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...

Soo glad I came across this thread. If it is ok with you guys I'd like to know how to proceed with this blade. The spine has a slight smile. It is an extra hollow. And I had to butter knife it. It had a wicked crack in the blade.

Originally Posted by razornut

Soo glad I came across this thread. If it is ok with you guys I'd like to know how to proceed with this blade. The spine has a slight smile. It is an extra hollow. And I had to butter knife it. It had a wicked crack in the blade.

I'd personally round that corner off a little bit on the back. It can't do anything good. I'd only round as much off as it took to get it cosmetically not looking squared up there, which would probably be a few strokes on a hard 1k stone. Then you can hone the whole edge without it getting in the way.