Trying to "center" an edge...

[catatonic]

Yeah, I somehow screwed up on the hones and what I thought was dull turned out to be quite sharp, just the edge is not centered...so it cuts far better on one side than the other.

I know the tips for keeping an edge centered, however are there any good tips for re-centering it, or should I just keep re-honing it, doing one pass more on the sharper side than the duller side, and do shave tests until it's right?

[AFDavis11]

The last time I had this problem the spine was uneven. Does one side of the spine stick out wider than the other?

[catatonic]

I just measured it using a mm ruler, the spines look to be dead-on.

[AFDavis11]

I have little experience with this so I'll suggest this if no one else jumps in:

Make sure the edge isn't rolled in that direction from stropping by restropping it with some pressure on a taught strop on linen for 30 passes, on that side alone.

Then normal stropping.

but if its really messed up like you suggest;

I can only suggest either, sending it out to a pro or attempting to reestablish the bevel from scratch yourself.

Using 1000 grit wet/dry sandpaper do about 30 laps on that then back to your med hone 4K or whatever, then on to finishing.

If you can actually see the offset your referring to with your naked eye I would suggest more honing on one side over the other, but Im not sure that would be needed as the geometry should be ok if the spine is ok. More likely this is just something your feeling.

I'm assuming the spine is not bent. To check that place it on a hone and shine light under it. You should see even distrobution (or lack there of) along the edge from the other side.

I have only seen this once before so I have little experience with it.

Then make sure your not the cause of the problem and ensure you hone with equal pressure on both sides in the future.

[mparker762]

Is the edge off-center the same way down the whole edge, or does it lean to one side at each end and a different way in the middle?

If it's off-center the same way down the blade then it's not likely because the edge is off-center. I've had several razors with this condition that shaved quite well - it's pretty common with really old razors. The ultimate example of this is probably the traditional japanese razors which have a chisel edge.

[catatonic]

Interesting insight. The razor in question is a rather old Henckels Twinworks. I have no clue what model it is, it's a 5/8 steel (greyed very well I might add), and has some kind of processed wood scales.

Did Henckels make razors with a chisel edge?

[mparker762]

No, I don't think it was made that way, it was just an illustration that off-center edges don't really affect shaving. The angle of the bevel winds up being the same (or very very close). I've got a quarter hollow Wostenholm where the flat sides of the shank aren't in the same plane as the blade, so if you hold the razor straight the blade looks like a wedge because it's cocked sideways. Stropping is interesting because your hand is at such a different angle on each side. The razor shaves fine though.

Puma also made some razors with one wedge side and hollow ground on the other.

[catatonic]

Yeah I feel stupid now....I realized what I done.

I used more pressure going one way on the hone than the other. I fixed that by putting the hone on a box that is just below knee level, so I can rest my forearm on my leg...thus making it almost impossible to add any pressure beyond what my wrist might add.

The end result is rather nice!

Thanks for all the advice.