Thread: Sharper in the center than the toe and heel

Gssixgun told me correctly to use one side of the hone in a case like this and he was 100%, correct. I was considering cutting some hones.

Gentlemen,
It seems to me that we do not take proper notion of the subject and talk past each other. It is stated that the edge of the blade is right without any smiling. Then there remains in my humble vision nothing but looking to the properties of the stone. And a brand new Dovo, straight as an iron - if ever - has no other need than a simple flat stone and simple strokes performed by a simple shaving man. I'm such a man.

Joost

and apparently I am not such a man because I am struggling and looking for advice...

ESL

Have you used a magic marker to see what is happening to the edge while you hone? That might hold some explanation of what is going on with the edge.

Bob

One side of the hone??

Originally Posted by Airportcopper

One side of the hone??

I'm not sure what you mean with this. But even if I did, I have a Norton 4k/8k so I only have one side to work with on each

I can try the magic marker test, thanks. But by looking at the water push away it definitely LOOKS like the toe and heel are not pushing the water the same way. Is this what it typically looks like? Maybe I'm misreading what the water is doing...

Originally Posted by EggSuckingLeech

I'm not sure what you mean with this. But even if I did, I have a Norton 4k/8k so I only have one side to work with on each

I can try the magic marker test, thanks. But by looking at the water push away it definitely LOOKS like the toe and heel are not pushing the water the same way. Is this what it typically looks like? Maybe I'm misreading what the water is doing...

Well, you might be surprised what the magic marker will tell you or not but it is a way of checking.

Bob

Hi Senior ESL,

This Junior is very amused by the route this debate is taking. I shall work this problem out to the bone. But beware. I think that many readers will accuse me of putting on the jacket of the schoolmaster by telling facts that have been told in a hundredfold before, plowing through SRP.

Joost

Originally Posted by joostmoree

Gentlemen,
It seems to me that we do not take proper notion of the subject and talk past each other. It is stated that the edge of the blade is right without any smiling. Then there remains in my humble vision nothing but looking to the properties of the stone. And a brand new Dovo, straight as an iron - if ever - has no other need than a simple flat stone and simple strokes performed by a simple shaving man. I'm such a man.

Joost

Well the blade appears to not be sharp except for in the center. The advise I gave you was valid IMO as the blade is not hitting the hone equally at certain areas of the blade. So I would do what I am telling you if it was my blade. It only follows the edge of the blade and that is necessary to hone this one, or if you keep honing the blade flat, you will remove a lot of metal in the center to eventually get to the heel and toe. Its your blade and choice of course and I feel Im giving you the best advice. Others know much more than me though.

Right guys, let's see if we cannot straighten this out.

First off, if your razor only hits the center of the blade, there may be a number of things going on.

As stated earlier, get your hone flat.
Getting that out of the way, should make things easier moving forward.
Now, from the description from the OP, it seems to be a Newer Dovo we are talking about, and honed by Lynn at that.
Based on that, I would say that it should be able to take an edge without going to the extremes of honing on the sides of hones and other more exotic maneuvers.

Furthermore, the OP has stated that the razor isn't a much of a smile to speak about.
So, then we need to address the actual stroke used to get the described result.
Does it behave the same on both sides?
If so, I would think it safe to say we have an issue with the honing stroke. (If as stated earlier, the hone is now flat)

A heal leading motion up and down the hone, with a slight rocking motion should in all probability do the trick.
With such a motion you are actually using just the first inch or so of the hones width.
This will allow you to actually get to all parts of the edge on most razors.
Only the really twisted or bent razors will not get properly honed using this method.

Right.
Let us know if any of our tips so far helps at all, and if not, what seems to be happening along the edge when these tips are applied?