Thread: Wedge

So I have a dream of someday acquiring a big Sheffield wedge. I'm trying to learn as much about them as possible from the forum. And of course there is the Evil Bay to offer up multitudes of temptations....today I see this: 261336077735, from a guy in that other forum. My question is this: That looks to be a huge bevel! Is this normal for a wedge of this size? It looks more like a bevel for a hatchet. But the restorer has the credentials so the bevel must be right, is it?

Take a look at the two examples in the razor database:
http://straightrazorpalace.com/srpwi...Steel%22_Other
http://straightrazorpalace.com/srpwi...ecified%22_6/8

The first is mine, and yes, the bevel is tiny, fantastic shaver too.

Wide bevels are fairly common with old razors though, but I'd attribute that to bad honing and abuse rather than the razor 'being made this way'. I've seen worse than the one in the ebay's listing. I would think for that kind of money you can get it in far better condition.

He's got a nice Greaves as well but I keep seeing the bevel and just can't pull the trigger because of it. It's probably okay but if I'm going to have a bevel like that on a finished Greaves, I want to be the one responsible for it. Otherwise it's beautiful!

so what is going on with the heels of his razor he really does not like showing them. and for anything approaching those prices I would like better pictures of the entire blade. also, personally, I do not like the super polished blades buffers can easily ruin a blade and then hide the damages.


enjoy,
jim

Not a big fan of mirror finish on these old blades not to mention modern looking scales his George Brittain with Thiers Issard looking scales is so not period correct. That said shiny sells.

Originally Posted by Martin103

Not a big fan of mirror finish on these old blades not to mention modern looking scales his George Brittain with Thiers Issard looking scales is so not period correct. That said shiny sells.

+1 Martin on the scales...period correct is period correct. Period! I don't mind at all the polished finish on the blade...depending of course on how it's done and who did it.... IYKWIM.

JMHO...

WP34

I often see bevels like this on old razors of this type, but the reason is usually obvious. What I mean by that is that the spine is slightly warped, the grind is a bit out, or some sort of poor practice in the past has resulted in more spine wear than wear at the bevel.

This one does not seem to have any of those problems. The spine is square in section, so the wear should be at the lower edge that meets the hollow grind (its not a wedge) which means that there shouldbe a prominent facet there and that the makers name should be partly obliterated. It has neither of those things. So the spine is not too thin. Add to that the fact that it has been honed with tape and we have the possility that the spine is fractionally thicker, so the bevel should be correspondingly thinner.

The bevel seems quite even on both sides, so kinking of the spine has not caused this. However, it does look as if the. Evel gets progressively wider from heel to tip. So more timehas been taken on the curve of the tip, which leads to diminishing returns, because the thickness of the blde gets thicker in section as tou get closer to the tip, which makes the bevel wider.

A wider width of blade has the same effect as a thinner spine, ie a wide bevel, wnereas a shorter blade width would make for a thinner bevel because in effect it elevates the angle of honing. So it is unlikely that chips of any importance have been honed out.

So the honer, in my opinion, is not to blame - it is probably due to a peculiarity of the grind (like bellying out too far in front of the bevel), the forger or grinder making the spine fractionally to narrow along with the tip having to be over-honed in the past due to the above.

Regards,
Neil

Addressing the mentioned mirror finished issue on vintage blades: personally I like mirror finishes unless a blade has pits. There is something about shiny pits that makes my monkey, Jake, manic. So please, don't mirror polish pits. Jake doesn't care how you got the black out.

Isn't the wider bevel just caused by a lot of honing without a regrind? Most stuff I've seen from the period that is either original or well reground has a pretty small bevel. On this particular one there will be a good amount of wear at the spine that has been blended in by buffing so you can't see it. Personally I don't like any of the scales from that lot. Strange shapes, too large for the blade size, too curved, wedges too thick. I'm for creativity, but razors this old look best in appropriate scales.

Originally Posted by ScienceGuy

Isn't the wider bevel just caused by a lot of honing without a regrind? Most stuff I've seen from the period that is either original or well reground has a pretty small bevel. On this particular one there will be a good amount of wear at the spine that has been blended in by buffing so you can't see it. Personally I don't like any of the scales from that lot. Strange shapes, too large for the blade size, too curved, wedges too thick. I'm for creativity, but razors this old look best in appropriate scales.

How can there be a 'lot' of wear to the spine when the makers name on it is still intact and the lower edge isn't seriously faceted? Did the metal grow back?