Removing Nicks from Vintage Blade

[onotoman]

Hi Guys,

I've just acquired a lovely vintage razor with Ivory scales (George Meeson & Sons Sheffield) and although it looks unued it has some rust spots from storage. I've removed them all and the blade looks like new now, but two were at the blade edge and have left two small nicks where the edge has been eaten away. They are very small but I just wanted to ask - what's the best way to get rid of them?

I can managed to get a good edge on a blade now, but this is my first 'nicked' edge.

I have a 1K, 6K and Cotticule.

Presumably I need to do some work on the 1K to get rid of the nicks?

Any advice greatly appreciated.

[Gamma]

Can you show a photo of the edge, possibly a close-up of the nicks?

[ladykate]

If the nick is small (*less* than, say, 1/32") you can just hone it out. But it needs to be pretty small. Otherwise you may need to take it down with a gentle rubbing of the edge on a coarse stone (I use the side of the stone so I don't put grooves in it). If the nick is larger, you might have to do some spine work to get the angles back in shape but that would be pretty radical. I've taken out small nicks pretty quickly. I stay away from larger ones unless I'm shortening the blade and carving out the chips anyway.

Here is a razor I got in a while back - I cleaned it off, smoothed the edge on a 1K stone and then honed it up. It came out pretty nice and is still in use.

[Kentos]

Sometimes the rust leaves the edge looking like Swiss cheese under magnification. I would get a loupe and look closer for peace of mind.

I would just take my time and hone them out.

[life2short1971]

I would just start with the 1K and a taped spine til the bevel bad spots are gone and move onto the coticule.

[Slash McCoy]

I would just start with the 1K and a taped spine til the bevel bad spots are gone and move onto the coticule.

So you would reduce the edge by honing, and not reduce the spine proportionally? Not a good idea. The razor is meant to be honed normally. The spine is meant to wear in proportion to the edge. The spine is your bevel guide and you want the bevel angle to remain in the optimum range. Remember you are not honing something that will be used for a year or two and discarded. With care, a straight razor can easily last 100 years, but continued abuse like taping the spine when honing will drastically shorten its useful life, or at least force you eventually to grind down the spine to restore the bevel angle. Either that or you will someday find that your razor has a bevel that would be more suited for a pocketknife than a razor. You should not tape the spine unless after measuring and calculating the bevel angle, it is found to be too thin.

[life2short1971]

We know you don't use tape Slash. Thanks for sharing. : )