honing/bevel setting trouble

[WilliamBlake]

I apologize for making a new thread, as I'm sure this has been covered extensively on this forum, but I could not find an answer in my searches. I having trouble honing an old razor. I have gotten a decent edge on it going from 220-8k and polishing with pastes, but the bevel seems uneven. I tried shading it with a marker and it is not grinding evenly, but even removing a lot of metal does not seem to be helping. If this were any other razor, I already would have sent it to Larry, but, because it was my great-grandfather's, I am hesitant to ship it anywhere.

The purplish hue on the edge is from 10 laps after the last marking. After the first marking was not removed, I moved back to the 220, but the bevel still seems extremely uneven. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you

 

[alx gilmore]

William
Are you sure that you don't have a bit of a smiling edge there that begins from the heel about 1/3 and ends just before the toe. That is my read from the photos.

Alex

 

[WilliamBlake]

Thank you, Alex: that is a very distinct possibility. Even with a rolling (rocking?) x-stroke, it takes 8-10 laps to remove the ink from parts of the bevel. Is this normal?

 

[Gamma]

If that's an heirloom - I would recommend not learning how to hone with it.
At the very least - tape the spine. Yes - I said tape it.

If that wasn't an heirloom- I'd say practice doing extreme heel leading strokes and/or possiibly working out a roll to accommodate what looks to be some curvature to the edge. Hard to say for sure, but it looks that way. You want to work with the existing geometry here, not against it. Presently - the spine wear is uneven, with the widest area by the toe. If you were going to 'fix' that, you' want to wear the other end more. Heel leading with torque and focus toward the heel being the idea.
But - it's not a razor to beat up on, so I'd tape it an follow the lines to make sure I had contact across the edge and that could mean a very delicate rolling motion. Once you get the roll down - continue honing until its done so you can keep the muscle memory going throughout the job. Otherwise, if you pause for a day you might have trouble 'resetting' to the exact positioning.

 

[bluesman 7]

It looks to me as if there is no bevel at all on the heel of the non show side. Once you have THE bevel, it should clean off ink in one stroke. That razor obviously does not lie flat on the hone, so anything other than a rolling X stroke will not work.

 

[Zach]

If that's an heirloom - I would recommend not learning how to hone with it.
...Once you get the roll down - continue honing until its done so you can keep the muscle memory going throughout the job. Otherwise, if you pause for a day you might have trouble 'resetting' to the exact positioning.

This was a very valuable bit of honing advice the guy at TSS gave me, and it turned out to be very true. Better to stick it out and hone all the way to the end in as few sittings as possible than to take breaks. Muscle memory really kicks in after a while. Sorry I can’t offer more advice, but good luck!

 

[WilliamBlake]

Thank you for all the advice. I have honed razors before, but they already had a bevel established, even if I had to hone out minor chips. This razor has proven to be a whole different beast. I suppose I could probably talk with Larry first and add a LOT of insurance to the package and have him establish the bevel.

 

[David]

If it has that much sentimental value to you I'd consider sending it to Mccarver for a restore. I've seen his work on heirloom razors before and it's top notch (if I misspelled his handle pls correct me)

 

[global_dev]

It looks kind of small... Why not just put in a shadow box and enjoy having it around?

 

[Barr]

I apologize for making a new thread, as I'm sure this has been covered extensively on this forum, but I could not find an answer in my searches. I having trouble honing an old razor. I have gotten a decent edge on it going from 220-8k and polishing with pastes, but the bevel seems uneven. I tried shading it with a marker and it is not grinding evenly, but even removing a lot of metal does not seem to be helping. If this were any other razor, I already would have sent it to Larry, but, because it was my great-grandfather's, I am hesitant to ship it anywhere.

The purplish hue on the edge is from 10 laps after the last marking. After the first marking was not removed, I moved back to the 220, but the bevel still seems extremely uneven. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you

The bevel is following the spine, take some calipers and measure the tip of the spine and near the heel of the spine. see what the difference is in thousands. add some tape to the tip to make up the difference. Go back to the hone, it will straighten it out quick.

 

[totorlekiller]

Taping will help correct the geometry. The hone wear is not regular here, with the tape you can apply variable pressure and correct that.

 

[Barr]

I apologize for making a new thread, as I'm sure this has been covered extensively on this forum, but I could not find an answer in my searches. I having trouble honing an old razor. I have gotten a decent edge on it going from 220-8k and polishing with pastes, but the bevel seems uneven. I tried shading it with a marker and it is not grinding evenly, but even removing a lot of metal does not seem to be helping. If this were any other razor, I already would have sent it to Larry, but, because it was my great-grandfather's, I am hesitant to ship it anywhere.

The purplish hue on the edge is from 10 laps after the last marking. After the first marking was not removed, I moved back to the 220, but the bevel still seems extremely uneven. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you

At some point some one was putting as much pressure on the spine as the cutting edge and more so on the tip , obviously, just keep in mind trying to sharpen the cutting edge not the spine, spine is just a guide. Try tape till you get the hang of it. When you can hone without wearing through the tape, you have gotten a feel for it. If you get this razor straightened out, just remember when stropping you now have a unique blade with 2 parts. strop the heel with a normal tight strop, when you work on the tip loosen the strop up a bit.

 

[DJKELLY]

There is already a lot of spine wear on the blade. You really need to find the bevel angle it produces and if it is not close to 17 degrees, most likely add tape to get it there.

Check the edge by looking down the blade at the 90* and 270* opening to see any warp or frown or hold the edge itself on a flat surface to see the light behind it to see the same.

If you can hone decently a narrow hone (or a hone on its side) will follow warps without having to learn the rolling X on an heirloom. You can also gently shape your hone with a convex curve on one edge to accommodate the curve/warp of the razor. It doesn't take much. Shapton's are great for this when sharpening shears as is fixing abrasive film to the shape you need. Again, it just takes a gentle curve.

I totally understand wanting to get your grandfather's razor shave ready.

As far as sending it out to someone, as long as it is insured for any amount, the USPS will take good care of it. My father worked for the post office after retiring from the military and said the USPS is fanatic about insured items. Good luck. Later, Denny

 

[RusenBG]

1 - Tape on , i aways tape rasops to avoid situations like this
2- Your problem is more or mainly , with thhe side of the blade from 2 - nd pic. Get a Shubler measuring device and hone the back side of the spine that , you have honed the front side much more . Hone and measure , till you get equal thickness of the spine hell-to - toe .
3- Very important - TAPE ON and begin to sett the bevell and insisting on the side from the 1 pic more to evaluate the two sides bevell widht . If you are honed the spine right , the bevell on the 2 pi will became even and with insisting on the 1 pic side to made them near equal , you will gett everything under control .
I will do this if this was my blade , if you arent ready to hone 2 hours and risk everything or nothing send it for regrinding and rehoning - i dont think it worth so much expenses.

You can dull or grind the edge from it now or you will overhone it for sure . Like this you will see easy how the new setting of the bevell goes , from the widht of it both sides .
Good luck , it will be your best shaver ever if you fix it your own .