Yours truly isn't welcome in certain areas of some other place. And I'm good with it. All because I mentioned cutting into a tomato to test a bevel! What a joke.
There really is only one forum to be at anyway.
Frank
Some JNat Feedback Requested Please
- Thread starter LBussy
- Start date
Yours truly isn't welcome in certain areas of some other place. And I'm good with it. All because I mentioned cutting into a tomato to test a bevel! What a joke.
There really is only one forum to be at anyway.
Frank
- Thread starter
- #83
Some of my favorite people here have been kicked outta there. 
+1000. The other place has their own agenda. And that's all I have to say about that.Yours truly isn't welcome in certain areas of some other place. And I'm good with it. All because I mentioned cutting into a tomato to test a bevel! What a joke.
There really is only one forum to be at anyway.
Frank
You're right David, and that's cool if that's what folks want. And what I want is right here with this great group of non-judmental, generous and wise bunch that we have here on B&B.
Back on topic, my apologies to all for the de-railing sidebar conversation.
Frank
More honing is a good thing. You'll get it.
- Thread starter
- #87
Okay I guess I follow where the bevel is somewhat protected but let me see if I can phrase the issue I see in my head a little differently:
If the toe is giving me grief, I raise the heel slightly so that the toe can make contact. The spine and the edge are on the stone so the angle is set by that geometry. I follow you all so far. BUT, doing this allows the toe to start rounding a bit, you start to get more toe wear than the rest of the blade (this blade will be a toothpick before it matters but just in general). Over time this is how a smile will develop right? In other words if the toe does not sit flat at the start, grinding on it selectively is more likely to wear it further, it will be even further from flat, a neverending circle.
Or have I gone off the track somewhere?
Coffee is brewing, stones are out, gonna get started here in a bit.
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You have to do whatever you have to to set the bevel and hit the same place at the same time. Toe wear ,heel wear etc, doesnt matter. Just do it! It gets easier I promise. My guess is typically new honers have an inconsistent stroke which is even harder to do in tricky areas. Your hands will get used to holding the blade and maneuvering it around properly.
This is the point that Slash used to harp on (where is he by the way?). He preferred straight edges and would always hone towards that goal. Smiles are a good thing IMO. Aesthetically, I like the edge parallel to the spine, but that is a personal hang up. Since this razor is being used as a tool to learn honing, I would say go with what you got and hone towards a smile, you need to learn that stroke sometime, and getting rid of the issues that necessitate the rolling stroke is labor intensive.
Slash used to breadknife them and remove the heel completely. Then sand the spine down to alter the angle to a more aggressive 16 or 17 from a 19 degree factory. I would imagine all this work to be an hour or more before honing. If you learn to hone these things as they are, you wont have to do this to that vintage smiler you will get one of these days. Or other blades with anomalies. Now Im not knocking Slash one bit here, to each their own. But I like honing to the blade better.
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- #91
Spent another 30 mins or so honing, cleaning, examining ... better. The 1K scratches are gone toe to heel and the blade is much, much sharper overall. ATG was a little less comfortable that I would have liked, I expect it was because I screwed up the main part of the blade somehow while trying to get the toe/heel. Lifting the heel a hair and getting the toe to "feel" right when gliding is much easier than lifting the toe. I think I'm still catching the shank/stabilizer somehow. I need to figure out a way to determine what I'm doing.
If you keep doing what you are doing now - repeatedly - eventuallly you will 'feel' what's going on and you're be able to work the blade accordingly so it all smooths out.
Angling the heel forward can, sometimes, alleviate the tendency to clip the shoulder/stabilizer.
Angling the heel forward can, sometimes, alleviate the tendency to clip the shoulder/stabilizer.
+1000.
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- #94
Well I know it's possible to sharpen this without clipping the stabilizer because two people have done it (not me obviously!) About half the time it feels "right", I just need to figure out what I did. Maybe I'll have my wife watch me as I hone - she's good for telling me what I'm doing wrong. 
Well I know it's possible to sharpen this without clipping the stabilizer because two people have done it (not me obviously!) About half the time it feels "right", I just need to figure out what I did. Maybe I'll have my wife watch me as I hone - she's good for telling me what I'm doing wrong.
This is the skill part. you can read about it and talk about it but no matter what - it just takes a fair amount of actually doing it.
It could be something simple like your elbow is moving or even just a lapse of concentration at the stone.
Having someone watch and help trouble shoot can certainly help. At the end of the day though, it's going to be concentration, muscle memory and repetition - repetition - repetition.
There are worse things than clipping the stabilizer, but on an expensive blade it's a real distraction.
Not too long ago, someone sent me a photo of a Zowada that had it's stabilizer gouged pretty badly - was ugly as sin, no doubt the work of a new wave poobah hack. This is why we beat up on cheapos... lol.
Anyway - it looks like you're in a good place at this point.
We don't just refine edges - we also refine technique & sometimes - it takes some time to iron out the bugs.
Good effort - keep it going.
- Thread starter
- #97
Thanks. There's a KC meetup organized by the other place here in October. Maybe if I'm still having issues someone there can watch over my shoulder and see where I'm holding my mouth wrong.
You're not having issues.
You're learning.
Issues are what happen if you stop learning.
You're learning.
Issues are what happen if you stop learning.
I wouldn't show up there with your Gold Dollar, that group will run you out on a rail.
Frank
I've honed mine for four years without touching the stabilizer. I find it no more obstructive than any number of stabilizers on vintages I've owned. Really, I'd hone a factory GD over a random eBay blade any day of the week.
Rescale it and tell them it's a Fil blank that didn't get stamped. Or whatever razors they're trying to sell and as such are the best these days.
Rescale it and tell them it's a Fil blank that didn't get stamped. Or whatever razors they're trying to sell and as such are the best these days.
