Thread: Honed out a chipped blade-what's next?

Just got the worst of a chip out of a garage sale finds blade (a pristine Edgar Allen with Sheffield steel) using my Norton 4/8. I now want to set bevel and then hone it sharp again. What's the least expensive hone(s) that I can purchase to get this fine razor to a finished edge from here?

You can set the bevel with the 4K. Work up a good slurry, and then circles to sharp. Once it passes your TPT and AHT, rinse of the slurry, hone as normal through the 4/8. Pyramid if you like. Then on the 8K....rinse, 10 laps, rinse again, wipe the water off with a finger, and 10 laps to damp....nice and slow and even. Shave test. If it's good, then great....it may need more, go back to the 8K.

This should keep you busy for a bit!

You should be able to get a very shaveable edge from the 8000 grit side of your norton. Many her shaved for years off just that very stone.
Removing a chip from the 4000 grit most likely took quite a feat. From this point on check out the honing videos from gssixgun on youtube and the wiki section on pyramids, decide which direction you wish to go and go for it. I wouldn't purchase a finer finisher until you can get a very shaveable edge repeatedly from your 4/8.

Somewhere in the WIKI it recommended a breadknife -like motion on the narrow edge of the Norton,this is what I did for the most part. I mixed that with lateral stroked on the wide edge of the Norton. That chip isn't quite gone yet, but I thought that it would disappear when I set the bevel. A 1k isn't necessary, then? I can get a blade back to shave ready with just my Norton?

I dislike that term. I'm guessing at this time you may have a significant flat along the length of your edge. You may want to get a 1000 grit and possibly a DMT325 as a quick way to restore that edge. If you have that flat I would start by running the edge in circles on the 325 with a slightly raised spine to remove a majority of the metal in the way. I would then (with a taped spine) run the standard bevel set on the 325 and eventually the 1000 grit. After the 1000 grit most can shave arm hair (though roughly). Continue with your 4/8 until shave ready. I'm hoping after the Spokane meet we will have a new video about the methods I mention. In the mean time if you need a rough idea just email me.

Ill show you how I use the Norton stone. You work up a good slurry on it to set the bevel with a 325 grit DMT. Then you do circles until you can cut arm hair. After that use only water on the 4K side until you cut arm hair easily at mid length. You will know when to go to the 8K side when you try to use it and no metal is visible on the 8K side. If you see metal then go back to the 4K side until you see no metal on the 8K. Once that happens do about 30 strokes on the 8K side and you're good to shave test.

Originally Posted by gadwaymc

A 1k isn't necessary, then?

Necessary ? No. Expedient ? Yes. A 4k on a breadknifed full hollow might work ok but on a wedge you're in for a lot of stone flattening & honing.

I have breadknifed a number of razors and have decided it is not worth the effort. Instead of breadknifing and then creating a new bevel with seemingly unending effort, I simply go about establishing a new bevel until the chip is gone. I believe it saves half of the work.

Too late for me on this one. It is a full hollow, I think. I'd like to continue to collect razors at garage sales and such , so maybe a 1K stone at least should be in my future. I'm new at this and don't want to invest a great deal of money in a number of stones, nor am I too fanatical about a razor cutting a hair that's dropped on it, but just using the 4k will probably try my patience while I get a bevel done on this Sheffield blade.

My general comment is that you should choose the hone that gets the job done the fastest. While there are differences of opinion, using a plain old gritty whetstone from a hardware store, or a lapping stone to remove a chip is good. Aftwards, set the bevel shape on something like a DMT 325 (protecting the spine with tape, or simply holding so contact is minimal.) Then, hone on finer hones as necessary.

You can use finer grit hones to remove chips and such. It takes way too much time in my opinion. And, once you are at the 4K level, a detective couldn't tell which hones you used to get there. So, you might as well do it efficiently.