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I checked the forum a bit and didn't see the answer to this question, so here it goes.
What is the best way to hone a razor with an upturned toe?
I recently won a T. Hessen Bruch razor off ebay (I just love that little bear :p) and I couldn't tell that it had an upturned toe in the photos. It doesn't look severe, though I can tell by the honewear the person gave some undo pressure on the toe. Is there anything special I need to know about honing a razor like this?
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Cheers
For a slightly smiling blade I use a rolling x stroke when honing. Then again I'm new to honing and you might want a second opinion! However, I have studied this website a lot and everything says that for a smiling razor you want to use a rolling X stroke.
Good luck!
Tony
There is a video in this sector from a guy(dont now his name exacly , sixgun or so)
He shows you the wright way to hone a smiling razor.
You also can try the rolling x as said in the first anwser.
But if you want him realy sharp look for that video.
It's in the wiki: Rolling X stroke - Straight Razor Place Wiki
This is considered an advanced honing technique, suitable for those who have gotten to grips with the honing basics.
You can either try and remove steel from the heel and center only with a dmt to even things out, or since most don't like to do that use the rolling x stroke like others have said. That's basically it, either fix the problem or learn to hone it like it is.
Possibly it's also important to consider if you USE the toe a lot while shaving. I don't really use the toe a lot; certainly not right to the end of the razor. I do, however, use the heel (and of course belly) of the razor. If you don't use the toe a great deal; rather than worry too much about it; could you not hone as normal completely ignoring the fact that it has an upturned toe?
I'd certainly use a Texta (sharpie) marker to determine what's happening as you hone it :)
Or, you can just flatten it with breadknifing variations.
It is visible that the edge of the razor needs flattening, it's not straight, although it was made to be straight.
If you hone it like a smiling, it's shape will worsen. And then, it will not be as pretty. I'm generally against this, but, cover the spine with 3-4 layers of tape (or hold it with an angle, my choice) and use a low grit stone until it's completely flat. Both sides. Then, one by one, remove layers and hone it again to minimize the wear on the spine.
That's what I do on those cases anyway. Whatever you choose, good luck.
I wouldn't breadknife or attempt to straighten the edge in any way. To remove enough metal to make the edge parallel with the spine you would be into the stabilizers, and the blade would loose a lot of size to get there.
I have a few blades with similar wear. They really aren't that difficult to hone, and they shave nice. I say hone it and enjoy it as is.
I think what will hit this fine is canting your razor heel first on your X stokes at a more pronounced angle than you would usually use then sweeping it off at the end of the stroke. Rolling X stroke would work too but the wiki exaggerates this move and this can be misinterpreted. The shoulder must be flat on the hone the whole time and the "sweeping" is only the very slight rolling pressure you are putting on the blade.
This is not a smiling razor but one that has been honed too heavily at the toe. Instead of using some aggressive means to change its shape, I would hone it as it is and be careful about adding additional wear to the toe with an x-stroke. With multiple honings, the toe will eventually come into a better relationship with the rest of the blade. In the meantime, it is certainly usable.
Thanks for all the advice gents, much obliged.
Cheers
I have some granite tile 1 1/2 inch wide with lapping film in different grits. Or as was said rolling x or dmt to even it out.
I'd add a layer of tape to the spine to avoid further hone wear and then use a rolling X stroke to hone this sort of blade.
Avoid breadknifing or other nuclear option, this razor is definitely salvagable and will be usable once properly honed :)
Good luck and keep us posted!
I have heard from a handful of people that breadknifing is, as you described it, a nuclear option. Probably shy away from that as much as I can :wQuote:
Originally Posted by Stubear
Ive done it a couple times. Depending on how off the blade is, it could take a very long time to get it back. And you would need a coarse hone to do the breadknifing and to start the bevel. Its not terrible in the sense of you will never have to do it again and your future blade maintenance would be a little easier. I agree with those that have said to avoid it if possible and in your case its definitely possible.
So I think you have it boiled down to 2 reasonable choices with one nuclear option. If you don't necessarily need the heel to be as keen as the straight part of the blade then just focusing on the straight part is probably the most razor conserving approach. The nice thing is that with every honing you will be slowly bringing that heel curve down to flat. The nuclear option just forces you to reach this point NOW. The middle ground, which some may consider nuclear as well, is to hone the entire edge. That way you would always have a very slight smile at the heel. I believe some razors are made this way anyway.
Not sure if this helps. But, if it were me and I had plenty of other razors to play with I would just hone regularly as if the whole edge was straight. When it comes to shaving, if you have some facial hair to trim around then this would be a larger issue since you would want the entire heel edge keen for trimming.
