bevel setting and ford medley

Hello all!

I have been reading you for months and decided to post as i am stuck.

I have a ford medley which dull like a butterknife.

I havd been trying set the bevel on a naniwa 1000 with no success. I have tried to mark the edge to ensure all the edge was getting honed and it does!

I use the40 circle method and then do about 20 laps and stillnot sharp.i even tried to see if i could cut myself with it...

I am very frustrated to say the least. Can you please kindly share some tips? I am sure my skills are the problem

Thanks
Romain

Pictures will help ,and sending it to a pro even better , maybe just need to find out if it's even worth shaving,, Good luck. Have you shaved with it before? Do you have other razors that you have honed that you shave with? How many razors have you honed ? I know a lot of questions , but the pics and info may help you get some answers. Tc

Quote:

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Originally Posted by tcrideshd

Pictures will help ,and sending it to a pro even better , maybe just need to find out if it's even worth shaving,, Good luck. Have you shaved with it before? Do you have other razors that you have honed that you shave with? How many razors have you honed ? I know a lot of questions , but the pics and info may help you get some answers. Tc

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I ll take some pictures later once i put my son to bed


The razor wasn't shave ready when i got it but the edge was in good condition ( no pitting or chip, no frown)

i have 2 other razors that were made shave ready by pro. This one i kept to learn honing on it.

This is my first razor i fully hone ( i have maintained my other 2 with a polisher hone)

thanks a lot!

A few pictures of the trouble makerAttachment 174971Attachment 174972

I use a 1K Nani also and it can be slow with some blades I found when I started using it.

do you tape the spine if not try it.
also mark the cutting egde not just the bevel, as the bevel face may get removed but the actual edge may still need more to go to get sharp.
magnification is your freind here also

reduce the presure a bit as you might be flexing the blade also, which causes you to grind the beval faces/sides but not the bevel edge.
your blade has a bit of a smile to it, so the circles method will not get the edge fully I find, as I also use the circles method most of the time for straight blades,
so you will need to go back to an Xstroke to ensure the full edge is betting set,
I would do cyles of 20-40 Xstrokes until the bevel is set,
I find the Thumb Nail Test (TNT) the best indicator for me, if the blade slides along my nail smooth in any spot it is not set yet, if it grips a bit the full leangth it should be right & should shave arm hair by this point also.
I would then do sets of 20 to 40 Xstrokes again but very light blade only weight pressure for the rest of the polishing through the grit ranges until I am happy strop at 8K shave test then if happy proceed to finisher if to harsh go back throught the grits again

if at any stage you make a mistake & roll the edge on the hone or lift the spine it & it digs in etc,
STOP,
don't kid youself,
your previous work is gone,
so start again & save a lot of time then having to go back to start anyway
see how you go

+1 to Substance' suggestions above.
It might also help if you amend your profile to include your location so someone local might be able to offer some help.

You might also consider acquiring an illuminated loupe in the 60X range so you can actually see the apex of the bevel. If you are using too much pressure when you hone, this pressure can flex the blade enough to raise the apex off of the stone. If it loses contact with the stone, it can't get sharp. JMO

Judging from your pictures, I am seeing uneven pressure being applied and more pressure being applied to the back side of the razor. It also looks like you are wearing the bevel more than the spine which could be several problems. Take a break and come back at it a little at a time. Make sure the razor is staying flat on the hone throughout the process and try more X strokes after your circles. Firm pressure is all you need with that blade, not heavy.

Have fun.

Wohaaa thanks for all the advices. I am amazed at what you can see on pics. I think lynn is spot on. Thinking about my honing session this makes totally sense.

I have a cheap magnifying glass but i found it hard to interpret what i am seeing TBH.

I ll give try and check back. One question though what kind of pressure should i be targetting at ? Very light ?

The razors own weight

Thanks a lot guys !

Also check for a frown, if you have one it will take forever (or never) to get it sharp. I can't tell for sure in the pictures, but the heel looks a bit high

Magnification at least 20X, ink the bevel and look at it.
Hard to say from the photos but looks like the stabilizer is hitting the stone keeping the back half of the edge off the stone, note the heel edge is not contacting the stone.

Ink the edge and the stabilizer, do one lap and see where the ink is coming off. If not at the edge, find out why.

Look at the edge straight down, with magnification, any shiny spots are where the bevels are not meeting. If the stabilizer is not making contact but the edge is not coming together, put 2 layers of tape on the spine and re ink the edge. One lap will tell you where you are hitting on the bevel, should be the edge of the bevel, now you will make some progress.

How much pressure? It depends… if the stabilizer is keeping the edge off the stone, no amount of pressure will get the edge on the stone.

Once you are removing ink across the whole edge, firm even pressure as said is what your need.

Find a local mentor to reduce your learning curve.

Thanks a lot for all the suggestions and expert advices guys this is really remotivating me to get back to the hone and work on it !

I will take it on-board and give it another try this week end (if times permits) and report back.

Again thanks guys you are awesome !

So i gave it another try, this time my objective was to find out what's wong. I took a few pictures to try to diagnose.

So I think the issue i have is that the razor has uneven honeware stoping it from making contact on all the edge. Looking at my honing stone the heel seems to be leaving much more material on my hone

Attachment 175587


I tried to put a blue marker on the edge and put 2 level of tape

Attachment 175588

And after 2 laps it looked like this:

Attachment 175589Attachment 175590

Looking at the edge under a magnifying glass you can clearly see the blue

(from the heel)
Attachment 175593
Attachment 175591
Attachment 175592
(to the toe)

Since today is very sunny in the uk i tried the capture the honeware on the spine:

here the honeware seems less pronounced toward the tang compared to the tip
Attachment 175596

here the honeware is more pronounced toward the tang and less so toward the tip

Attachment 175598


Can you guys let me now if you see the same thing ? What is the best course of actions there ?

In advance thanks a lot for everything :)

the french guy in london