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.....

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.

Originally Posted by RoyalCake

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.

Thank you. I always find that the real beauty of a razor (or lack of) shows itself when it meets the hones. And this one really IS a beauty. It gets on fine with the stones, no crumbling or chipping. The bevel was a little on the wide side of my preferences. So at the 8k stage, I added a second layer of tape and cut a micro bevel into it. It really appreciated that little bit of assistance as the edge got noticeably keener. I did a few less passes on my 12K than I normally do and even a few less on the 20K. It was ready when it was ready.