Help! Horrible hone job

[marosell]

Called up a cutlery place this weekend and they said they could hone my straight razor. They were completely wrong.

I went in today to have my razor honed, he went in the back room (could see him through some plexi glass) and he had started putting it on a belt machine before I could stop him.

He honed it in the wrong direction (the direction you strop), and holding the spine up so only the edge was being sharpened. By the time I saw what he was doing, it was too late. It was sharp enough to take hair off my arm, but I was still afraid about what he might have done to it.

Tonight I tried to strop, but I'm afraid that because the angle he sharpened it (which was not the angle of the blade and the spine lying down) that the tip of the edge might not have even been touching the strop flushly, and I may not have even stropped at all.

I tried shaving. It would cut my hairs, but it tugged way too much; there was no way I could shave with it, I was so disappointed. I only paid $4 for the service, but I'm afraid my blade might be damaged.

Anyone think they have the expertise to help me fix this? I'll send it and give you a couple bucks for the trouble and to send it back, or if anyone else is in the Raleigh area, or within driving distance, I can bring it by. Anyone?

[Limey]

Sorry...that's bad news. I hope it wasn't an expensive or new razor. If they just worked it for a short time it should be something that can be worked out much like minor chipping would be. Can you post a couple close up pictures to give us a better idea of the situation?

[marosell]

I couldn't share much with a picture, it looks like a sharp straight razor. It was only worked for a minute or two, there's no way he shaved off much. Honestly, it looks great, the blade is perfectly straight and it's the exactly the same thickness all up and down. He could keep it at a consistent angle while moving it on the belt, a really professional knife sharpener, just doesn't know anything about straight razors.

[izlat]

That time on a belt might take a bit of metal, I think.

Best bet is to find some local member, of course.

Do you have any hones? If you do, you can do the Sharpie trick - mark the edge, do some laps and you'll know if the edge hits the hone at all (with the spine flat)

Cheers
Ivo

[mparker762]

You can also do the sharpie trick with the linen side of the strop. It's not as flat as a hone of course, but if the linen can wipe the marker off the bevel then it's not far off. And if the linen can't touch the bevel then you can bet a hone won't either...

[Suzuki]

Sorry to hear about this.

This pisses me off no end - there are several stories about people taking razors to places like this and paying to have someone ruin their razor.

Why the jerks at these places agree to sharpen a razor when they have no clue just amazes me.

I would at least ask for my money back, but then I get pretty peeved when someone jerks me around/charges me for their incompetency!

Hope it all works out for you.

[Seraphim]

OK, so your bevel is now at a too steep of an angle.

One way to remedy this:

Get a flat piece of glass (fairly thick) maybe 8" sqaure.

Get a variety pack of wet/dry sandpaper, 320, 400, 600, 1200, 2000

Wet out the sandpaper (backside and frontside) and lay it flat on the clean glass. Then use that as a hone. Stroke the flat blade back and forth, use a light touch, but be sure to keep the edge and spine in contact with the sanpaper all the time. And be sure to roll the razor over on it's spine when changing direction! Use the high grit until you have reset the bevel (use a magnifying glass to see what's going on down there)

I just recently did this very thing with an antique shop find that had a 1mm chip out of the edge (of course I only spent $10 on it so I wasn't too nervous about it). I blasted it away on the wet sandpaper (240 & 320) until the chip was removed, then worked my way down the grit levels until I was able to finish it on micron level films and pastes.

You may not want to do it yourself. But if you do, it certainly can be done. It's not rocket science, you are sharpening a piece of steel, you just have to think about what you are doing. The interesting thing is that a straight razor has a built in sharpening guide=the spine.

Or just send it out to someone for professional TLC.

[heavydutysg135]

It is generally a very bad idea to have a cutlery shop hone a straight razor. Get a well respected straight razor honemeister to sharpen your razor for you, not a knife sharpener. The techniques are very different.

[AFDavis11]

I'll fix it for you if you'd like. What part of the country are you in? Oh, I see your in NC. Thats close enough. Send me a PM if you'd like.

[marosell]

Firebox from SRP lives a few miles down the road from me, so he said he'd take a look at it. Thanks for the assitance guys, and AFDavis, I'll be sure to let you know.

[netsurfr]

what a shame! let us know how it turns out...