tangling in the lathe.
Harold
You can probably get more time out of a bimetal blade like Lenox, I see
Irwin has either taken over the franchise or is making them themselves.
Used be at Home Despot and the local True Value. The Lenox blades got
closed out both places. I figure Lenox used some of their bimetal
bandsaw blade stock and punched out utility knife blades instead of
punching teeth on them and welding them up. They outlast the Stanley
blades about 10 to 1 and cost about twice as much. I usually chew the
edges up, I'd end up regrinding before resharpening and it isn't worth
my time to do that. The newer utility knives have pushbutton blade
changing, too, much faster for those making a living off the thing,
like carpet layers.
Stan
No, it had no cord, it had a little crank. On one side it had a little knob
you would grab and slide out and it hinged open to install the blade. You
would then slide the blade back in and on the other side there was the
crank. It was one of those clever little folding cranks like you see on
cameras, the crank folds and the knob pops into a little hole when not in
use.
It also had a hinged door you could open to watch, clean or service the
gizmo. Very clever device.
PolyTech Forum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.