First Time Honing a Near Wedge

This was my first honing of a near wedge. At first it was frustrating because I thought I could evenly wear the upper hone line and the blade edge. As I continued on I began to notice some lines where it appeared that it had been hone before but the lines where way up from the bottom and way down from the top on the blade surface. I did not use tape as I had read that it was better in the long run to take the extra time. Once I got over the fact that this was going to take time, and I got brave on removing steel good things began to happen. I was beginning to feel the blade edge getting sharper. I continued to progress through my stones and it happened I had an edge that would pass the HHT. I still need to make a set of scales before I can shave with it. So since this is my first attempt at a near wedge any comments to learn from are welcome.

I have a few near wedges and only one is badly out of sync with the spine. a little age and you wont notice it. the thing is you have to decide do I want a razor or a display piece, I use mine so the choice was made when they came in the door. I like usability as opposed to looks, sometimes you get both , rarely. nice razor enjoy it.

They are a pain to hone for sure.

I use a single layer of tape 99% of the time, makes things easier.

Be very careful making scales for a shave ready razor, very, very easy to slice something. I find honing a western straight very difficult sans scales.

Did you use X strokes on that one Ron?

You're gonna have one helluva shaver if you can manage to hit the last 1/4" by the heel on the show side.

As Sebastian noted - you might consider using x-strokes. Seems you've been going head-on thus far.

Thanks for the great advice, x-strokes will be used and I will try to get the part by the heel, I will send pictures after I try that technique,

GrandpaRon said:

Thanks for the great advice, x-strokes will be used and I will try to get the part by the heel, I will send pictures after I try that technique,

Click to expand...

Here is the results from the x stroke technique, I also concentrated on the heel parts etc. let me know if I am getting closer to the correct technique, it is very sharp, HHT easy,

I love wedges honed like this - I think the spine wear and the giant bevel are wicked looking.
Looks like you're getting there. The toe seems to have a chip though. You'll need to clear that.
I can't tell if its your camera's lens distortion or what - but it seems like you have a wonkyness in that blade. If you're hitting evenly without having to lean on it - fine, but if not, you have a lot of work left to do.

Are you honing on a DMT? Your scratch pattern seems to continue over the shinogi and past the 'spine' area in a few places.
Have you checked the angle at the bevel? Might be a good idea.

Gamma said:

I love wedges honed like this - I think the spine wear and the giant bevel are wicked looking.
Looks like you're getting there. The toe seems to have a chip though. You'll need to clear that.
I can't tell if its your camera's lens distortion or what - but it seems like you have a wonkyness in that blade. If you're hitting evenly without having to lean on it - fine, but if not, you have a lot of work left to do.

Are you honing on a DMT? Your scratch pattern seems to continue over the shinogi and past the 'spine' area in a few places.
Have you checked the angle at the bevel? Might be a good idea.

Click to expand...

I am not sure what a DMT is, I have my Norton set 4k 8k then a mystery stone, above 8k maybe 10? and then a Escher then I lap with chromium oxide and iron oxide the linen strop then leather strop, not sure how to correct wonkiness it appears to be pretty flat across the blade edge but is off the stone at the toe where you noticed the small chip. do I just continue to use the x stroke method till chip and wonkiness improve or is there another technique, thanks for your advice on this, it is a great learning experience. I am working on the scales should have them done next day or two.

A DMT is a diamond plate, sometimes I see scratch marks like yours and the razor was honed on a DMT.
Dunno why.
In your case - I'd guess it's the result of an extremely shallow grind and slurry is making the scratches that roll over the flat on the 'spine' area and into the hollow. Nortons are a bit soft, esp when totally saturated - that could be it.
Doesn't matter - was just wondering. Sometimes I ask too many questions, this is one of those times I guess.

The blade is off, ok - I couldn't tell if that was because the blade was tipped or what.
Well - you're hitting there, not wonderfully so, but you have made contact. Probably slurry contact though.
You could roll the stroke and you'd get to the toe better.