Thread: Starting from scratch by dulling the blade

Hi guys

I have a RM30 Muhle 5/8 carbon steel SE that I have been trying to get shave ready. It came from factory brand new and their versin of shave ready wasn't the same as mine! I invested in a 10k stone and a strop but it didn't really improve. I then decided that I had to take the blade back further and set a new bevel. I bought a dual whetstone 400/1000 which has helped but now I have a slight frown and my blade still won't pass the hanging hair test (it tugs like hell when I shave test it). So I figure its time to start from scratch as I have the stones and the patience ( I actually enjoy honing) to make this razor achieve its best edge. I do however need to know how to dull the edge and possibly correct the frown. Is it just a case of taking away the metal on the 400 until it evens out?

Thanks
Darren

If its getting a frown, you are doing something wrong in the stroke. The 400 is very aggressive and in the wrong hands can remove alot of metal from the wrong places. Its very hard to say what to do without the blade in your hand. Are the stones lapped? What type of stones are they? If you do get the frown corrected it is too large of a jump 1k to 10 k. You need something in the middle somewhere. I dont want to say to flatten the edge(breadknife) it unless we see pictures. This is an advanced honing and to start your first blade with a frown is not a good scenario. Perhaps you should send this one out to get honed by a pro(not by me Im NOT a pro) and get another blade to practice on. You will have a shave ready blade and something to compare your other blade to regarding shave readiness.

http://straightrazorpalace.com/srpwi...t_-_Honing.pdf

A good illustrated read on correct blade profile, and how to obtain it, and avoid a frown is found in this PDF file of a 1961 barber manual excerpt on honing and stropping. It is from our SRP Wiki/library help files. Give it a looksee and that may help you as much as it did me.

I do however need to know how to dull the edge

Just like a baby deer and walking, a beginner razor enthusiast needs no instruction on how to dull a blade...It just comes natural.

I bought a dual whetstone 400/1000 which has helped but now I have a slight frown

.



But seriously, I'd go with what Jimmy said.

Breadknifing is when you take your blade and pretend you are cutting it like bread. Use the side if you can as it will put marks in the hone. Its a very drastic move though. Or you can raise the blade about 45 degress and go back and forth til you have an edge. Keep the angle as close as possible on both sides. Then after you start to feel sharpness across the entire edge, you need to hone it flat on the stone. It may take a long time to do this. I still believe you should send it out. Good luck.

BTW, some years ago there was a coticule aficionado, I forget his name, who was posting quite a bit about those stones and honing with them. Someone came up with the idea of dulling the razor before honing it to make sure the sharpness obtained was with the present honing. What they did was lightly run the cutting edge on the side of a drinking glass or a bottle.

This kind of rubbed the honemeisters on the board the wrong way and they spoke out against it. I confess that I tried it one time but decided that I know how to hone so it was pointless to further dull a razor that I wouldn't be honing if it didn't need it in the first place.

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

BTW, some years ago there was a coticule aficionado, I forget his name, who was posting quite a bit about those stones and honing with them. Someone came up with the idea of dulling the razor before honing it to make sure the sharpness obtained was with the present honing. What they did was lightly run the cutting edge on the side of a drinking glass or a bottle.

This kind of rubbed the honemeisters on the board the wrong way and they spoke out against it. I confess that I tried it one time but decided that I know how to hone so it was pointless to further dull a razor that I wouldn't be honing if it didn't need it in the first place.

My understanding is that you can use the "breadknifing" technique to "reset" an edge that has an uneven sharpness to it. To start from a blank slate so to speak. Say if you dulled a small portion of the blade by knocking it against your faucet (gasp!) or perhaps digging into your leather strop or catching a metal screw on the edge of your strop while stropping the razor. This way, you don't overhone certain portions of the blade that are still decently sharp while getting that damaged area back to proper sharpness. That is my theory anyways and with my limited experience so take it for what it's worth. I have done a lot of reading though.

Jimmy that PDF excerpt from a barber manual that you linked to above was gold!

I'm getting a frown...from reading this post.

Michael

Originally Posted by mjsorkin

I'm getting a frown...from reading this post.

Michael

From my post?