Thread: Packwood stubtail honing issue

Have a question for you all. I picked up this Packwood stubtail over the summer, and finally got around to cleaning it up and honing it.
My question is, I had to remove some chips at least a 1/16", so I used tape on the spine & got rid of the chips. Set the bevel and it felt good and sticky, popped hairs. And this is where I think I screwed up
I decided to knock the active rust off the blade. so after doing this I went back to the 1k with tape again everything looked good through the loupe, but I couldn't get a good TPT, and it wasn't popping hairs. So stupid me just continued through the progression. I'm stumped, do any of you think I should double up on the tape?
By the way it has a slight smile to the blade, I'm using an X-stroke with a J-hook at the end. I'm missing something, and I can't put my finger on it. Hones are lapped, I'm using Norton's 1k, 4/8k and then go to a Yellow Coticule, then 4 lap's on my felt strop with Chrox. I don't keep track of laps on the stones for the most part, I'm listening and feeling, testing by topping hairs. Let the bashing begin! thank for the help!

How did you remove the rust?

Move up Rule no. 1… Do Not, move up in grit until the bevel absolutely, completely, no doubt about it, is set.

Look straight down on the edge with magnification and strong light. If you do not see any shinny reflections on the edge, it should cut “your” arm hair… Then do 10 more lite polishing laps on the 1k, then… move up.

Most probably the bevel is not or no longer set.

I think you frigged up your bevel and need t go back to the 1k level and get it set. I can't see how you will get an edge unless you can shave at the 1k or pop hairs. From there up its mostly just polishing the edge that is there.

Yeah, the tape makes no difference - you have to set proper bevel, then move up the progression. If there are issues with the steel/geometry a layer of tape is not going to fix them. If the razor already shaved with a 1/16" wider blade, the bevel angle is only larger now and adding more tape makes it even larger - the steel is not crumbling due to not being able to support too steep of a bevel.

But this is a regrind of the original razor, so may be it was never functional after the modification. Plus razors this old are often poorly heat-treated - I love the good ones though.

As a blanket response - I agree the bevel is not set that's why I'm asking question's and would like to know the different approaches that you've all taken with a problem blade.

http://straightrazorpalace.com/honin...bing-over.html

That might give you some ideas

Glen, thanks I needed to be reminded of some of the thing's mentioned. Totally forgot about using a marker!

Reporting back.....After letting this razor set for two weeks...time flies
I have finally got this razor shaving, and good too.
I ended up using a sharpie on the edge, and as I suspected I was getting the whole edge, then I decided I needed to double up on my electrical tape. For some reason I had a gut feeling about doing this and I was right. Posted a SOTD today, good shave! Thanks guys, for all the help!
Now if I could figure out this Greaves razor that seems to be crumbling from mid point to toe...... feel like it could be a pressure issue, but that doesn't explain the other half being perfectly fine, or does it?

So, let me see if I understand what happened. You had a good bevel and then did some repairs and lost your bevel. You were having a hard time getting your bevel back and by doubling your tape up you got the little bit you needed to make resetting your bevel easier. With the new bevel you were able to do a progression and great shave.

Originally Posted by Trimmy72

feel like it could be a pressure issue, but that doesn't explain the other half being perfectly fine, or does it?

If you are doing a rolling-X stroke your pressure can vary, learning to use that variable is part of the gymnastics of honing.