Thread: "Back" breaking work

I recently purchased a W.H. Morley & Sons for $7. It had a tiny bit of rust on it and had a homemade oak handle. I say "had" because I removed the rust and the handle. I pinned my first handle on it. I'm going to pin again later when I can find another set of rails. I'll try and post a pic of the back and edge of the razor so you can see what I am talking about below.

Anyway...

I began to hone a nick with a Norton 220. After about 10 strokes I noticed that the edge was not even on both sides when I compared one side to the other. It was not even on from front to back on one side (more edge in middle).

I chose to correct the back of the blade instead of altering the stroke or edge. Now there is wear on the back but the edge is pretty much even on both sides and from front to back on each side.

Is altering the back of the blade a recommended technique? Seems like the blade edge would not sit right on the hone if the back were not correct. Have I ruined the razor with the hone wear? I estimate the width of the wear is about 1/16" to 3/32".

Also, to my dissapointment, I found that my flattening stone from Norton was not flattening my water stones and so all the work I did was not "flat". I had a frown developing. I've since purchased a granite tile and wet/dry sandpaper as recommended _somewhere_ on this forum and flattened all my stones. I re-sharpened the razor with tape on the back and worked out the slight frown that was forming.

Razor shaves okay but I have a feeling it should shave better. I know it is sharp enough to pop hairs on my arm when held off the skin. Only problem is that when I shave with it it seems to pull a lot and I have to pulse the razor downward to get it to cut. Maybe I reduced the angle too much and now cannot get a good bevel and so the edge deteriorates quickly during a shave?

advice is welcome.

Andrew