Thread: Razor won't take an edge.

My most recent restore was a Frederick Reynolds 6/8 full hollow. Things were going well until last night when I went to hone. The bevel set went without a hitch. 4000/8000 went as planned and when I went to test to see if it could pop hairs, it seemed to grab and tug a bit. I spent a bit more time on the 8000 then moved to 12000. After some time on the 12000 it was still tugging a bit. I moved to canvas then leather strop. At this point the razor was still tugging.

Que the frustration!

square one, 1200 grit, set bevel. Grips fingernail, sticky feeling across thumb. Move on to norton 4000/8000. Same result as before, still tugging. Progress to 12,000, strop canvas then leather. No go.

At a loss at this point. Return to 12,000 naniwa. Then 150 on lops on canvas followed by 200 on leather. Still tugging.

At this point I'm at a loss. I'm not going to send out a restore unless it has a scarry sharp edge.

For the record I use Lynn's circle honing method. Just before this razor I had honed a Boker, George Wosterholm and a Wade & Butcher. All the razors were done on the same day, but I'm only having the problem with the Frederick Reynolds.

My theory at this point is either there is a huge burr on the blade that keeps rolling over, or there's some issue with the hear treating.

Any ideas/help would be greatly appreciated.

-Andrew.

Some razors get odd chips on synthetic finishers. I had a fred reynolds razor that would absolutely not tolerate anything at a normal angle other than a coticule, and the shave wasn't very satisfying with one. Transfer to a shapton pro 15k, a sigma power 13k and it would chip out - you could literally see the tiny chipping if you had the right light (and it would've shown up easily in a microscope).

steeper bevel might help overcome it. At the point where it was fine before, add tape afterwards and do 10 light strokes each on the next finer steps and then test shave it after leather only.

I gave my razor away to a newbie to practice on after warning him about the chipping. I don't know what he's using, but he has no problem with it like I did. It is one of only two razors I ever got that refused to take a nice edge. the other one is japanese and I still haven't figured it out. It'll get the circular file soon.

If a razor is straight, it should never really be that hard to come up with a good edge.

The bevel is not set and you keep going on to refining before it is.

The small chips sounds very familiar. I thought it was burr, by the looks, but without a microscope I can't tell for sure. I'll try to tape the spine.

No the bevel is definately set before I move on. If this was my first razor I wouldn't be so sure. I'm 100% it isn't the bevel. It feels like the edge refuses to polish out.

If your looking down the edge and see what looks like a shiny spot on it you just have more work to get the 2 sides of the bevel to meet. To feel a burr is the same as with a knife. You will feel it on one side and not the other. You should get a loupe. They are like 3 bucks at harbor freight or online. Then you can see chips and grit patterns easy. If your finding chips it may be the blade and not the stone your using. Pits act like chips at the edge. You really need a closer look at what your doing to tell :<0)

I am not the know it all of honing but I have been going through some of the same issues as you describe. I have a few problem hone jobs with varying types of problems. Sometimes I am sure the bevel is set but guess what ? More work and a closer look with a different perspective and walla,,,there is the problem.

Originally Posted by SuperFresh642

The small chips sounds very familiar. I thought it was burr, by the looks, but without a microscope I can't tell for sure. I'll try to tape the spine.

It won't be a burr. It'll be little bits of edge damage. You'd get a burr on a really fine stone only if the razor was too soft. you can do two things:
1) change the abrasive type to something gentler (like a coticule)
2) add tape to increase the angle slightly. The edge might tolerate the synthetics if it's given another degree or two on each side. Do the other work (if you're sure it's not chipping out) with no tape if you're already doing it that way. This is out of laziness - so you can experiment with a few strokes before the stones can do much damage. You'll quickly get a good edge with this if the razor will hold up at a given angle.

When all is said and done, if the razor sharpens well with tape, you can do the whole routine with tape if microbevels turn you off.

I don't strop on anything but plain leather unless I'm using abrasives. I've seen linen and canvas damage edges coming off my 12K Naniwa SS. When I did use linen or canvas, it was 10 to 20 laps maximum. I think 150 laps on canvas is a pretty harsh treatment for an edge that requires no more than smoothing. You might try going to leather only and see if that maintains the edge more gently.

If you're seeing linen and canvas damaging an edge something is very wrong with that picture cause that should not be happening. Maybe the strop is contaminated or the stropping technique with it is off.

Did this guy ever figure it out? I have a couple razors here that will get pretty sharp, but won't get that last tiny bit sharp that gives a comfy shave. Its a dovo and vintage restore, everything goes great but they juuuuust wont' finish out nicely. I tried one of my many others razors and had no issue, great edge with little effort. I am going to try tape... having a high powered microscope is something I must save up for!

I think there are some razors out there, current production or vintage that were never very good to began with! Just my thoughts.