Thread: Trouble honing Wester Bros Wedge

Originally Posted by OCDshaver

What interests me about this thread and problem is the fact that the edge fell apart after going back to the 12k. Does anyone have any ideas what went wrong there?

Don't know about this particular razor but he more you polish a dull edge the smoother & duller it gets .

Just to add to JimmyHAD's point, some alloys are more work to hone. The Genco Vanadium comes to mind & even stainless can be a challenge for the budding honerista.

Originally Posted by onimaru55

Don't know about this particular razor but he more you polish a dull edge the smoother & duller it gets .

Just to add to JimmyHAD's point, some alloys are more work to hone. The Genco Vanadium comes to mind & even stainless can be a challenge for the budding honerista.

This is a really good point and one that should be emphasized more often for new guys. One of the things that I'm always looking for are the signs. What are the circumstances telling me? How do I know what to do next? What does this or that tell me about the process? This is one of those telling moments and its good to know.

I have two wedges and tape simplifies the job. Gives you a bit of airspace between the grind and the hone. Call it breathing room..............

From what I am hearing from all of you experienced razor honers and from my intuition, is that the bevel was never perfect from the getgo and that going back to the 4k with tape is the likely fix.

Does anyone on this thread know of an experienced honed in the Hudson valley who I might contact for direction?

Again, guys, thank you for the insightful advice

David

Bob,

this is a really excellent article. It really makes it easy to understand the challenges of the wedge and especially the exact technique with tape. I like the Excel app for calculating tape layers for different blade thicknesses/widths

Glad you liked the linked info, like I said I found it very helpful and wished I had of seen it before doing my first near wedge. The second one came out super after reading the article and applying it. The only caveat is to watch when you measure for blade size and to do so from the hone wear not the spine to the edge. The app works for all razors, I think, to get you a proper bevel angle. Are you going to take another crack at it?

Bob

Quick math for using tape:

0-1mm of spine wear 1 layer
1-2mm of spine wear 2 layers
more than 2mm spine wear 3 layers

After 3 layers of tape things tend to get a bit too spongy for my taste and perhaps one should think about a re-grind...

Use 3M tape it really does last better
If you get tape residue, take the old piece of tape wrap it around your fingers, sticky side out and dab the residue off
Apply the tape evenly
Change the tape at least at every stage of honing


And there you have the simplistic easy peasy version of "Taping a spine"

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

...I've never had a Wester's Bros Manganese steel wedge, but I've got a few of their manganese full hollows. I personally found them to be a lot of work to hone to shave ready...

As a novice with honing I have had only good luck reading advice at SRP and bringing a few letter-opener quality razors back to good shavers - until I bought a Wester Bros Manganese hollow (bottom). I wore myself, my patience and my Norton 4/8 out last night - very frustrating. Did a search and found this thread. I guess it cheers me up to find out I'm not the first.

I need a new approach for this rascal.

The "Manganese" razor that wouldn't sharpen. Old razor - reviewing my approach.



What worked for the other four razors I've honed and stropped from paperweights to shavers wouldn't work with this Wester Bros. Following tried and true wiki- and expert pm'ed advice I went back to basics. I began again, starting this time with a 1k King with an eye to setting a bevel. Using a lot of water, a lick of tape and a slow sequence of circular and x-strokes I had a razor that shaved hair cleanly (after stropping) in half an hour. I took up a pyramid sequence on a Norton 4/8k stone, stropped some more and was not rewarded with the smoothest edge I'd ever felt.

Back to bevel set, this time slower and with a lighter touch; then back to a 4/8 pryamid sequence; then 60 licks on leather. With maybe 90 patient minutes invested the old paperweight shaved smooth as silk this morning. The learning curve is a by-the-numbers process but, if I can do it, anyone can do it. Thanks to the kind help around here I am pleased to return a fine old Wester Bros razor to service.

Whenever I get a blade that gives me trouble, I use either a dmt 4k (6 micron) or chosera 600 and stay on it until the bevel is set. Dmt for where I have along way to go as it doesnt dish. Then I dull on glass and reset on the 1k. Couple TIs I did were stainless I believe and thats the way IMO. I dont like to mess with tape unless the geometry calls for it.