Thread: NOS razor honing problem

I'm trying to hone a NOS 7/8 fili, and it's being problematic.

There's a 1 cm area towards the heel that wants to form a wire edge off of everything finer than a 4k.

I set the bevel on a 1.2k, and have no problems on my freshly lapped Norton 4k, however when I try honing on anything finer, this area forms a wire edge. (within 5 passes)

I've tried my norton 8k, my transparent arkansas, even my kitayama 12k...
no pressure, all of these hones were freshly lapped.
Even using a pasted strop causes this spot to foul up.

I have tried everything I can think of from honing at a 45 to a Zowada style double bevel. This area will not take an edge.

My thoughts at this point are that the metal is flawed in this blade, or that there was a problem with it's heat treatment.

As this is something I've never encountered(in a straight razor), I figured I would run it by the group.

Any ideas or suggestions?

Pushing the envelope here Mike, because it sounds like you are to that point...
Perhaps trying some back honing?????

That's all I can think of that you haven't already tried, and I am not stating all the obvious BS because you are not new to honing...

If the blade is slightly warped towards the heel that will cause increased "wear" towards the heel compared to other parts of the blade. If one part wears more you get a wire edge in an earlier phase of your honing. Similar to a warp in the middle of the blade which will cause a frown.

Suggestion: as soon as the heel is sharp continue doing your X-patterns while avoiding contact of the heel with the hone.

Originally Posted by Kees

If the blade is slightly warped towards the heel that will cause increased "wear" towards the heel compared to other parts of the blade. If one part wears more you get a wire edge in an earlier phase of your honing. Similar to a warp in the middle of the blade which will cause a frown.

Suggestion: as soon as the heel is sharp continue doing your X-patterns while avoiding contact of the heel with the hone.

Thank you, I did try back honing, and avoiding "the" spot, neither worked.
I can get the rest of the blade shave ready no problem...
I checked for warping and that isn't the problem...

The best description I can give would be that this particular spot on the blade was an unholy donation made by Zeepk...

Mike,

Since the razor is a 7/8 and has been closed for a few decades close the razor up and see where that spot sits in the scales. Could it have been in contact with the scales for all these decades?

that's a thought, but no...
It's perfectly centered, a three pin design, and the scales don't even come close to the edge.

I'm absolutely stumped on this one...

I can see why. I"d guess softer steel at that spot. What grind is it? You've evaluated the grind near that spot?

BTW . . . I think my solution would be to hone the rest of the razor up perfect then turn a thin stone sideways and back hone that section then rehone that section alone to the right level.

Maybe even using a paddle with a touch of grit, 1cm wide.

Mike:
Perhaps the same solution I use at work when I am going brain dead might work here....
Another set of fresh eyes and hands on that SOB might help or at least confirm your suspicion that the blade is actually bad...
Perhaps Alan or myself might take a run at it and see if maybe something we do different can change it up????
I am caught up right now so the offer is there from me, if you want to take advantage of it...

Both of these would be good suggestions if the razor was mine, but I'm honing it for a member, and even if I can get it shave ready at this point, I'm not sure what to tell the member.
With the problems I've had, I doubt a beginner would be able to maintain it, and I really wouldn't want to put my reputation behind a blade that I know is sub-par... At this point I'm confident that even if I can get it sharp, the back third of the blade will not hold it's edge.

I've already spent over 3 hours on a blade that should have taken 20 minutes max to hone.
I'm thinking my best course of action at this point would be to have him return and/or exchange the razor. (which is a real bummer, because it's a nice looking razor)