Thread: Turn that frown upside down

First, I'll throw out a thank you to Gssixgun for the honing videos on managing a frown via bread knifing. Today was the first razor I've had to hone that had a frown. I picked up a decent looking Yama 770 razor off of eBay this week. It had a frown in it and was advertised that way. I wanted the challenge and the price was right and offered the possibility of a really nice razor if I could resolve the issue. So I took on the task of dealing with my first frowning edge. It wasn't the most extreme example I've seen before.......on eBay anyway. But it was there to be sure. But being a modest frown I didn't bread knife the edge. I put it on my DMT at about a 45 degree angle and did sets of 30 circles over and over working at and reshaping the heel as well. Once I could see that the frown was removed, I reduced the angle to about 20 degrees and continued to shape the edge. Then I attempted to create an edge with three layers of tape. I think I left this stage too quickly. Not knowing what to expect and being almost alarmed at what I was seeing under my microscope, I moved onto the 1k too quickly. I should have worked the edge further with three layers on the DMT to shape a bevel more thoroughly. I stripped off two layers of the tape and went at it on the 1k. It took a long time to get a bevel set and the tip was incredibly stubborn. It required som individual attention. But in the end I was able to remove the frown and re set the bevel. Tomorrow I'll finish it up and test shave it since in working on a three day beard. The good news is that the steel looks really nice. I'm anticipating a really good edge once completed.

This is not the most exciting thread. You had an edge with a frown and ground it out...good for you and congratulations. But to close the loop on this, I finished up the edge this morning and tested it out. What a great shaving razor. And what a comfortable edge. One of the best shaves of my life.

I deal with frownies more or less the same way, but I almost never tape trying to correct the problem with uneven spine ware cause frome poor honing technics.

Originally Posted by TrilliumLT

I deal with frownies more or less the same way, but I almost never tape trying to correct the problem with uneven spine ware cause frome poor honing technics.

I'm not well versed enough with these in depth problems to know the best way to manage them. For the most part, I stay clear of anything that looks like it's more trouble than it's worth. But in this case I decided to have a go at it since it was an otherwise good looking blade for a price that was a good balance between the cost of experience and the promise of a decent razor should it be sorted out.

If the razor is interesting i get it, that includes the frownies and uneven spine ware razors. I kinda enjoy the challenge of them as long as i can do them on my time table.

Bring them all back I say, they all deserve a change the ugly and pretty ones.....

Originally Posted by Crackers

Bring them all back I say, they all deserve a change the ugly and pretty ones.....

I have to say that there is an allure with Japanese razors. Their reputation makes them a magnetic draw. The chance that I could fix this ne and have a gret Japanese razor on the cheap was enough to draw me in. And if it didn't work out, I'd have learned something about fixing a frown. Two chances at gain. Hopefully now I have years of great shaves ahead. Thank you for reading my redundant thread. Lol. I know there's nothing original here.....not even my enthusiasm.

I have not yet tackled a frown specifically, but I bet the accomplishment is rewarding, for sure. Nice job. Let's see a pic!

Originally Posted by RoyalCake

I have not yet tackled a frown specifically, but I bet the accomplishment is rewarding, for sure. Nice job. Let's see a pic!

I didn't think about pics so the before pic is the best I could get from the original eBay listings. The following two I took this morning. The before pic doesn't show the frown too well. Although it was listed with that detail, there may have been some attempt to minimize its significance. Or if you were a new guy looking at it, you might not understand what it was but just knew that it needed to be honed by someone with experience.

Now I know why you got it - that's a beauty.
Yeah from the first pic I bet I would have missed it, almost looks like a shadow. Glad you got it tuned up.
Thanks for sharing.