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Setting the Bevel
- Thread starter rupert87
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The zombies are after us!!!!!
"setting the bevel" is another way of saying "make the razor sharp".
Often the very edge coming either from and Ebay purchase, or from a manufacturer looks like this \_/
It is not sharp at the very cutting edge.
So, get an aggressive hone and keep honing until you do get a sharp edge like this \/
How do you know when it is set?
When you can easily cut hairs on the back of your hand 2-3mm above skin level.
At that point you can then progress to the finer grit hones to make it a more comfortable shaving edge, but if the bevel has not been set correctly (i.e.-truly made sharp) you willl be wasting your time.
1st-make it sharp
2nd-make it smooth
Often the very edge coming either from and Ebay purchase, or from a manufacturer looks like this \_/
It is not sharp at the very cutting edge.
So, get an aggressive hone and keep honing until you do get a sharp edge like this \/
How do you know when it is set?
When you can easily cut hairs on the back of your hand 2-3mm above skin level.
At that point you can then progress to the finer grit hones to make it a more comfortable shaving edge, but if the bevel has not been set correctly (i.e.-truly made sharp) you willl be wasting your time.
1st-make it sharp
2nd-make it smooth
Either Thiers Issard or Dovo had/have a video on there internet site showing how the blades are initially sharpened and the bevels formed. The new straight razor blade is lowered flat and by hand onto a flat spinning circular stone. Like a potters spinning wheel. When the blade hits the stone, the stone grinds the initial bevel along the spine together with the bevelled edge of the blade.
The spine bevel and the edge bevel are ofcourse parrallel and in a perfect and even alignment. The blade is turned and the process repeated. This continues until a sharp edge is formed along the edge of the blade. So you in theory end up with a perfect V with the same height on both sides.
Over time, the V wares out as it does on a Kitchen knife. The process of re-establishing the V is called "setting the bevel". This work is done using a 1000 grit + or - 200 grit hone.
I have never understood why the initial bevels on straight razors are set by hand. I think it is because the new blade blanks that are ready for sharpening do not have perfectly symetrical lines especially along the length and width of the spine. The logic then follows that the human eye is needed to see what is going on. Unfortuneately, the human beings who do this work, often set the bevels unevenly with different heights on either side of the blade and often a height that narrows or widens as you look along the length of the bevel.
Sometimes, when we talk about setting the bevel, the work can involve honing the razors to correct the initial poorly established bevels that can on occasion come out from the factory.
You would have thought that in 2009, the work could be done much better by machine. But to date, this is still not an option.
The spine bevel and the edge bevel are ofcourse parrallel and in a perfect and even alignment. The blade is turned and the process repeated. This continues until a sharp edge is formed along the edge of the blade. So you in theory end up with a perfect V with the same height on both sides.
Over time, the V wares out as it does on a Kitchen knife. The process of re-establishing the V is called "setting the bevel". This work is done using a 1000 grit + or - 200 grit hone.
I have never understood why the initial bevels on straight razors are set by hand. I think it is because the new blade blanks that are ready for sharpening do not have perfectly symetrical lines especially along the length and width of the spine. The logic then follows that the human eye is needed to see what is going on. Unfortuneately, the human beings who do this work, often set the bevels unevenly with different heights on either side of the blade and often a height that narrows or widens as you look along the length of the bevel.
Sometimes, when we talk about setting the bevel, the work can involve honing the razors to correct the initial poorly established bevels that can on occasion come out from the factory.
You would have thought that in 2009, the work could be done much better by machine. But to date, this is still not an option.
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ok let me get this straight. Setting the bevel is creating a V done on a hone. Is this process/act called honing? I guess i'm trying to understand the difference between honing and bevel(ing)?
Setting a bevel is the first part of honing if you are working from a fully dulled blade usually.
In fact, there is no difference. In essence, a razor is a kind of wedge shaped object that is so sharp that it can easily separate hair. A few hundreds of years ago, razor smiths started hollowing the sides of that wedge. The main reason for this is to facilitate sharpening: the steel removed by the hollowing must no longer be abraded away during the sharpening process. What remains is a hollowed wedge that sits stably on the surface of a hone, resting on a flat strip near the spine of the razor and on another flat strip near the edge.
That flat strip near the edge is what we call the bevel.
The width of that bevel is defined by how much hollowing the manufacturer did and by the angle of the original wedge shape. The sharpening process itself had no influence on the width of the bevel, it only depends on how thick the blade is at the apex where the bevel forms.
When a razor is in a dull state, something is wrong with how both bevel sides meet. There could be rounding at the tip. Small indentations where the impact with hard hairs (the importance of proper lathering!) has ripped out fragments of steel. Folded over parts caused by a stropping mishap.
Besides being dull, the bevel panes may have become convex, if the edge was maintained by pasted stropping. Pasted stropping is highly effective for getting (and keeping) a razor up to speed, because it introduces an arc shape in the bevels. Doing so, it work primarily on the very tip of the edge, exactly where the keenness resides. Yet in the long run, the arc shape becomes so pronounced that its raised top angle affects shaving comfort.
