Thread: Straightening a spine on a wedge?!

Ok, so I haven't been honing razors for very long. I seem to have the hollow blades down pretty good and can produce good shaves off of my Naniwa stones to suit me. My first wedge I got off of ebay. It had been "restored" but when I got it it didn't shave well so I took it to my stones. Needless to say, it didn't work out well and is currently awaiting restoration with Brad Maggard. Picture included. How I got to this place was that even with tape, the bevel wouldn't come out right. I took my micromiter to the spine and it was very uneven. My second wedge is a double thumbnotch Greaves that I am having the same problem with. Is this a normal process? I don't think they should look like this. I mean, my Greaves is shaving well, but it looks like crap now. The spine is very straight but, like I said looks about as bad as the one in the picture! Help!! I'm sure I'm not doing something right and don't want to ruin too many more blades. Thanks!

Uneven spine wear is not uncommon, and on heavy grind it can become very visible very quickly. Mild warps are also not particularly uncommon.

However... Given that you are a new honer and that you've had this happen on two out of two blades, it might be good to have someone look at your razors, hones, and/or honing technique, just to be sure.

So what's the fix for this, a regrind? I'm really stuck on the wedges. It seems to me every wedge I've ever seen was straight down, evenly, from top to bottom. Why does it seem these spines stick out more at the top then the bottom of the blade?

Maybe it's just the pic, but it looks like some pretty significant hone wear midway down the spine of that blade. Not to mention the slight smile to the edge. Are you trying to hold it perfectly perpendicular to the stone? You could try the 45* straight stroke, with a swooping x stroke combo...check out gssixgun's youtube video "honing a smiling wedge," for a good demo of what I am saying.

some blades just need to Die,cannot save them all.

Check your stones with a straight edge to make sure they are flat. If you have been using them for a while they may be hollowed out in the middle, which could produce a smiling edge if you don't use an x stroke. You can get your stones reasonably flat by taking 2 and rubbing them together. A little bush league perhaps, but it works.

Originally Posted by TonyFranciozi

Check your stones with a straight edge to make sure they are flat. If you have been using them for a while they may be hollowed out in the middle, which could produce a smiling edge if you don't use an x stroke. You can get your stones reasonably flat by taking 2 and rubbing them together. A little bush league perhaps, but it works.

Or three stones and rub them against each other, the old school flattening trick!

Originally Posted by Holstertrader

Ok, so I haven't been honing razors for very long. I seem to have the hollow blades down pretty good and can produce good shaves off of my Naniwa stones to suit me. My first wedge I got off of ebay. It had been "restored" but when I got it it didn't shave well so I took it to my stones. Needless to say, it didn't work out well and is currently awaiting restoration with Brad Maggard. Picture included. How I got to this place was that even with tape, the bevel wouldn't come out right. I took my micromiter to the spine and it was very uneven. My second wedge is a double thumbnotch Greaves that I am having the same problem with. Is this a normal process? I don't think they should look like this. I mean, my Greaves is shaving well, but it looks like crap now. The spine is very straight but, like I said looks about as bad as the one in the picture! Help!! I'm sure I'm not doing something right and don't want to ruin too many more blades. Thanks!

Your best strategy will begin with a magic marker to see if the edge and spine work together.

The amount of wear I see makes me think that "correction" is not the game.
Living with the wear is the game.

A narrow old hone seems like the source of the problem so consider honing with the near part of the hone
and big sweeping X strokes guided by hints from your magic marker.

I have had good luck on such razors when honing on film and glass. The magic marker trick is IMPORTANT.

Ignore the spinewear, get the bevel in shape. Looks like previous user got many good shaves out of that razor in spite of uneven spinewear, so why wouldn't that razor give you many satisfactory shaves?

Thanks for all the replies! My stones are flat, I check them every time I use them with a pencil and my DMT. I watched the videos on honing a smiling wedge, but this was from trying to get the blade to sit close to flat on the stone. I did this as much as I hate to say! It still shaved, but the way the bevel looks is just hideous. To hone this blade before I buggered it up, required a dramatic x stroke which is still beyond my experience.