Finaly got one sharp enough to shave

I finaly got my old boker sharp enough to shave. I had to hold the spine off the hone ever so slightly to get a good edge. Could this be due to the way my grandad had honed it in the barbershop? I dont really want to take enough off this one to set the bevel. I shaved with it tonight and this was enough for me. It actualy shaved very good nearly as well as my dovo. Just to use his razor was enough. I will use it a few more times and put it up for future generations. Here is a picture if anyone cares. Any info on this razor would be appriciated.

I'm glad you got this piece of family history to work for you. I wouldn't generally recommend lifting the spine off the hone, but hey, if it worked, that's all that matters.
Boker razors have superb steel. I'd rate them above DOVO's. This one looks like there was a chip near the heel and somebody ground off a part of it (did a good job, too).

Very nice piece of family history. I think and hope you will cherrish it until you pass it on to your next generation. Bokers are exceptional shavers.
Congrats

Phil

The main problem with holding the spine off the hone is that it makes it really, really hard to maintain even pressure through the stroke. You managed to get a shaving edge this way--good work. The edge's evenness and sharpness could probably be improved by keeping the spine flat on the hone.

It sounds to me like the bevel is just a little too steep and needs to be reset. If the bevel was too steep that would prevent the hone from making contact with the edge--it would hit the upper part of the bevel instead. You might want to hold off on that until you get a little more honing experience, or else send it to someone like Lynn or Randy.

In the meantime, you might try putting a couple of layers of electrical tape on the spine to boost it up just a fraction. That way you could keep the spine flat while you hone.

Congrats on your first success--doesn't it feel good? :)

Josh

I had to hold it off the hone to get contact across the edge. It was tripoding on the spine and the tip of the edge. I held the blade so the edge was in contact with the stone and one point of the spine. I guess the spine and edge are not paralell. It took about five passes on the 8K and ten on the cotiucle. It shaved reasonabily well. I feel this method is wrong but didn't know what else to do. I once saw grandad sharpen a razor on a stone and used what could only be described as a butcher steel method. Mabe he was a suckey barber and didn't know what he was doing. We will never know. Any help would be appriciated. I really like the feel of this razor and would use it if I can get a bevel without taking a large amount of blade getting it.

Ah--I missed the part about the spine. It's quite possible the spine and the edge aren't in alignment, which would make honing tricky. Someday you might be able to bring them back into alignment by resetting the bevel.

The technique you're describing sounds like something I've done with warped razors; it's a little touchy, but it works.

If Grandad was a barber, he probably knew a lot more about this stuff than I do. :) I think barbers would get really good at honing and would do it fast and loose like you're describing. That doesn't necessarily mean it wasn't correct. If he was lifting the spine, he probably had so much practice that he was able to keep the angle and pressure perfect even when free-handing it.

Very cool piece of family history.

Josh

That's very good news. I wonder if a little time on a 1k stone might reset the bevel a little better so that it would respond to proper honing with the spine place flat on the hone.

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