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Attachment 252047
Hi
Completely new straight razor shaver wannebe here.
I'm attempting to hone an old razor. For some reason, while
honing with X pattern on 3000 grit the other side of the razor
looks like normal but the other side has two...areas? near
the edge.
Attached a picture taken with 45X loupe. Needless
to say the edge at the moment is so dull i can slide my
thumb on it without any sensation of cutting.
Any help appreciated. The two areas stay even if
i hone for about 10 minutes.
Magic marker the bevel, then a couple strokes on hone to see where the hone is touching. I'm no expert but looks like maybe it was honed with tape on spine and you are not using tape or vs. Double bevel. Use tape, use lower grit hone, magic marker edge and start over and reset bevel.
Yup, marker ink to tell which is the new bevel.
Probably honed with tape. A photo of the other side might be helpful.
That’s a good photo taken through a hand-held loupe.
Attachment 252192Attachment 252193Attachment 252194Attachment 252195
OK
Magic marker helped.
The area near the edge had magic marker left on it.
Honed the razor with lower grit until the two areas had
merged into one. Then honed with higher grits and stropped.
I actually managed to shave for the first time. Not perfect, cheeks
were shaved well but other areas not so well as the i'm perhaps
still too careful
In attached photos with frontside i mean the side of the blade
with engraving and backside the other. The backside did not have
two bevels.
You did it perfectly! When something changes the angle of the bevel, you have to keep honing away at that bevel until it reaches the edge. It is the meeting of the bevels on opposite sides that form the edge so those bevels must meet.Quote:
Originally Posted by racer
Was any tape involved with any of this honing?
If you are new to honing, then you should use electrical tape on the spine. It prevents damage from stupid mistakes while you learn to hone.
Just be aware that taping the spine slightly raises the spine and makes the edge angle slightly more obtuse. As the tape wears, the spine lowers and so the cutting of the bevel no longer reaches the edge. You need to be conscious of this and occasionally switch to fresh tape.
No tape. I'm just learning this stuff, Actually i'we wrecked one cheap razor while honing on 300grit stoneQuote:
Originally Posted by Utopian
and applying lots of pressure. It's a learning curve.
Ok, while you are learning, you will prevent a lot of spine damage by using tape. Long term, tape is not necessarily necessary, but it is a good idea to use it when you are in the early stages of learning how to hone. At a minimum, it would be a good idea to use it during the bevel set, as that is the stage when the most beginner damage is done.
I put tape on both sides of the razor once. Just to get an idea for the feel of razor weight on the stone & lifting off at the end. Was only for a minute or two, but still a true story.
I probably shouldn't have made that public :/
I quit taping the spine over concerns about double bevel.Quote:
Originally Posted by racer
Let me hasten to add that the more experienced and skilled you get with a straight the less you feel the need to hone. I rotate 7 5/8 Henkels Friodurs and went a year without doing anything but stropping. Then, I tuned them up by stropping with diamond paste. 6 months have passed since then.
Hey racer, those are some amazing photos, taken through a loupe.
How about a quick photo tutorial of your process? I’m sure a lot of guys would benefit from it, as an inexpensive way to post clear, edge pics and get help.
You also are not quite honing to the edge, a few more laps, a bit more pressure or a single piece of tape, will get you to the edge, but you will still need a finer grit to finish. An edge does not get really straight, until 8K.
You might get away stropping on Chrome Oxide after fully setting your edge.
You clearly have what works for you now, and I'm not arguing it at all, but I'd just like to point out to anyone else considering tape that a double bevel is not an issue with tape as long as you consider one thing.Quote:
Originally Posted by CaliforniaCajun
That thing is geometry. The edge is the merging of two bevels and the angle of those bevels are different with and without tape. What some people seem to forget is that that angle also will change if the tape is worn down. That is why it is necessary to use fresh tape to make sure that you are cutting the bevel all the way to the edge.
I have this kind of loupe from aliexpress
Attachment 253031
Then put the loupe on a razor, smartphone camera on top of loupe, zoom almost to the maximum, then
raise and lower the smartphone until a the photo is sharp. Then take a photo which shows round picture of
razor edge and lot of unclear shapes around it. Next crop the image so that only the blade can be seen and all
the rest is cut out.
The loupe has a led light on it and the direction where it comes from has a big effect on picture so i also
turn the loupe around until the light comes from some particular direction and the photo is clear.
I also found out i need a finer grit. The razor is still nipping and the shave is not that pleasant. 10k grit stone is on the way.
Meanwhile i'm practicing shaving with a shavette (Sanguine coolcut 4).
Best guess would be to much pressure on the one side, the blade might be flexing and you are hitting the area above the bevel
Regarding the tape vs no tape .... once you use tape then you need to continue to use tape on that razor.
If you start with tape and then try to go to no tape you will create a different angle and double bevel.
You need to decide from the beginning what you want to do and stick with it.
Hope this helps :)
nice loupe!!!
btw, is there any article in the wiki that talks about the magic marker technique? i'm failing to locate it :)
