Thread: Permanent damage to the blade?

2 or so years ago, I bought a SR that says it was shave ready. When it finally came, I tried it and it felt awfull.
I got my hands on my dad's magnifier (shame on me, I don't have one haha) and i noticed something: the edge and the blade were scratched.

so, i started to watch videos of how to hone a blade and bought a wetstone. 12k grit according to a user from SRP and also a great quality stone according to the same user. When the stone arrived, it did along a small stone used to smooth the surface and remove the imperfections of the big one (i know this proccess has a name).

Anyways, after some time I worked in the honing and I felt it did a better job... But only slightly. I noticed the surface was still scratched.

I've tried to hone it since then a couple of times ans almost get a mirror finish on the very edge, but i can see still the scratch.

Is it possible that the edge is damaged permanently? (Or that I damaged it) because... I have never archieved a shave-ready edge.

(Of course, there is the chance that My honing technique sucks)

Is not the best draw but the blade looks somewhat like this.

that isnt a bad drawing really.
there is bound to be some "scratching" the grain of the metal is going to be tough to polish smooth. The edge is more of a concern isnt it?

Yeah. I tried it today once again but it didn't felt good. I went back to my trusty Merkur+derby combo.

If you say it is not unusual then it must be a mix between the edge and my honing skills. Both need a serious improvement

If your really interested in the sr I would recommend sending it out to be sharpen so you can see what it should be like.

I thought about it but I live outside the US.
Sending an item there would take 1-2 months or a lot of money >:/

There are a lot of well respected honers on both sides of the Atlantic. Depending on where you are there might be a local member that might be able to help you out.

There are also some well respected guys in Aussie if you are down under

It's not likely that the "small stone" you received with the 12K was a lapping stone, more likely a slurry stone. Whatever the case, scratches that don't involve the edge should be irrelevant to the shave.

I think ace is spot on. I would add that a 12k might take forever to get you where you need to be ? Plus if you lapped it with the slurry stone ummm it is not lapped. If you are learning to hone then I would seek out a person to do one for you first. Then you have an idea what you are trying to accomplish like Castell says. Right now you know where you want to be but you have no direction to head towards.

It might help if you post a picture of the hone and the accompanying slurry stone. As has been said, it's extremely unlikely that your stone is lapped flat, you cannot do that with a slurry stone, you need a lapping stone or plate. Lots of folks (myself included) use a DMT375 to lap with. This will insure your stone is completely flat.

Also, depending on the kind of hone you have, you might need some lower grit hones (1k for bevel setting, 4k for sharpening) before you get to your 12k. Different process if your stone is a coticule though so a picture would help us to guide you in the right direction.

First off, you might want to consider updating your profile so others know more about you (particularly where you live). This way we might be better able to help

Secondly, In order for an edge to be damaged permanently, there would need to be some substantial damage (i.e. the kind that requires NO magnification to see)...even then, you would be surprised what can be fixed in the right hands. All of this is prefaced on the concept that the blade was viable in the first place. Garbage mild steel razors cannot be damaged...as they are already worthless as a razor

If I had to guess, I would say that someone honed that razor with tape and someone honed it without tape (if I understand your illustration properly). The person that did not use tape (or perhaps used tape, but also put too much pressure on the blade) imparted scratches on the top shoulder of the bevel (distal from the edge or apex). The other honing session appears to have polished out to the apex...but if it shaves poorly, perhaps their efforts were in vein with an imperfect bevel set (i.e. the bevels were never joined completely and uniformly to form a sharp edge).

Illustrations are nice, photos are better, seeing and holding cannot be beat.

I wish I could provide more insight.