Thread: Is my grind not steep enough?

Originally Posted by planeden

...
By the way, that is a nice looking blade. I got so wrapped up in pretending to be smart I forgot to mention it .

Ditto that.

Originally Posted by LeviPrince

I just remeasured and my blade is 3/16 at the spine . It's a 3/4 razor so I'm guessing I'd have to put some tape on the spine... And do you know if a 2" wheel would work to give me a full hollow or half hollow?

If the grind goes all the way to the top of the spine one layer of electrical tape will give you 15.26º which would be what I would personally shoot for. If your grind does not go all the way to the top the angle will be greater. If your brother is new to straights a more obtuse angle may be more appropriate, but I would not go beyond 2 layers.

There is no mathematical rule for what constitutes 1/2 hollow, 1/4 hollow, etc. but with my way of thinking a 5" wheel on a 6/8 razor (leaving a 1/16" or so of spine un ground) would give you a quarter hollow. And a 4" wheel should get you close to a half hollow. The wheel diameters act more true to size as your skill improves. For a full hollow I'd be following the 4" with a 1.5".

The 8" wheel will be a near wedge. I'm personally not fond of heavy grinds, but it should shave fine.

Originally Posted by PaulFLUS

Ditto that.

HEY! The nice looking blade or that I am pretending to be smart?

Originally Posted by bluesman7

There is no mathematical rule for what constitutes 1/2 hollow, 1/4 hollow, etc.

This has often puzzled or irritated me. Everyone has seen the chart with the razor end views and roman numerals and common names of grinds, but comparing a blade to the drawings is pretty subjective. Actually quantifying grind would make an excellent discussion topic some day. There SHOULD be some measurable standard for determining the grind of a razor, even if only for use on the various razor forums where members often agonize over minutae.

There you go. Bluesman makes razors so Id go with his words more than the rest of us. Although we all were not too far off.
Thanks Victor!

When it comes to engineering a razor, Victor knows how to apply the math (sometimes bondo) to reach a desired grind. You can fake that stuff or rely on quotes you have read. Some of his blades are wonderfully thin. I listen to him and I happen to make a blade here and there.

Hi Levi, and welcome to SRP! As a Winnipegger-in-exile, it's good to see someone from my hometown here.

+1 to the advice above, particularly to that of Victor (google bluesman blades if you're wondering why we're happy to defer to his knowledge and skill!).

Personally, I love heavy grinds, but plenty of others hate them and will only go for razors with super hollow grinds. As with *many* things in the world of straight razor shaving, there is a great deal of subjectivity on this question. What I like, your brother may hate. What works for Scott might be a nightmare for Jerry, etc., and so on... But other things are really well established and shouldn't be deviated from too much, and one of those is the bevel angle. Make that right and it will shave. IMHO what happens between the bevel and the spine (i.e. the hollowness of the grind) is very much a matter of personal preference.

That's a fine looking blade you have there. I like the bold pattern.

It is all rather subjective. And I daresay that most of us who grind razors shoot for something in a ballpark range, based on experience. I've seen the charts. The problem is that not only is it terribly subjective to compare what you have with a paper chart, but when we are grinding, we are essentially just starting with something near wedge shaped. We use a wheel with a radius that is smaller than the hollow to 'scoop out' more steel.

Not only does this mean that one side is marginally different from the other, but also that the exact geometry of the hollow itself is not circular nor following a predictable curve. Most of us are able to grind consistently by virtue of doing it over and over. Even so, what I call half hollow is not going to be exactly the same as what Charlie would call it for example.

To answer the question, there are really 2 ways to go more hollow with the tools you have
a) make a bigger razor.
b) use the 2" wheel to scoop out steel.

When using the 2" wheel, you'd simply grind from spine to edge repeatedly until you've removed enough metal to make it noticeably hollow.