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Hmm, we have seen many posts about the Austs and I haven't seen a single one about a spine issue. Not that it isn't possible and if you were an experienced honer I wouldn't question it so I'm wondering if your honing is causing issues.
Personally I would never have messed with a good razor if I was starting out and needed some practice.
You probably need an opinion based on seeing the razor so I wouldn't venture any opinions until seeing the thing.
Walk away.....Who'd a thunk it!
It's got to be the razor.......cuz it certainly can't be me............
So,
For most new guys setting the bevel really is an activity that I recommend last when learning to hone (Yep, I saw that you had a couple successes from the 4K up). The reason is that when you drop down to lower grit hones, particularly when you use some pressure, it is very easy to apply the pressure unevenly. As mentioned, this is a key in why I recommend keeping the elbow up when honing. One of the things I have seen over the last couple years in new honers is that more pressure is being applied to the spine of the razor and then more pressure is being applied to one side vs. the other along with the pressure being uneven throughout the stroke. I have had some razors come in with magic marker still on the edge of the razor and gone on the upper part of the bevel. The key to the magic marker test is to remove the ink from the entire edge of the razor, not necessarily all the way up the bevel.
A razor like the Aust really should need no more than a couple sets of circles with firm pressure followed by your call on 30-50 X strokes and you are either there are pretty close to a nice bevel. Once uneven pressure has been applied and you have the kind of wear you are describing, it can even take me considerably more work to repair it regardless of whether you used tape or not and the uneven wear will not go away. The key at this point is not to worry about a pretty looking bevel, but to create a bevel that comes together at the edge so that it is serviceable again. You can be successful easier when using little pressure and honing a newer or not damaged blade from the 4K up to finishing.
Learning to hone is definitely a LEARNED skill! Most people do not set a perfect bevel first time out and regardless of the information out there and especially without hands on training, it usually takes someone a few times to start getting the hang of it. A lot of people look at everything other than this to find the fault and we also see the same thing with learning to shave. So, what ever you do, don't beat yourself up and definitely take the advise about walking away from the razor if it is not there after a couple tries.
It is extremely razor for a quality razor to be warped. In almost every case I have seen, I can lay the razor flat and it will lie flat with the only space that you can see or shine a light through corresponding to the wear that has been applied to it.
Stay with it, you'll get there and have fun.
Mail it off to someone who's done it before...please.
+1 on what Lynn said
Another thing, when I first started honing, for some reason I was better on the stroke going away from me than the one coming back and it took lots of practice to get both sides of the stroke the same.
Also make sure you watch some videos on the rolling X-stroke it's your best friend on razors like that
As we have no idea if the spine is warped or you caused the problem, a 2nd set of eyes may help.
Photos, Photos baby…
Yes, please stop and post some photos.
You can’t put steel back on… a coarser stone and/or more pressure are rarely the answer, for a novice almost never the answer.
Post some photos with the ink on the bevels, perhaps we can help figure out what is going on.
Oh, and you might want to post some photos…