Chips, Microchips and viewing them under mag.

Had this razor, a vintage 6/8 Grelot wedge, sent to me by a fellow Canadian, B&B'er and brother in Arms.

When I got it I did my preliminary inspection of the edge which revealed some serious issues that would affect the shave.

After extensive 1k work and a full progression on my jnats, I thought I was done. The shave was average but felt it could be better. Instead of going back to the hones I wanted to take a look at what I had accomplished.

In the first picture you can see that the chips are obvious to the naked eye and could be easily felt with the thumbnail.

The second set of pictures showing the remaining microchips was undetectable to the naked eye and could not be felt by the thumbnail. HHT at the toe was a solid 4 as well.

This just goes to show that what you feel on your face is a direct representation of the very edge and it's characteristics.

For anyone interested these macro pics were taken with my sigma 105mm fixed focal length lense.

Thanks for looking!

Pre-Honing:

I don't know how this razor was previously honed but I think it's easy to see that the scratch pattern is now significantly improved. There are still a few tiny spots where you can see microchipping and I'll deal with that tomorrow before shipping!

Great pix. What camera are you using?

Thanks Noel. Sony a77 in extrafine jpeg so not raw.

Yeah, especially near the toe, these can be hard to remove. If there's a toe-heavy smile or honewear on a razor, without accounting for that in beveling, you can remove several mm of blade depth and not get rid of microchips at the toe. Scope is a big help if you want to be cautious and not risk removing more material than necessary at the toe.

Hi Brooksie,

There is at least one out there that swears cutting paper will ruin the bevel, but if you can get past that, it would have told you about even the tiniest chips still showing, before your face caught your attention.
I tried to ask the fellow, who claims it ruins the bevel, if he had a single test that would find tiny chips, from end to end, but he changed the topic, and ignored the question.
Have a great day,
Al

bigeasy1 said:

Hi Brooksie,

There is at least one out there that swears cutting paper will ruin the bevel, but if you can get past that, it would have told you about even the tiniest chips still showing, before your face caught your attention.
I tried to ask the fellow, who claims it ruins the bevel, if he had a single test that would find tiny chips, from end to end, but he changed the topic, and ignored the question.
Have a great day,
Al

Click to expand...

Al, I honestly might give that a try. Even if it is detrimental to the bevel, I always go back to the 1k for a few strokes after doing any kind of test that proves bevel readiness; after I test on my thumbnail it's usually 10 or 20 weight of the blade strokes to make sure that any rounding/folding/rolling of the bevel that has occurred during the test is repaired.

I've already shaved with a blade that 1-2 small chips in it, which I noticed afterwards looking at the blade and seeing the light reflections. The shave was very very nice, but those scratches scared me enough to re-hone it nonetheless!

What I got from this though (thanks Brooksie): I want a new lens!

bigeasy1 said:

Hi Brooksie,

There is at least one out there that swears cutting paper will ruin the bevel, but if you can get past that, it would have told you about even the tiniest chips still showing, before your face caught your attention.
I tried to ask the fellow, who claims it ruins the bevel, if he had a single test that would find tiny chips, from end to end, but he changed the topic, and ignored the question.
Have a great day,
Al

Click to expand...

I'd be very curious to see that as well!! I've always suspected it would hurt/dent the edge, even if just minimally, but maybe its not enough to matter or be visible.

pmaster said:

I've already shaved with a blade that 1-2 small chips in it, which I noticed afterwards looking at the blade and seeing the light reflections. The shave was very very nice, but those scratches scared me enough to re-hone it nonetheless!

What I got from this though (thanks Brooksie): I want a new lens!

Click to expand...

Haha, not sure if a new lens is the way to go unless you are into photography! You can get a nice usb scope for less than a macro lens for sure!

Brooksie967 said:

Haha, not sure if a new lens is the way to go unless you are into photography! You can get a nice usb scope for less than a macro lens for sure!

Click to expand...

yeah, sadly its another (sometimes costly) hobby I enjoy... I got the raynox DCR-250 adapter which gets me somehow close depending on which lens I put it on, but far from what you posted here.

Ended up with a bevel that looks like this: woohoo

That's a good lookin' bevel Jeremy!

Cheers, Steve

Jeremy
Very, very good photos, clear and crisp. I am sure you use a tripod of some sort, and that looks like a Jnat kasumi finish. Wanted to ask, what is your stropping routine? Sometimes my stropping creates small microchips, your's looks so smooth. Any tips on slackness, stroke count and have you conditioned or sanded or refinished your strop?

keep it up,
Alex

alx gilmore said:

Jeremy
Very, very good photos, clear and crisp. I am sure you use a tripod of some sort, and that looks like a Jnat kasumi finish. Wanted to ask, what is your stropping routine? Sometimes my stropping creates small microchips, your's looks so smooth. Any tips on slackness, stroke count and have you conditioned or sanded or refinished your strop?

keep it up,
Alex

Click to expand...

Alex, thanks very much. I actually had the same conversation with Pmaster about the photos, these are actually taken with me holding the camera in my hands as my only tripod has been in use for the last 3 years on a baby monitor.... wives... lol

It is a jnat edge from my favorite finisher, good eyes!

As far as stropping, I have noticed the microchips as well with certain razors and with certain strops. I am using a kanayama #3 with the 3 components: linen, suede, leather.

I'm not a fan of over tightening strops. I have them tight enough that they remain straight but slack enough that they do bow slightly under the weight of my hand/razor. Normally I do 40 linen, 20 suede, 60 leather.

I would like to see one of my edges at the mag you use some day and i'm not really sure what level of mag my 105mm lens is providing here but it's good enough for me to understand the edge. Most of my FB friends/family have never seen what a razors edge looks like so it's fun to share with them.

This is the data from the last picture: slt a77, f/10, 1/20sec exposure, iso800, 105mm