A shaving set stand

[Pekka Huhta]

I have wanted a stand for my shaving set for years, but never got into it. This weekend I had tons of work to do, so naturally it meant that I wanted any good excuse to skip it all. The stand was just as good excuse as anything else

I had thought of a completely different design, but for some reason I had decided that it should be Art Deco style. After ten minutes of sketching, I endend up with that design. Working with bone is always smelly business, but I thought it would be ideal as a material for wet envronment: it doesn't absorb water, it is nice and decorative and best of all, I happened to have plenty of it in stock

Materials used were karelian birch, chromed steel bar (cut from old drawer handle), buffalo horn and cow bone. Initial shaping was done with a belt sander and rasps, finishing with fine sandpaper and finally polishing paste.

Pekka

 

[barkwindjammer]

Wow thats a stunning piece Pekka and very well designed too

 

[Einari Rystykaemmen]

Very nice, Pekka! 8)

I can imagine you had a hard time when working with bone.. (all that bad odor, etc.)

Personally I won't machine bone anymore. It's too irritating and unpleasant. I tried it once and that was enough for me! :lol:

 

[Pekka Huhta]

In fact I had to redo the brush holder (the semi-circle part) three times: the first one I rasped it too big, so that the brush went through. The next one was practically ready when I dropped it during polishing, and of course broke half of the holder off. At that moment the smell of bone was not so thick as the big, leather winged swear words flying around :wink: The third one was pretty easy, it took only about an hour to finalise.

In fact I like working with bone. When I grind it with a belt sander I use a mask, but oherwise most of the shaping is done with rasps and files and that doesn't smell that bad at all. Or at least you get used to it.

It's a fantastic feeling when you really get to the last steps of polishing the bone or horn, it's almost impossible to get the same shine and depth from any kind of wood. You first work with the rough, dull looking material and suddenly, after the last polishing it becomes something completely else.

I think that the wooden base does not fit in, the colour just isn't OK with the black&white top. It's a pity to stain that karelian birch, but then again now it looks a bit out of place.

Pekka

 

[Harbo]

Nice workmanship and perhaps you are right in thinking the base should be black or darker?

Is that a silver tipped badger brush or do you use more exotic fibres in Finland?

I have never worked in bone, though I have a few bits of it for knife making (another TUIT!) - did not realise it smelled bad?

Rod

 

[Pekka Huhta]

Yes, the brush is silver tip badger, no-one manufactures reindeer hair brushes over here It's from The English Shaving Company - you can't get a decent brush from over here for love or money. After years of suffering with the locally sourced bristle brushes I thought that I'll buy a proper brush for once in my life.

Bone isn't as smelly as horn, and there are big differences in different horns as well. But generally the dust does smell bad. It's a bit similar smell as burnt hair, although not so sharp. So the more you can work with saws and rasps the better, using a sander really gives you a bouquet in the workshop :wink: But it's really only the dust that smells, bone itself is quite neutral.

I think I'll try to stain the base with vinegar and steel shavings. It works brilliantly with oak, I'll have to try that on the birch as well.

Pekka

 

[barkwindjammer]

I thought the lighter toned base enhanced the piece, put another pic up if you decide to stain it with that method Pekka

 

[George_N]

Pekka,
my Dad was a shepherd and he used to make crooks out of Scottish blackface rams horn. He used to carve everything from leaping trout to thistles and even border collies on the decorative ones. The smell when the horn is worked is one that, while not a pleasant one, will always remind me of him. Strange how smells evoke memories.
I think it would be a real shame to stain that birch...I like it just the way it is. Do you shave with the cut-throat razor? I would love to try one but after forty odd years of safety/disposable/electric shaving I'd be more than a little aprehensive that the cut-throat would live up to its name.

 

[Pekka Huhta]

I think it would be a real shame to stain that birch...I like it just the way it is. Do you shave with the cut-throat razor? I would love to try one but after forty odd years of safety/disposable/electric shaving I'd be more than a little aprehensive that the cut-throat would live up to its name.

I think that the birch went too dark when I oiled and waxed it. It should either be very light or very dark, now it's neither, It doesn't either blend in or make a suitable contrast, I mean. Or then I have to get a nice straight razor with matching colour scales to make the colours match

I don't shave with the straight razor that often, only on sundays every once in a while. But I do use it quite a lot for shaping the edges of my sideburns, which isn't easy to do sharply with a Mach 3 with all the three blades. I live for edge tools, so it would be funny to use an electric razor anyway :wink:

Pekka

 

[Pekka Huhta]

I just remembered that I had forgotten to update the thread. I ended up building a new base for the stand. It's now sapele mahogany with a black stain made out of cast steel shavings and vinegar. It makes mahogany almost black. Not quite as black as it would stain oak, but then again there remains a tint of red under the stain.

I tried staining that birch base as well, but it was already waxed and it was much faster building a completely new stand anyway.

I also got a new straight razor, which looks better than the original - at least to me. I think the whole stand now looks better and more balanced. And after the bone yellows a bit, it will be even better.

Pekka

 

[Escudo]

Very nice Pekka, although I would have thought that you would have been a beard man, given the cold weather up your way.

I find that my beard acts as a sort of scarf when the wind blows. It is also useful for catching food, beer slops and other debris which would otherwise soil my shirt/jumper.

I haven't had a shave for twenty years.

Cheers, Tony.

 

[Pekka Huhta]

Very nice Pekka, although I would have thought that you would have been a beard man, given the cold weather up your way.

Naww, we Finns keep warm with alcohol, not with facial hair :lol: I think it's somewhat of a rarity over here to have a long beard, walking on the streets you could say that only people having a beard over here are Santa Claus and a few hippies :wink:

I actually have started growing a full beard twice, but my dear wife has very strict opinions on kissing bearded men. They weren't very successful (or long) attempts :norm: :lol:

Pekka

 

[Einari Rystykaemmen]

Naww, we Finns keep warm with alcohol, not with facial hair :lol: I think it's somewhat of a rarity over here to have a long beard, walking on the streets you could say that only people having a beard over here are Santa Claus and a few hippies :wink:

Haha! Nice description of Finns, Pekka... :lol:

 

[JanneKi]

I actually have started growing a full beard twice, but my dear wife has very strict opinions on kissing bearded men. They weren't very successful (or long) attempts :norm: :lol:

Geez, you too? My wife is exactly the same! :lol:

Although, for some reason the color of my beard varies quite a lot, so it does not look like a real beard, but rather like someone had killed a hamster and glued the fur of that thing to my face instead.