Thread: Uneven Edge on a Genco

I just picked up a nice Genco Head Barber off the Bay. It is in very clean condition that sparkled when I flitzed it. It has a like new handle that centers well with a tight pin. The blade shows some wear, however, I noticed the previous owner had honed too heavy on the tang side of the blade causing the edge to evenly slope slightly to that side. What is the solution to this (if any) and can I still get a decent shave from this razor? Should I even try to hone rhe other side equal? Thanks for your advice.
Denny
300WSM

First of all, yes. You can almost certainly get a good shave off of it. You should see the funky shape of the bevel I shaved with today.


As far as fixing it, there are many options depending on what results you want. If all you care about is function, and don't care how it looks, simply honed the rest of it on a sufficiently coarse diamond plate until it's as even as you can get it, then hone it up.

The one with the ugly bevel I shaved today is the one razor I have that was honed with tape. I got the bevel as even as possible using diamond plates as low as 200 grit, and then continued on to finer hones, paying no attention to the actual edge, until the large bevel was smooth and shiny (because I wanted to) and then slapped on 3 layers of tape set a new, narrow bevel, and honed that for shaving.

You could also have it reground, or just send it to a pro and see what they think.

MY only concern is that it will shave well with the edge it has. Aesthetics aside, I will keep this one for a user along with my Genco Heavy. Thanks for the info.
Denny
300WSM

Glad I could help, but be sure you check back. There are plenty of folks with more experience than me, and one of them may have more useful information to add.

We have several with uneven bevels that shave great. They are not the prettiest razors but they shave just fine. Try it and see how it shaves. If it's not shaving well then you can take the bevel down to be equal and see if that solves the problem. Pictures may help determine what steps if any you need to take to get this to where you want it to be.

+1 on what the others have said. You might also take a look at the spine wear. Is it more towards the tang? That could have caused the heal to drop down further than the toe during honing, which in turn could have caused the difference in the bevel. Just a possibility.

Ray