Thread: Smiles, frowns and waves

Let me begin by saying I am a total newbie at this and that I'd like to fix this on my own.

I found this Kama and another Razor (karnak) for $12. I bought them with the intention of using them to practice on (honing,restoring, etc). I took the Kama to the grinding wheel I have in the basement and ground out the chips. I was going to bring it to a knife sharpener but decided against it since it probably would have cost more than what The blade is worth. It looked pretty straight while I was doing it. But Now I see the train wreck of a job I did.

How do I straighten out/level the edge? Should I bring it back to the grinding wheel and if so any tips on keeping my hand steady?

Should I bread knife it? Can I use a Norton flattening stone for that.

Moved to advanced honing !!!


Oh well the damage is done so lets start with the basics

Grinding wheels NO !!!

Knife Sharpeners NO !!!

Can you bread kinfe it and then fix the edge Probably NO!!

You have managed to take a rather simple problem razor and change it into a rather tuff one..

GOTO Classifieds - Member services - Honemiester services - link this thread and PM some, and see who has the time, and knowledge to fix this the right way...

Kama Razors are one of the smoothest shaving razors out there, I only hope you did not wreck the blade....

So I should have asked the knife sharpener to grind it for me??

Glen thank you for your reply.

I don't want someone to fix it for me.

If no one can point me in the right direction I'll keep it as a reminder of what not to do.

Originally Posted by Rmaldon240

So I should have asked the knife sharpener to grind it for me??

Glen thank you for your reply.

I don't want someone to fix it for me.

If no one can point me in the right direction I'll keep it as a reminder of what not to do.

NO you should not ask a knife sharpener to grind a razor for you, unless they actually shave with one and know what a razor is and how to sharpen it.
Fixing a chipped razor blade usually is done one hones not on grinding wheels.

Originally Posted by Rmaldon240

So I should have asked the knife sharpener to grind it for me??

Glen thank you for your reply.

I don't want someone to fix it for me.

If no one can point me in the right direction I'll keep it as a reminder of what not to do.

Like mainaman and Glen, NO, don't ever use a grinding wheel on a razor....EVER! As Glen stated, just hope you didn't ruin it by doing that.

And also as they said NEVER take it to a knife sharpener.

If you don't want someone else to fix it for you, then look in the Wiki at these to start:

Honing a damaged blade - Straight Razor Place Wiki

Beginner's Guide to Honing - Straight Razor Place Wiki

What hone(s) do I need? - Straight Razor Place Wiki

Then read everything you can find in the Honing forum, and also watch all the honing videos here: Videos - Straight Razor Place Forums

And buy a set of hones, and do it yourself. You really should send that out though...that poor razor has suffered enough

And on a side note, NO a dremel isn't an acceptable alternative to a grinder

I am going to add a bit here just for you, and other people reading this too...

First the edge is most likely so ragged that it is going to need some serious work to get it right again after the grinder..

You took off a ton of metal but did not "hone" it off so the heel is most likely going to need re-contouring or it will drag causing more problems..

This is going to need a Pre-bevel set most likely twice, then an actual bevel set...

Then I really don't know what the spine will bring, no one will until you start honing...

Then after all that you can begin honing...

Now you could do all that and MAYBE get the edge back or you can just slap that puppy on your hones and hone away and after hours of work you will get an edge that actually might shave, but trust me here, it will NOT shave like a Kama should...

Great info Glen! When you say it will need a pre-bevel set possibly twice what do you mean? Would love to understand in case I ever need to do something like that

The grinder most likely thinned out the edge of the blade, or if done almost straight on, chewed into the edge... So first you need to even it up and smooth it up... I would use Breadknifing at this point of the game, but, most likely would not have before the grinder... Then the pre-bevel needs to be set, either by the 3 layers of tape technique, or a knife style technique, either way it needs to be set, then you need to make sure that is is even and smooth.... If not then it will need to be done again, before dropping to 1 layer or 0 layers of tape to actually set the bevel...

Note: This is assuming the use of a stone bench grinder, not a belt style knife grinder as that will do less damage...

Originally Posted by avatar1999

Great info Glen! When you say it will need a pre-bevel set possibly twice what do you mean? Would love to understand in case I ever need to do something like that

While Glen catches his breath...
Review this on the SRP Wiki.

Bevel-setting in theory and practice - Straight Razor Place Wiki

To me pre-bevel set means to apply four or more
layers of tape to the spine and then use a honing
motion on a medium or coarse very flat hone to straighten it out.
The goal is to true up the cutting edge and bring it to a precise
even linear bevel. While not acute enough to finish this pre-bevel
has the potential of removing the minimum amount of steel
and preparing the edge for bevel setting (thus a pre-bevel).

Once the pre-bevel on both sides comes together along
the length of the blade half the tape is removed and a bevel
is then set and the razor honed and tested. If too much
blade was lost then the bevel may need to be
reset again with zero tape and honed again.

Guys, I get the point about the grinding and the knife sharpener. I was being facetious. I would have put the facetious smiley face symbol but I couldn't find one. There I go being facetious again.


Rob, Thank you. That article on honing a damaged blade is exactly what I was looking for. I already have a set of hones. Consider that razor a martyr. It's sacrifice will prevent many razors from suffering a similar fate in the future. I will be dedicating some time to reading, studying and watching videos.

Glen, I also don't understand what you mean by a Pre-bevel.