First restore, first question I haven't found the answer too thus far.

I have a razor with crooked spine. Well, maybe a little "distorted" is the better word for it. But it's a nice razor, and I like a challenge.

The lowest grit hone I have is a 4000 grit Norton.
I know I'm going to have to shave some significant steel off of this thing before I will be able to give it a nice edge. But I have two questions.

1. How long am I looking at here with the 4000 grit? Half-hour? Hour? Hours? Put it this way, I can see the distortion of spine pretty easily, but it is probably at most a mm of steel that I have to shave off. What is the time commitment going to be? Am I better off just sucking it up and buying a 1000g stone?

2. How will I know when I have shaved off enough of the steel to even the spine? I assume it has something to do with the spine and both sides of the edge eventually coming to congruent angles on either side, for the length of the edge. Is this correct? If so, how will I know this is the case?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Hours.
More than a few.
Probably 48+

with needing to take even half a MM off, your best bet is to go out and get a diamond hone, around 300 grit, and put a good movie on.

Actualy, the best best bet, would be get a new blade.

Wow.
Not the answer I was hoping for, but honesty is the best policy.

It was only 10 bucks. I just really wanted to bring it back from the dead. I guess it may be unsalvageable. (cue "taps" on trumpet)

I do want to clarify my statement though.

I have not attempted it, but I have seen many razors with a lifetime's use that have had less than a MM hone wear on the spine(both sides combined)

I have heard that you can get acceptable bevels established using a skinny hone though, so not all is lost.

where is a pic of this blade?

If you don't want to buy a new hone, could you just use sandpaper/dremel and work on the spine only?
It'll still take a while, but not as long as on a 4000 hone...
I've corrected uneven hone wear with my bench grinder, but I used to use a bench grinder at a job I once had so I had a lot of experience grinding things years before I put a razor near one.
It's not too difficult, but keep the razor constantly wet and grind for like a second each time before dunking the blade in water. Go VERY slow.

You don't want to mess with the spine. If you grind the spine you will mess up the geometry and the spine is what sets up your angle so you will never be able to hone the razor and get good results. With a warped blade your best bet is either use a very narrow hone or use kind of a rocking motion as you hone and sharpen the edge and use the razor as is. It should not be a problem. If the warp is extreme trash the blade.