Honing Old Razors

[Limey]

I have collected a few old razors that I am having trouble honing. I don't know if its been 5 months, 5 years or 50 years since some of these have been properly honed. I have been using a Norton 4K/8K on the 4K side to get these things started but in some cases I have worked them for 30 minutes or more and they just aren't getting sharp. I am I using the wrong stone? Should I go for another and if so what suggestions would you have? I would prefer something that cuts more quickly. These razors have nice edges so I'm not trying to work out nicks. I'll throw another wrench in here and say some have bevels already but now I have electrical tape on them. Thoughts?

[Big_E]

I tape the spines to all my razors. In time, as the tape deteriorates, they leave residue on the stone (not all the black stuff you see on the stone is from the blade itself). Use a fine sand paper to get a fresh clean surface on both sides of the Norton. Don't use a cleaner as this may leave it's own residue or a film on the stone. If you still can't get an acceptable edge, you may have to go down to a 1000 grit oil stone, "break" down the edge and build it back up on the Norton again. This works for me with really old and questonable ebay buys.
Ernest

[joel]

I have collected a few old razors that I am having trouble honing. I don't know if its been 5 months, 5 years or 50 years since some of these have been properly honed. I have been using a Norton 4K/8K on the 4K side to get these things started but in some cases I have worked them for 30 minutes or more and they just aren't getting sharp. I am I using the wrong stone? Should I go for another and if so what suggestions would you have? I would prefer something that cuts more quickly. These razors have nice edges so I'm not trying to work out nicks. I'll throw another wrench in here and say some have bevels already but now I have electrical tape on them. Thoughts?

Depends on the razor. Chances are, you've over-honed them. Now, it may be that you're nowhere close and you might need to be honing at 'em with a 1000 grit stone or so, however again - my guess is you're over-honing it.

Try running the edge along a match stick a few times, then just give it a few VERY light passes on the 8K and test the edge.

[heavydutysg135]

Depends on the razor. Chances are, you've over-honed them. Now, it may be that you're nowhere close and you might need to be honing at 'em with a 1000 grit stone or so, however again - my guess is you're over-honing it.

Try running the edge along a match stick a few times, then just give it a few VERY light passes on the 8K and test the edge.

I am going to go with your second thought and say that if they are not sharp off the 4K then you have not done enough work yet to get the razor sharp on the lower grits. In my experience the 4K really is not a very fast stone for restoration work. I really like the DMT 1200 as it cuts significantly faster than the Norton 4K. Even with the DMT it can easily take me 20-30 min to get past the corroded steel and set a sharp bevel on some eBay or antique razors.

[gglockner]

When you run the edge over your wet thumb nail does it feel like it is cutting in and dragging or sliding without any resistance?
If the later, try using a circular motion on the 4K with the whole length of the edge on the hone. Try to keep your count even for both sides. When the edge starts to bite or dig into the nail, go back to the pyramid process and start again.

Glen

p.s. do not put tape on the bevel.

[heavydutysg135]

You can hone with tape on the spine, but you cannot take it off throughout the entire process or else the high grits will not contact the shaving edge. Either hone the razor completely with tape or completely without. If you do hone it with tape then you will have to perform all your touch ups (assuming you get your razor sharp in the first place) with tape so that you match the bevel angle.

[gglockner]

You can hone with tape on the bevel, but you cannot take it off throughout the entire process or else the high grits will not contact the shaving edge. Either hone the razor completely with tape or completely without. If you do hone it with tape then you will have to perform all your touch ups (assuming you get your razor sharp in the first place) with tape so that you match the bevel angle.

I am confused now. How could you possibly get the razor keen if the bevel (edge) has tape on it?

Glen

[Limey]

I tape the spine not the bevel. When I do tape a razor I keep it there until final stropping.

I'll do the match stick test but I don't think thats it as I'm never able to get it feeling sharp. It slides across a wet thumb nail with only a slight bite at some areas on the edge.

The DMT1200 or circular pattern on the 4K sound like my most probable answer. However, there isn't any corrosion on the blades as I have tried to clean them up to nearly new and very shiny.

Thanks for all your thoughts and information!

[heavydutysg135]

I am confused now. How could you possibly get the razor keen if the bevel (edge) has tape on it?

Glen

That was a typo, you tape the spine not the bevel.

[heavydutysg135]

I'll do the match stick test but I don't think thats it as I'm never able to get it feeling sharp. It slides across a wet thumb nail with only a slight bite at some areas on the edge.



Thank I was right, the razor is definately not sharp enough on the low grits. You will need to do a lot more work on either the 1K or 4K. Here is how I assess sharpness at the very important bevel creations stages:
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=31640