Thread: using shim steel to set a bevel and hone a true wedge

Has anyone tried using shim steel over the spine to hone a wedge?

This method would avoid taking hours to hone and eroding the face of the blade.

I suspect a piece of electrical tape wrapped around the spine would do the same thing.

Yes but Shim steel is a measured width and will survive much more abuse on the hone than electrical tape. Thus creating a constant bevel unlike the electrical tape which will wear down quickly.

How would you afix the shim steel to the razor's spine? I must say I like the idea. The times I have taped spines with electrical tape I've found on higher grit stones it's not a problem. On lower grit stones, the stones chew up the tape pretty rapidly resulting in my having to change tape which is a distraction and also probably throws off the progress to some degree.

Chris L

Somewhere there is a thread where a bunch of guys got out their micrometers and measured 3M Electrical tape, and it was consistently found to be .007 inches (with negligible variance).

So, it really shouldn't be an issue of consistent thickness, if anything you'd be doing for wear resistance. But I'd assume the shim steel is more expensive, and a bit more cumbersome to apply.

fwiw, I've never had a problem with tape wearing through (and I've restored some pretty rough blades). Maybe you'd have to replace it after 100 laps on a 325 diamond plate but it would be a rare instance for most of us to have to do that kind of aggressive honing.

But hey, give it a shot and let us know how it works for you, maybe a new trend will be born.

My point of having a consistant thickness is that tape is compressible, depending on the amount of pressure applied to it will compress. Shim steel will not.

I assume that one could wrap a piece of shim around the sides and over onto the face of the razor , then tape the shim steel to the spine making sure that none overlaps onto the blade face.

I like your idea of Shim Steel. I have some very old wedges that need some help and I don't like tape. I try to keep my hones very clean and the tape residue slows my honing. Now I need to find a reasonable source.

There was a post somewhere about a Livi blade thats spine is a little thin so he (Maestro) made a kind of slide on shim to raise the angle to the appropriate level for honing, it also served the dual purpose of protecting the spine edge (I think it was a damascus blade)
Sounds like this idea is kinda the same.

Barney

Originally Posted by Russel Baldridge

fwiw, I've never had a problem with tape wearing through (and I've restored some pretty rough blades). Maybe you'd have to replace it after 100 laps on a 325 diamond plate but it would be a rare instance for most of us to have to do that kind of aggressive honing.

Really? My experience is that it wears down fast on really coarse hones. I think after 100 laps on the DMT C you'll be well through the tape and getting some decent hone wear on your razor...

I have been thinking of shim stock too. The only problem is fixing it to the blade so you can cut.

I have problems with gummy residue on my D8C as well when using tape also, what a pain in the !

How about some double sided tape on the inside of the folded shim stock?

If memory serves, they sell hardened shim stock too. That would last significantly longer than regular stuff. I will have to rummage through a few junk boxes and see what I have laying around....