Thread: Some thoughts on how wedges were honed in the day...

Just to add, I have used my 1" X 30" belt sander on blades I needed to remove metal on to get to a decent edge that had no faults, like chips and pitting. I used a piece of aluminum metal I saved from one of the liners of a coffee can lid that is like extra heavy aluminum foil. I put it on the spine and then secure it with a very small piece of electrical tape. That way at the 800 and 1000 grit level I am actually getting at the edge and not doing anthing to the spine. And, no, it's not hot, nor even warm. I have my finger against the blade not for pressure but to provide steadiness as I quicly move the blade across the belt. Remains cool to the touch.

At that point, if I switch to the 1" x 30" belt and power strop it on both sides I remove the metal spine protector. I always notice that there is no flat bevel, like what you see on honing flat against the hone, but a rather rounded edge. Sharp as all get out and you can whisk away hairs off your arm at that point. Then is when I start to work wtih the hones and set a flat bevel to get to a final result. So I am wondering if in the old wedge process if there was a lot of leather stropping with pastes to get to the end result, that being sharp, but at the result created a small bevel and rounded bevel to the point.?

Also, Glen, I think you are onto something with those protection sleeves used on knives. They remind me of a piece of car door "guards" that I used to cut and put into the cover of my AK-47s to keep the cover from putting a ding in the brass casing as it ejected. It slid right on and with a little glue stayed there. No more dings. Perhaps some door guards found at most auto parts store would be a cheap way to give it a try.

Did I read that right? You use a powered belt sander to hone razors?

I definitely wouldn't recommend that, you'll remove way more metal than you need to.

I've easily been able to repair old chipped wedges on a 325 DMT and then bevel set on a 1k hone. I don't think there's any real need to use a powered belt to do it. Too much metal removed and if it goes wrong it'll happen in a flash and you've lost the blade.

Yep, you read that right. Would you like to see the razors I have shaved with after I used the belt sander to do what I needed? I have a list of quite a few. No, I don't loose a lot of metal. You would be surprised at how little and finess the removal of metal in setting a bevel is on a German 1000 grit belt... that is pretty well used. One of my most favored razors, a Gold Bug by A. Witte was initially at the belt sander and it's a 5/8 and still a 5/8 blade. It's a remarkable razor for close and comfort. It's when you get down around 320 or so grit that you would defnitely run into some issues, both heat and metal removal. No, I would not recommed it to a newbie, but this is advanced honing section and it does work remarkably well. Troggie was over one afternoon and I showed him how well it worked. When you strop with the German 1" x 30" leather belt it really puts the blade in a condition to do some serious work on it. I have even shaved after that point and done fairly well with it.

Originally Posted by Gibbs

One of my most favored razors, a Gold Bug by A. Witte was initially at the belt sander and it's a 5/8 and still a 5/8 blade.

If it was originally a 5/8 and still a 5/8 after you took it to the beltsander, what exactly did you take it to the beltsander for / what did you do to it with the beltsander? If it was only minimal metal removal, why not just use a hone.

PS - Being able to shave arm hair off a beltsander and/or power strop doesn't really mean anything when you put it into perspective. I've watched Mike Blue grind a razor and then shave arm hairs with it.

Well, it was a 5/8 and a freckle and still close to a 5/8 yet....maybe lacks 3 or 4 thousandth. I had originally dulled it down with bread-knifing to use as a practice razor, and for that it excelled. Then, later on, I decided to get it back to shave ready condition, but there were the tiny pits near the blade edge. Some were up in the bevel area a bit, and I wanted to get to solid clean metal before tackling it with the hones. With the sander I removed metal at a more aggressive angle, not flat against the spine. This allowed the blade to stay straight across the blade while at the same time removing some metal. Took a lot less time stripping out the edge imperfections that way than merely honing and honing with coarse grits. At 1000 grit the belt did not heat, nor cause any distortion. Edge is holding up great. I'll shave with it again tonight.

Other thing was I wanted to see how the 1x30 belt sander was for the beginning phase of restoration. My observations is it's marvelous! There is also a 1400 grit German belt I'd like to get in someday but this 1000 grit works great for re-profiling the front or "toe" of a razor to give it a round nose rather than a square nose. I used it for re-doing the AK-SAR-BEN from a spike to round point,



I shaved with it 2 nights ago, and a smooth and clean shave I got!!

And this razor, and Empire Cutlery that someone had really done a number on the Toe...



That little "shorty" Empire gives one of the nicest shaves I have gotten. Very sharp and easy to more around on the lips and chin area. It just doesn't take as much whiskers per swipe as the others, BUT, because of the decreased width of the blade edge, it also glides along a bit easier than some of the wider blades.

The Gold Bug razor is every bit as good a shaver as the 6/8 DOVO (new) I have. That, and then some. Of that I'm 100 % sure.

Update. Finished shaving tonight with the Gold Bug. Absolute stunning shave. Every bit as good as the 5/8 DOVO (new) I have. It is a real surprise since I spent all of 7.50 for the razor. 5.00 originally and 2.50 for the scales of a used and broken Wade & Butcher razor. For such a small investment it gives such a big payback in clean comfortable shaves. Nope, I didn't ruin it one bit with the belt sander.



It did not come with any file jimps so I put them in there myself, both top and bottom.

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I am lost for words

Back on topic, I have something similar that Glen posted pictures of in post #36 of this thread. It was for protecting the spine when using my belt sander. Something like it could have very well been used on the original full wedges to give the honer a better angle and not have to grind off so much material to get a decent bevel.

I remember someone mentioning they had seen an old device for honing razors which was a guide system similar to the modern lansky or DMT aligner sharpening systems for knives.

Or, the guys honing their wedge razors back then simply had enough skill to hone them with the spIne raised without using a guide. It takes some practice of course but is not all that difficult, really.