Thread: I think I'm close but...

Shiny spots on the edge, not the bevels. Look straight down on the edge, roll the blade a few degrees each way.

How much magnification are you using?

The first two pics are a bevel not fully set. The last one is fully set, notice no shiny reflections at the edge. You will see 4 tiny white dots in the last photo. One near the left side and 3 clustered near the right side about a third of the way down the picture. That is dust near the edge.

The edge is at a slight upward angle from left to right. The bevels are now meeting and no longer reflecting light. The edge is the straight line,the bottom of the shiny band.

If you load your last pic into a photo editor, and enlarge to its max, it looks like you have a double bevel on the left side. Most probably from freehanding.

In another thread I was recommended the Belomo 10x Triplet Loupe so that's what I picked up. Whether or not that is sufficient magnification, I do not know.

Your photos make sense. I'll have to look at the edge when I get home to see if I can spot the shiny spots right at the edge, although I don't know if 10x magnification is enough.

Shouldn't I have a double bevel?

I don’t know why some folks insist on recommending new honers use a 10x loupe.

Use as much magnification as it takes for you to see what you need to, so you understand what is happening at the edge and where you need to go to get the bevels to meet.

I know “they” say it works for them, but “they” already know what to look for.

Where there may be an issue with magnification is if you become obsessed with removing every flaw seen at 200x, in order to perfect an edge, to the point where you are chasing your tail.

But then a lot of folks say we are all chasing our tails… It’s your time and your tail, where is the harm.

Years ago, I went down that rabbit hole, where I was producing edges that were stria free at 400X, with laser straight edges, and they shaved well, very well. The problem is, few razors can support that kind of edge.

And really, you don’t need that level of bevel polish and edge straightness to get a great shave.

“What on earth is a double bevel”

A second bevel on top of the original bevel at a different angle. I this case the secondary bevel is not across the whole edge or bevel. And apparently not meeting fully.
A micro bevel is a secondary bevel, but across the whole edge and is a micro, very thin bevel at a steeper angle than the main bevel.

This is the best of the Carson scopes to buy, (there are several versions of this scope using different batteries) this one uses AA batteries and most important an easy to operate on and off switch. For $10, you can’t go wrong.

Originally Posted by Euclid440

I don’t know why some folks insist on recommending new honers use a 10x loupe.

Use as much magnification as it takes for you to see what you need to, so you understand what is happening at the edge and where you need to go to get the bevels to meet.

I know “they” say it works for them, but “they” already know what to look for.

And that hits the nail on the head. 5x or 500x is not so much the issue. You have to know what to look for.

Here's a thread with pics that may help: https://sharprazorpalace.com/honing/...pics-200x.html

There are some links to others in this post also: https://sharprazorpalace.com/honing/...ml#post1644587

The Belomo is great but I just don't see what you guys are seeing in all these pictures through that lens. All the photos I've seen here seem to be at much higher magnification. I would have been happier with a cheaper alternative I'll pick up the Carson ASAP.

Google gave me a completely different definition of a double bevel haha. Is this something I should seek to get rid of when I go back to the hone?

“Is this something I should seek to get rid of when I go back to the hone?”

In your case, yes.

It shows that the blade was not flat on the stone, so you have one bevel at one angle and another partial bevel at another angle.

Once you set the blade up in some kind of jig, so it is flat on the stone, you will have just one bevel.

Ah, I think I get what you're saying now.

So I'm going to get the Carson for better magnification. Then I'm going to go back to the 1K and use the blade with the stropping tool to make sure it's flat on the stone and proceed from there.

You know a perfectionist wouldn't have gotten wavy in the first place. Lol. But really when you say your a perfectionist the. You've already made mistakes, cause your not. All you can do is your best, no one is perfect, or we wouldn't be here learning

Originally Posted by tcrideshd

You know a perfectionist wouldn't have gotten wavy in the first place. Lol. But really when you say your a perfectionist the. You've already made mistakes, cause your not. All you can do is your best, no one is perfect, or we wouldn't be here learning

Well that's why its bothering me so much Back to the stone until I get this down perfectly, at least to what I think is perfect haha.

So I spent more time using my loupe last night trying to spot shiny aberrations on the bevel edge and I think I finally see what you all are talking about. With respect to the blade in question, however, I could not see any shiny spots other than where the blade stops (small metal tabs on the safety razor that hold the blade in place) come in contact with the blade. This is an area of the blade that does not come in contact with the skin.

So my question is, can we have a bevel edge free of shiny aberrations, yet still not be set correctly?