Thread: Most aggressive set of hones

I was given a Wade and Butcher in terrible condition. It was actually rust-glued to another razor in a box of "throwaways." I decided to use it as a restore project, although I didn't think I would get a clean bevel out of that corroded steel. Shame, because it was (is) a 7/8 wedge with very little hone wear. It might have been unused when it was originally "stored" in a leaky barn.

Long story short, I picked up a coarse carborundum about that same time at a flea market for $10 IIRC and, since I was experimenting, decided to set a prebevel with that dry. It took about half an hour to work out the chips and -- lo and behold -- I had a clean bevel with no corrosion. Another 15 minutes on a Norton 1K, then quickly up through my progression, and it shaved wonderfully! I used it this AM for maybe the fifth time, and it is on a par with any other razor I own.

I think there are a lot of coarse carborundums out there, and a lot of folks don't see any role for them in modern honing. Anyway, I've used it for a couple of other blades with major damage, and it is my go-to stone for this purpose. Much faster than my Norton 220, or anything else I've used in this way.

Maybe worth a try.