Thread: Problem establishing bevel

I have been trying to rehone a razor that came with a wicked frown.

I have leveled the blade edge but when trying to set the bevel there is a spot about an inch from the toe and about 3/8 inch wide that looks like the metal on one side is thin in that spot.

In that spot under the microscope one side of the blade shows the bevel a little thinner than the rest of the edge but on the other side there is no edge to the bevel and the bevel is about half as wide as the bevel on the rest of the blade.

I have tried the usual tricks (rolling X, circles, etc.) and nothing seems to get metal off that portion of the blade.

Any suggestions...or does this razor need to be reground?

Take a look at this thread here. I have only done one blade with a bad frown and I used Glen's technique. A lot of work to get it back to slight smile and put an edge on it. The bevels don't necessarily have to be even all the way across or the same on both sides of the blade. Of course you have to have some bevel. In my case if the razor hadn't been by a maker that I was looking for to fill a spot in my collection I never would have gone through all of the work it took. Good luck with yours.

Originally Posted by JimmyH-AD

Take a look at this thread here. I have only done one blade with a bad frown and I used Glen's technique. A lot of work to get it back to slight smile and put an edge on it. The bevels don't necessarily have to be even all the way across or the same on both sides of the blade. Of course you have to have some bevel. In my case if the razor hadn't been by a maker that I was looking for to fill a spot in my collection I never would have gone through all of the work it took. Good luck with yours.

Actually Glens thread was my inspiration for this project. The only thing I did different was I only used 1 layer of tape (the tape I'm using is pretty thick) so I wouldn't have to remove so much metal at the higher grits.

After MUCH honing it had a very slight smile but there is still that ONE spot that doesn't appear to have any semblance of a proper bevel.

Do you have any pictures of this? Something might have stressed the metal in that one spot a funny way? It doesn't sound like the metal is uniform there, is it level in that area? Does it stick out? Does it have a dip in it? (accross the flat of the blade, not the edge)

Without a pic I'm just guessing here...

It sounds like the blade is warped. Have you tried putting black magic marker on the bevel to make sure you are getting it all?

I have done a few frown-to-smile restores and they are a lot of work. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't that bad, just more difficult than just making it shave ready.

Originally Posted by joke1176

Without a pic I'm just guessing here...

It sounds like the blade is warped. Have you tried putting black magic marker on the bevel to make sure you are getting it all?

I have done a few frown-to-smile restores and they are a lot of work. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't that bad, just more difficult than just making it shave ready.

A warped blade was my first thought but doing the magic marker thing doesn't show that. While one side does show a little less bevel width it does remove all the marker. The other side still has marker above where the bevel edge is on the rest of the blade but does remove the marker at the very edge of the blade...if that makes sense. And if it was just a warped blade a rolling X stroke should take care of that...and it's not working on this blade.

Originally Posted by crazycliff200843

Do you have any pictures of this? Something might have stressed the metal in that one spot a funny way? It doesn't sound like the metal is uniform there, is it level in that area? Does it stick out? Does it have a dip in it? (accross the flat of the blade, not the edge)

Sorry but I'm using a cheap RadioShack scope so don't have a way to do a picture as it can't be seen by the naked eye.

It's like you took a finger and run perpendicular to the blade and removed a couple microns of metal. Maybe whoever did the hollowing grind hiccupped?