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A Straight Razor (December 2022)

Most of today’s shaving straight razors have replaceable and disposable blades. There is no demand for straight razor sharpening and none of my clients asked me to sharpen them. I was only asked twice if I had sharpened straight razors.

Some years ago, one barber pointed to his display cabinet in his shop. There were five or six old straight razors along with other

memorable items. He told me the razors are his father’s and asked me if I can sharpen them. Some razors were opened. One blade had a substantial portion of it missing and it was not salvageable.

At that time, I declined to sharpen them since I did not have any experience doing this type of work. Since that time, this matter stayed in my mind because this is the only time I declined to sharpen something. Sharpening a straight razor is one of the fundamental skills I should have experience with.

One day I found a classic straight razor at an antique store, and I decided to restore it. Please watch test cuttings on human hair through a microscope in this video.

Music: "aero" by Gabriel

Creative Clipping on Horses (December 2021)

At the end of that day, I was packing up my clipper blade sharpening tools at an equine boarding and training facility Valley Brook Equestrian Center in Napa. Toward sundown students leave for their home and usually all activities are stopped. But that day was

different.

Rock music broke the silence in the barn. I stopped packing and walked into the barn. I found assistant instructor Laura Cameron doing something wholeheartedly on a horse with the music. She was shaving horsehair with a clipper and drawing a peacock on its body.

I learned that Laura is a “Social Media Ambassador” of a leading clipper manufacturer Andis. Some people do the same artwork on horses in the USA but only Laura is sponsored by Andis in the United States for the equine category. She also responds to inquiries from the public. Also, Andis sponsors one person in

Music : "palm-juice" by Draganov89

UK and a few more people in several countries.

Please run this video to view Laura’s artwork and visit Valley Brook Equestrian Center.

A Butter Knife (September 2021)

I decided to give the butter knife a new life as a sharp craft knife. I created a very sharp edge for only two inches from the tip. Because the thickness of the other, 1.5 inches on the handle side, it is too thick to make a sharp edge with an acute angle.

I successfully sharpened the butter knife so it can cut many things including thick leather like butter. And because of its sharpness, the blade is so delicate. Next I made a sheath with leather for this knife to protect its edge.

I remembered that I have a rare, shaped butter knife. It was a butter knife. It had a knife-like shape but had no sharp blade and did not cut anything else except butter. I purchased it at a garage sale long time ago. The blade part is 3.5 inches and the handle is 5-inch in length.

Music : "21:12" by Svyat Illin

Making a sheath was not easy. I spent 30 times longer time than sharpening the blade. Please watch this short video to see the process of making a sheath and how my butter knife is much sharper now.

Bone Marrow Specimen Needles (June 2021)

Many surgical instruments have unique shapes. When I was working at a veterinary hospital, one veterinary technician gave me a couple of instruments to be sharpened.

I have never seen them, but I could imagine it is something to poke animals with because they had needles. I asked the technician. “What are they? How do you use them?”

They are bone marrow specimen needles. A doctor pushes the needle into a bone until the tip reaches marrow. The needle is constructed of the outer needle which is a pipe and the inner needle. After reaching bone marrow the inner needle will be drawn away and a needle of syringe will be inserted. Then the syringe draws bone marrow as a specimen for a biopsy.

I straightened the needles and reshaped the tips. Please see this result.

Music: "Reunion" by Alexander Delarge

Broken Nose John Deere (March 2021)

Some of my neighbors are former truck drivers. One day at the coffee table they were talking about mechanism of 18 wheeler commercial trucks and agricultural tractors.

Their knowledge is awesome. I did not know a big truck has a dozen of gears and drivers need to shift four gears to cross one intersection after the traffic signal turned to green.

One former driver brought out his pocket knife and put it on the table. It was a folding knife, and its blade had a logo of the famous tractor manufacturer “John Deere” on it. He said to me, “Can you do something about this?” Its tip was once broken, and someone attempted to restore it. But obviously restoration was not successful.

This video shows how his John Deere knife took back its keen edge.

Music: "Start of a new day" by Ilya Truhanov

Classic Ducks are Reborn (December 2020)

I have an experienced barber in my neighborhood. The barber commutes from Petaluma every day and has a barber shop in San Francisco.

One day I asked him, “Do you have any interesting scissors I can sharpen or repair for you?” It was not for my business but something I

was interested in. He brought out two pairs of thinning scissors from his shed. They were two pairs of Dubl Duck, made in Solingen, Germany.

They were old, dusty, and rusty. Old hair and accumulation of dirt remained between the blades and teeth. They were dried up and clung hard on the surface of the metal. I tested them. Did they cut hair? Not at all. They were interesting to work with.

Please see this video to compare before and after of how the scissors are sharpened. Now they are working and back in my neighbor’s hands.

Music: "perfect time" by Svyat Ilin