Thread: Sawing a Hone

Has anyone ever tried sawing a hone lengthwise so that the width of the hone would be more suitable for honing razors with warped edges? With the exception of a 2 inch wide Coticule, all of my hones are between 2 1/2 inches and 3 inches in width and I am having difficulty honing several of my razors with warped edges.

I think a narrower hone might solve some of the problem........
I probably should re-evaluate my technique also......

Yup, I did that once. http://straightrazorpalace.com/advan...w-results.html

I checked out your photos. I noticed that you had both sides of the stone against the vise jaws. Would it help or not if I would clamp it up in the vise with the top and bottom of the stone against the jaws?

Jerry.....

If you are going to saw the hone, it would be worth the expense of having it done by a professional. In another forum, I have been cutting up some stones with the help a Marble and Granite Supply company. They have diamond blades with some industrial machines behind them. These guys also use the saws all day, everyday, so they make less mistakes. You may want to check around your area and go there in person if possible.

A portable or small wet saw is more for cutting thin pieces of tile. Whatever you do, if you do it by yourself or with the help of a friend, be very, very careful.

Originally Posted by StraightRazorDave

Yup, I did that once. http://straightrazorpalace.com/advan...w-results.html

Very nice work Dave.

Mac

Originally Posted by mrsell63

I checked out your photos. I noticed that you had both sides of the stone against the vise jaws. Would it help or not if I would clamp it up in the vise with the top and bottom of the stone against the jaws?

Jerry.....

I think how you clamp it depends on the size of the stone. If I clamped that Norton any other way I either wouldn't be able to cut it, or it would not be stable enough to cut (i.e. if I clamped the ends). How exactly were you thinking of clamping it? I think I might need a picture to understand...it's past 1 AM and my brain isn't working too well right now. I would agree with Tom/jendeindustries in that if you do it yourself you should be very, very careful. I took a big risk at doing this myself, it paid off, but I was also very careful doing it.

Which stone(s) were you thinking of cutting in half? If it was a natural or a more expenesive one I would really considering finding someone who had the proper equipment to do it. I only did it on my Norton, which isn't a cheap stone, but it was easily replaceable if I screwed up. So that's something you'll have to consider.

I also would use the Norton 4k/8k. I'm not ready to do it at this time but I think it's going to be necessary for my warped blades. Thanks.....
Jerry......

I'm also in favor of the slender stones for my straights. Love what you did with the norton very handy.

I know ChrisL has cut his share of Chinese 12Ks and a Shapton. If memory serves I think that Philadelph cut one with a band saw and a metal cutting blade with good results.

Originally Posted by mrsell63

I also would use the Norton 4k/8k. I'm not ready to do it at this time but I think it's going to be necessary for my warped blades. Thanks.....
Jerry......

I've since sold my Nortons, but I did like the narrow hone at first. But, I did find it substantially harder to keep the blade flat throughout the entire honing stroke. It is possible, but harder than if you used a wider hone.

From posts that I've read by experienced honers, it seems that's the very little you can do on a narrow hone that you can do on a wider one with a a little experience. What I mean by this is that you can compensate for a warped or smiling edge on a wider hone by using a rolling X, for example. I would be easier to compensate for those razor problems on a narrow hone, I'm just saying that there are techniques that you can use to deal with them on a wide hone.

Unless you have no attachment to these stones, I would try and get to know them better before cutting them. Perhaps you can deal with the problems without resorting to cutting. Not that you shouldn't cut them, it's just hard to undo once it's done.