That sums up what we are possibly facing on a dull razor: damage, roundness, folded parts, and convexity of the bevel sides.
On a fine finishing hone, it will take eons to remove the steel required to reach another perfect edge. Think of it as of sanding a deep scratch out of a wooden table top. You need to remove a layer from the entire top to keep the table truly flat. So you start out with a coarse grit on your sander, and worry about polishing later.
On a razor, the process of preparing the edge for refinement with slow "finishing" hones, is referred to as bevel setting.
Personally, I find this term too broad, so in my mind it's split up in three different parts, that each ask for different tools:
Bevel re(build): when the razor has lost all or most of its bevel. Belongs to the realm of razor restoration and repair. (corroded edges, large " faucet impact" damage, etc.). Work starts at 300 grit.
Bevel reset: when a razor was honed on a pasted strop, or when small, barely visible chips are missing, or when a stropping accident folded over part of the edge. Work starts at 600 grit.
These both are special cases, that someone, who buys serviceable razors and sharpens them regularly, may never encounter. He will only have to occasionally deal with:
Bevel correction: when the razor is seriously dull from shaving, received a few of touch-ups on a pasted strop, some edge deterioration can be seen under magnification, etc. Work starts at 1200 grit. (I personally use a Coticule with slurry).
To summarize: bevel setting is not some completely separate part of sharpening process. Sharpening can be compared to sculpturing: you need to remove everything that doesn't resemble a perfect edge. For that, you need to start out with tools and methods that are capable of removing the steel that needs to go anyway, within a reasonable time frame. At the same time, it's always a good idea to not use tools that cut too rapidly, because more steel removal than strictly necessary is luring around the corner. Razor's steel can be quite precious, as our wallets keep us fully aware of.
Best regards,
Bart.
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In fact, there is no difference. In essence, a razor is a kind of wedge shaped object that is so sharp that it can easily separate hair. A few hundreds of years ago, razor smiths started hollowing the sides of that wedge. The main reason for this is to facilitate sharpening: the steel removed by the hollowing must no longer be abraded away during the sharpening process. What remains is a hollowed wedge that sits stably on the surface of a hone, resting on a flat strip near the spine of the razor and on another flat strip near the edge.
That flat strip near the edge is what we call the bevel.
The width of that bevel is defined by how much hollowing the manufacturer did and by the angle of the original wedge shape. The sharpening process itself had no influence on the width of the bevel, it only depends on how thick the blade is at the apex where the bevel forms.
When a razor is in a dull state, something is wrong with how both bevel sides meet. There could be rounding at the tip. Small indentations where the impact with hard hairs (the importance of proper lathering!) has ripped out fragments of steel. Folded over parts caused by a stropping mishap.
Besides being dull, the bevel panes may have become convex, if the edge was maintained by pasted stropping. Pasted stropping is highly effective for getting (and keeping) a razor up to speed, because it introduces an arc shape in the bevels. Doing so, it work primarily on the very tip of the edge, exactly where the keenness resides. Yet in the long run, the arc shape becomes so pronounced that its raised top angle affects shaving comfort.
That sums up what we are possibly facing on a dull razor: damage, roundness, folded parts, and convexity of the bevel sides.
On a fine finishing hone, it will take eons to remove the steel required to reach another perfect edge. Think of it as of sanding a deep scratch out of a wooden table top. You need to remove a layer from the entire top to keep the table truly flat. So you start out with a coarse grit on your sander, and worry about polishing later.
On a razor, the process of preparing the edge for refinement with slow "finishing" hones, is referred to as bevel setting.
Personally, I find this term too broad, so in my mind it's split up in three different parts, that each ask for different tools:
Bevel re(build): when the razor has lost all or most of its bevel. Belongs to the realm of razor restoration and repair. (corroded edges, large " faucet impact" damage, etc.). Work starts at 300 grit.
Bevel reset: when a razor was honed on a pasted strop, or when small, barely visible chips are missing, or when a stropping accident folded over part of the edge. Work starts at 600 grit.
These both are special cases, that someone, who buys serviceable razors and sharpens them regularly, may never encounter. He will only have to occasionally deal with:
Bevel correction: when the razor is seriously dull from shaving, received a few of touch-ups on a pasted strop, some edge deterioration can be seen under magnification, etc. Work starts at 1200 grit. (I personally use a Coticule with slurry).
To summarize: bevel setting is not some completely separate part of sharpening process. Sharpening can be compared to sculpturing: you need to remove everything that doesn't resemble a perfect edge. For that, you need to start out with tools and methods that are capable of removing the steel that needs to go anyway, within a reasonable time frame. At the same time, it's always a good idea to not use tools that cut too rapidly, because more steel removal than strictly necessary is luring around the corner. Razor's steel can be quite precious, as our wallets keep us fully aware of.
Best regards,
Bart.
As usual...fantastic description Bart!
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