Thread: How likely is it

that I have found 2 warped blades? Is it more likely that I need to lap my hones better? I followed the instructional videos I have found with the pencil marking wet sandpaper. The thing is that after Lynn's recomendation after finishing with a 12K Naniwa I stropped like he said and tried to shave this morning and it was still a little uncomfortable. So I looked at it with 20 loop and found mostly like a mirror polished edge, but a few spots still looked like it was sandblasted. Any suggestions.

Very little info to go on here, so take my words with several grains of salt. However, the chance your hones are uneven seem a slim one to me, if they were new or properly lapped beforehand. If in doubt, use the pencil grid system again, that should disclose any hone problems quickly.
I don't know how much honing you have done, but judging by your post count and your question I think it is far more likely your honing is not yet up to the task. If your edge has a little movement in it, like a smile or even an uneven grind or previous excessive honewear, the demand for a good honing stroke is high. The blade needs to be in contact with the hone at all times, and this is not so easy if you have not had time to build a good muscle memory yet. Plus, resetting a bevel on a badly damaged razor is far from a small task.
Of cource, it could be that your razors indeed are warped, or that your hones are at fault, but I'm look at the honing strokes first. Plus, if your honing strokes are even and consistent, it could be that you just did not spend enough time on the stones yet.
You did not say anything about arm hair tests, or thumbpad tests, did you check before you moved off the 1k hone?
Hope this helped.

Some helpful info. I will re-lap just to eliminate that for sure. It passed thru the hair on my arm like butter. Not experienced enough to know from a thumbpad test, and it passed a hanging hair test after the 12K but I only did the HHT at about a 3rd of the way from the toe. Being as it was a given razor maybe I will just start over after I lap the hones again. It did look like it was ground unevenly when i first got it. And the bevel wasnt much deeper than my pocket knife. So maybe I just didnt spend enough time setting the bevel. This time I will test more often during the process. If I cant do it myself this time I will definately send it out.
Thanks

Oh and yes I am very new to this.

I am working on a person's razor that has a cooked grind, so it's very possible. All it takes is a known straightedge to figure it out. On this particular razor the spine is straight, it's just that the edge is literally "bowed". Some are salvageable, some are not. Check the spine and edge to ensure they are straight & if so, give it another whirl on the stones. Heck, every once and a while I still go back to the stones with a razor, so don't feel bad at all...

You know that never even dawned on me. I will have to get out my welder square...Thanks for the encouragement Shooter. Worse come to worse I will bring it with me in Nov when i go to Texas to go hunting with my brother-in-law and let you look at it. LOL

I don't know if this will make sense as I am not very scientific, but I try not to pay attention to the width of the bevel itself. What I am trying to do by establishing a bevel is to produce an efficient edge. A bevel can be quite small but produce a superior edge when set correctly. If your pressure is consistent using either circles or X strokes, you can usually get there on a decent razor without removing a lot of metal or increasing the width of the bevel visibly on the razor.

Originally Posted by poppy926

that I have found 2 warped blades? Is it more likely that I need to lap my hones better? I followed the instructional videos I have found with the pencil marking wet sandpaper. The thing is that after Lynn's recomendation after finishing with a 12K Naniwa I stropped like he said and tried to shave this morning and it was still a little uncomfortable. So I looked at it with 20 loop and found mostly like a mirror polished edge, but a few spots still looked like it was sandblasted. Any suggestions.

Flat hones help but are not all that is required.

Try the magic marker test and "audition" your razor
on your hones. If the hone wipes the magic marker
and leaves a clean edge you are on the right track.

If it does not try slightly different hone strokes
to see if they wipe the marker from the bevel
clear to the edge.

Flat lapped hones help a lot when switching
from one hone to another for progressively finer
grits. The old barber that had five razors and
one touch up hone that grew swayback together over the
years had no problem (until he got a new razor).

The magic marker test ... can tell a lot.