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

Here are the images

You need to get one of those Radio Shack microscopes, they can magnify 30-100x and only cost 15$. It will let you see what the actual edge looks like. My guess is that you need more finishing/polishing strokes on the razor or try stropping your razor about 100xafter the honing. Without seeing the razor up close and personal I can only guess.

it looks like there is a nick close to heel? is this right or just picture?
i would say you need to set bevel first and move on forward.
hope this help.

I think for you to get the full benefit of the people here you'll have to give more detail about your honing. Where you went after the 220, what stones/pastes you used, ect. I don't think anything is wrong with the razor, it looks ok in your pictures.

But if I had to guess I'd also say it need more time on a finishing hone, maybe a few with a few light honing pyramids first.

+1 on Pete. For more assistance on honing we need to know detailed specifics. Little things matter.

+1 on Bud, looks like a chip at the heal.

I would suggest a less coarse stone than a Norton 220 to do rebeveling. I like to use a DMT 1200. The diamonds are aggressive enough to do the work quickly and fine enough not to chew up the edge too badly. Was the heel of the blade like that before you honed it?

You are referring to the chip? Yes, there was a chip before honing. It was worse before. I did not hone it out completely, yet. My concern, again, was that I have removed to much material from the back or spine to try and get the edge to be even so I stopped honing it out.

I'm no expert at honing but it seems, at least with Norton water stones, that the 1000 doesn't remove material that fast. I guess I view using the 1000 to remove lots of material like a person who uses 300 grit sandpaper to sand down a rough cut on wood. You _can_ do it and it will work but it is quicker to use 80, 100, ..., 300 to get the same result in a fraction of the time.

I think I'll just tape the spine and work out the chip. Then go through the stone progression and see how it shaves.