Diagnostic help needed

I love this old W&B. I would like to get the edge flat on the hone all the way to the heel. Even rolling strokes don't really get to the heel. The back side 2nd pic is ok.

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I see two options as work a DMT to get the spine down and the edge to reach the hone. My concern is that other areas of the edge will get wide. My other thought would be to tape it and work the edge on the DMT 325 until it evens out. I am guessing so I appreciate expert guidance.

If you have calipers, you could check to see if the spine is the same width from toe to heel. Otherwise, I would just spend a little time on the toe until it matches up. Curious to hear what some of the experts say.

looks like the stabilizer may not be thin enough on that side I see the other side is hitting the hone. I am judging by what I see so maybe maybe not but I would see if the stabilizer was the culprit.

kn4wd said:

looks like the stabilizer may not be thin enough on that side I see the other side is hitting the hone. I am judging by what I see so maybe maybe not but I would see if the stabilizer was the culprit.

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if it was the stabilizer wouldn't the problem start closer to said stabilizer? I do some toe leading strokes that would be clear of the stabilizer.

You are honing the smile out along the line of the toe.

The blue is what I understand you are trying to do. The red is what you're doing. Think of it like you're lapping a stone with a chipped corner. If you hone that corner heavy-handedly to burn through the chip, the stone is going to be out of level when it's flat. You did that with your bevel. You honed your edge flat by grinding center-heavy, but the tang and stabilizer protected the heel, whereas the toe didn't get that protection. So now the razor is thinner at the toe than at the heel.

SliceOfLife said:

You are honing the smile out along the line of the toe.

The blue is what I understand you are trying to do. The red is what you're doing. Think of it like you're lapping a stone with a chipped corner. If you hone that corner heavy-handedly to burn through the chip, the stone is going to be out of level when it's flat. You did that with your bevel. You honed your edge flat by grinding center-heavy, but the tang and stabilizer protected the heel, whereas the toe didn't get that protection. So now the razor is thinner at the toe than at the heel.

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I guess I should have titled it remediation help needed. How do I proceed. That answer might help me understand the diagnosis. I am not sure why one side is fine. On one side the edge is not hitting. On the other it is the spine not touching the stone at the same spot. Maybe coincidence but...

Honestly, except as a learning experience, it's not worth the amount of work it will take to fix. You basically have to fully regrind the razor on the hones. You need to hone very heavy on the heel of the face side to wear it back, then switch to honing balanced on the now thinner patch of high area spine at the center of the blade. On the opposite side (the side where the heel isn't in contact) you need to keep the toe off the hone, honing on the blade center and rolling towards the heel, gradually progressing contact until the heel is again making contact there. Then you will need to take the blade (now making contact on both sides), and use rolling strokes to put the smile back into it, which will probably require heavy heel focused honing to get rid of a spike that will form as a result of the stabilizer. You can grind the stabilizer out to avoid this step later, if you like.

Basically, the thing to realize, is your razor is no longer true. Any amount of honing you do trying to keep it flat on the hones and follow the geometry it has now will just burn steel away at a greater rate until you wind up with a razor like this one:

Trim the heel slightly, one layer of tape and rock it heel leading, raise the toe slightly to get the heel, then raise the heel slightly to get the toe. One fluid motion. Trying to hone this razor flat on the hone will kill it IMO. And the razor is warped as many of them are.

It was possibly a lot wider in its prime as well. Maybe grind down the heel so you can rock it better.

Trimmed the heel and the entire edge hit the stone with only a little rocking needed. Now it needs some cleanup polishing on the heel but otherwise working nicely.