Thread: Seeking advice

I'm not sure which of these fora this topic belongs, so I'll start it here. If a moderator needs to move it, so be it. I bought two razors yesterday at an antique shop to practice honing. Because they were pretty bad, I started on coarse sandpaper. Here's the lowdown so far.

One is round, one is a spike. I got all of the big dings out of the edge on each one, and notices something odd on the spike. At the spike end, the edge leans ever so slightly. What I means is that on one side, at the spike, it's hitting the stone more than the other. I was wondering what can be done (if anything) to save this razor. Is it possible to just eliminate the spike and make it a round? How would one do this? Or is the blade just shot? Or would I do better sending it out for restoration? Remember, my goal is to learn how to hone.

Many Thanks!

You can just remove the spike by using the side of the hone to round it off a bit.

By side I assume you mean the NOT-honing surface, but the side that gives it the depth, in other words, where I see the two different stones?

Exactly.. The side of the 4k would be best. I have this el-cheapo Norton oilstone, bought during the dark ages of ignorance and Zeepk that would be even better for this purpose, but I just love my spikes so I keep them as they are.

I love spikes too, but I don't think this one can be saved.

If you want to grind down the spike, make sure you're rounding evenly by drawing the tip along the hone (the side as you describe) and turn the blade from almost parallel to almost perpendicular on each stroke. It's also better to do this kind of work on a very coarse hone like a 1k, but use what you've got.

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