Thread: Intentially honing in a smile

I have a Chinese branded razor that has quite an infamous reputation here.

After a couple attempts at honing this razor, it just doesn't want to sharpen up at the heel and toe. The belly of the blade has honed up nicely.

I was thinking since conventional methods of honing haven't worked out so far, it might be fun to intentionally hone in a smile into this razor.

How is this usually done, Could I get away with putting a couple extra layers of tape in the middle portion of the spine, or should I just freehand it with a rolling x?

Sound like a job for the swooping X
You may or may not have to roll to

Here is a PDF of a 1961 barber's manual excerpt on stropping and honing from the SRP Wiki. They describe and illustrate a method that has worked well for me. The rolling x works well for a smiling blade IME. If a blade is made with a smile I will follow that profile. If it has not been made with a smile I won't try to do a regrind with the hone if you know what I mean.

I agree that the rolling-x is the way to go. I think the tape in the middle will do the opposite of what you want, as it will increase the cutting of the edge in the middle where the spine is raised, causing a frown.