Thread: Any advice/help would be appreciated!

Hi guys,
I am new to this site. I inherited a razor from my uncle. It was his great-grandfather’s. It has a german blade and plastic yellowish celluloid handles with a nude curvy woman on one side. I purchased a leather/canvas strop, Belgian blue and yellow coticule stones and King 1000 grit stone. I had the BBW and coticule first so I honed with those stones to begin with. I have a slurry stone too. I raised slurry on the blue and did about 25 laps and then raised slurry on the yellow and did the same. I diluted the blue and did less laps and then back to the yellow and kept switching until I thought it was good. I stropped the razor and then shaved with hot water and later. As I side note my razor did not pass any of the tests, with the exception of the arm shave test. It would not pass the HHT or the TNT. I did shave with it but was unable to finish it b/c it was a very rough and uncomfortable shave. I thought the bevel was set but apparently not. So I ordered the King 1000 stone and tried to set the bevel. I noticed when the razor was passing on the stone the toe and heel seemed to have a gap between the razor and the stone. I pressed down a little with my thumb and I was able to pass the marker test on the razor. I also noticed that the bevel itself seemed to be wider and better set in the middle of the razor and much thinner and not as prominent on the toe and the heel. I did about 20 laps on the King and it still did not pass any test and barely shaved arm hair. I was frustrated so I moved to the Belgians and did the pyramid honing as Lynn recommends. After completion once again, no HHT, no TNT, no TPT...nothing. I am stubborn by nature so I tried to shave again and it was even worse than the first shave!! I am frustrated and not sure what is going on. I do find it odd that the toe and the heel are raised when I hone. And yes, I make sure the blade is flat on the hone. Is the blade completely distorted? Can I re-set a bevel like this? What am I doing wrong? Any advice you have would really help.
Thanks again

at first welcome.
if you never shave with shave ready blade i would suggest get that blade sharpened someone who knows what they doing.
you can find that people from member services area.
Later on you can buy ebay razor to learn how to sharp razors.
hope this helps.

Welcome and +1 on the above. The blade sounds like a great heirloom to have. Might even be worth getting another to get up to speed on, it'd be a shame to have an accident with such a prized possession (they can happen early on in the game, and indeed later too, by the time my Wapi is repaired it will probably be a 4/8).

Thanks for the advice. I already asked one user here for his info a few weeks back so I could send him my razor but he did not responed. I will try another. I just wanted to try it on my own so I know what I am doing in the future. Thanks again.

Can you post some pics of the blade on the hone? I'm thinking, even if your hones are lapped flat, it sounds to me like your blade is warped. Again, if I'm reading correctly.

Verify that your hones are lapped flat. You can do this with a straight edge. Hold the straight edge on the hone corner to corner, long ways up to a light. If you see coming through where the hone and straight edge meet, It needs to be lapped. If it has a high spot in the middle, The toe and heel of the razor would appear to be raised. If your hone is flat, the blade may be warped....

You should never have to press the razor down with your thumb on the hone, that's one of the worst things you can do, the wide bevel is a result of that. A light touch give your shave ready edge.

Let me ask you this, Before you move the blade, and it's laying on the hone, does it touch completely, or are the toe and heel raised. If it lays flat on the hone, then you have too much water on your hone raising the blade. In that case, just use a sprayer bottle to spritz the hone.....

I will try to post some pics later tonight. I am not at my residence right now. The hones I have are about 2 inches wide so I cannot fit the entire blade on it. When I am doing the x-pattern you can definitely see a gap right at the heel and right at the toe, but this happens on both sides. The hones were completely unused and lapped before coming to me (per the manufactuers). I bought them brand new. I am honestly thinking the blade may be warped, but regardless even if the blade was warped I think I would at least have a shave ready edge for the sections that are touching the hone. I will double check the hones again tonight too. I can lap then with 220 grit sandpaper on a very flat surface right? Thanks again for the help.

Absolutely, you can lapp them on a piece of Glass or tile, something flat. 220g to start, you may want to work your way up to 1000g to give it that nice smooth finish. My first impression was that the blade is warped. You can lay the blade long ways on the hone to check it, right? Also, I'm sure there are some members close by that wouldn't mind checking out the blade for you. Those nude scales are very nice. If you can, just to be sure, and get it honed up correctly, Why not send it out? Maybe to Lynn or one of our Honemeisters....?

Yea, I can lay it lenghtwise on the hone. That is my bad...I did not even run that option through my mind. I will lap the hones. I will also look for members close to me. I looked on the map already and there are not too many close by. I will definitely send it to Lynn for honing. I need to feel a "sharp" razor so I know what to look, feel and shoot for in the future. Thanks for you help and tips. They are much appreciated. Look for my pictures tonight too, I will definitely post them so you can give me your opinion of the razor and it's current state.

Your Welcome, look forward to the pics. Sending the razor to Lynn is a great idea. He'll evaluate it for you, and if it can be honed, it will be honed. That is a good bench mark to have.....

Rich

Hope this works...here are the picutres. Not the best quality as they were taken with my phone but hopefully you can see what I am talking about.