Thread: Crumbling Steel on Practice Razor

I like to use a medium or fine India with blades with chips or for strong bevel-setting as needed. Like the Arkansas stones, the stated grit rating is relative as they break in and mellow with use. New, out of the box, they're aggressive; but once they've smoothed over, they can be redressed as needed (I use emery cloth to do this). Oil use is assumed during the honing process.

As with diamond hones, it is beneficial to use more of an up-and-down stroke with coarse cutters than an X-stroke or an even more lateral stroke; and to expedite matters with slow-acting stones like these, I use up-and-down half-laps. Use of a lateral stroke at too early a stage can lead to deep scratch patterns running more parallel to the edge that then fall off in chips when an alignment with a similar scratch pattern on the other side of the bevel is met.

Yes Gentlemen you are correct to blame my bevel set stone and my heavy handed technique. I bread knifed and reset bevel on a well run in Washita, things are looking much better. I also screwed up by raising a burr with the india and removing it with same. If I had started with the india, for the heavy lifting just to get the party started, and then went to the Washita before the burr edge was set would this have been prevented? Well, that's why I have beaters....to learn on. Meanwhile, I have a lot of honing ahead of me to correct this mistake. Love to hone so I'm a happy camper and I now have a couple more razors that may actually be useful. Thank you!

If you raise a burr you could try 1 or 2 spine leading strokes followed by a couple of normal edge leading strokes to get rid of it.

Bob

Originally Posted by duke762

Yes Gentlemen you are correct to blame my bevel set stone and my heavy handed technique. I bread knifed and reset bevel on a well run in Washita, things are looking much better. I also screwed up by raising a burr with the india and removing it with same. If I had started with the india, for the heavy lifting just to get the party started, and then went to the Washita before the burr edge was set would this have been prevented? Well, that's why I have beaters....to learn on. Meanwhile, I have a lot of honing ahead of me to correct this mistake. Love to hone so I'm a happy camper and I now have a couple more razors that may actually be useful. Thank you!

You are correct. With light pressure on a worn India stone you can get things started and finish on your Washita stone. A better option is a Washita where you can use both sides, keeping one side fresh and the other worn. It works even better and without all the possible chipping issues and you can even use the India stone to freshen and lap the cutting side of your Washita stone. Of course this all depends on the size and kind of Washita stone. I am assuming it is a full sized Norton/Pike Washita.

Sometimes those old hand forged razors just do not have the structural integrity modern steels and forging practices can achieve. A guy in a dark workroom filled with smoke and steel dust pounding out yet another razor with a hammer on soft steel that is a roughly mixed alloy. Air pockets, bits of unmelted alloy material, a hangover/flu/consumption. Can ya see where Im going here? Hand crafted doesn't always mean superior quality, especially when the craft is greatly outmoded.