Thread: To sharpen the heel or not to sharpen the heel? That is the question.

Well my fellow razor fans what say you? I prefer to sharpen the entirety of my razor and even us the heel occasionally for hard to hit areas. I try to stay away from blades that have double stablizers, because its doesn't look pretty when that heel gets honed up. My TI Dandy is great though since you can hit the heel and the stabilizer is recessed. What is your preference/thoughts on the matter? Are there any other heel honers out there?

Yeah but I re-contour the heel and shoulder before I hone, to make sure it is out of the way, just like it should be ...

But yeah the whole edge gets honed

That's interesting! I would never have thought to not hone the heel.

But I guess that explains all those angled blades on the Bay. Hu!

I've had a few of those 'bay razors that have to have heel work before they can be properly honed.

Don't some people hang the heel slightly off the stone to make sure it doesn't get honed? Glen, I know that now for future blades but I'm too lazy to go back and redo a bunch of blades that shave well with shoulder, bevel creep. I honestly try and find shoulderless blades with half hollow or heavier grinds now. That does not seem to leave a lot of options for new factory blades though.

what ever sits flat on the hone gets it

By the way... Is it weird I'm currently honing while watching Battlestar Galactica on Netflix and intermittently checking SRP threads or is this a normal thing for ya'll as well?

Nope not weird at all sounds perfectly normal to me


The problem that will eventually develop by "Hanging the Heel" or from the Shoulder getting in the way is a Hooked Heel which will cut ya, I know myself and other have pics of them on here you might try a quick search...

I know what you mean; there was just a thread recently where I guy had that issue on his restore. Actually, I really enjoyed your breadknifing vid and learned a ton especially about contouring the shoulder. I never knew to do that as well when shaping the heel. Thanks for taking the time to do all of those for the benefit of everyone! Since it eventually causes the heel spur why do guys do it? I try to get the entire blade each time and after watching that vid I now know to preemptively pull back that shoulder. Unfortunately, I have enough new projects in the pipes I probably won't go back until a thorough rehone is needed or I plan to sell to feed the RAD.

Honestly I can't answer, there is so much info on here about how to fix issues etc:

I can't say why people just don't ask like you just did, SRP has a wealth of info and members that are right here to help out