Thread: honing a warped blade

just got my own set of stones to start my journey into honing(naniwa 1,5,8k and a DMT course). have honed one blade with success at a gathering so i'm still inexperienced. Any way started with one of the many "practice blades" I've acquired. after hours of honing i discovered the blade is warped so i wasn't able to get the middle of the concave side honed. Is bread knifing the blade to either a smile or a taper (narrower at the heel) a solution to make the middle easier to hone?
I probably will move on to a easier blade while gaining experience but i would like to get this one honed eventually.
http://straightrazorpalace.com/attac...e-img_7362.jpg

Might need to wear down the spine a bit

You may want to put that one down for a bit. If your looking to hone it down flat, that may take a long time and ruin the blade. Maybe try to pick up something else to practice with, this sounds like a bad one to warm up on.

warped blades can drive a beginner crazy. But if you want to continue to try with it, look at the rolling x stroke and consider doing it on a 1/2" wide stone to get the concave bit.

Hi Tintin,

I probably have alot more opinion on warped blades than skill or knowledge. Sometimes it seems like they'd do better opening a wine bottle than going near a face.

While you're getting familiar w/ honing, I *do* recommend avoiding a few things - one of them being warped blades. It will frustrate you & slow down your learning. The first job being to get a sense for how things feel when they're going right. When that feel resides in your fingers & face - then there's plenty of time & opportunity for learning to deal w/ the fleabags.

"started with one of the many "practice blades" I've acquired." This is likely bigger than you might think. If 'acquired' means fleabay & antique shows/stores, you're begging for frustration. Its not that a sound blade can't be had from those sources, but the odds are low. If you already have a number of these 'finds', I'd suggest sending to a pro to have them simply set a sound bevel. This is big. Most 'finds' need some amount of restorative grinding before any real honing can *start*. It can get subtle/hard to see. If a low spot is hiding, you can do everything right, and the edge will still suck.

The blades to start with are straight - as in no smile (and certainly no frown), not warped, at least 1/2 hollow (to respond to the stones quickly). They can be ugly & cheap - as long as they're straight. The blade I use to slash the top of my bread before baking is not handsome, but would give a really nice shave. Having a few like that will allow you to get the muscle memory in place before learning to recognize hiding gremlins. The magic marker test is your friend.

On warped blades, I can do it the easy way or the hard way. I do it the hard way (all stones) up to 8k, and then usually switch to pastes or sprays. Most of my stones have at least one edge that's significantly rounded just for these obnoxious blades. If I can get it to lop a hair or give a moderately good shave at 8k, I'll typically give a few strokes on diamond (.5m) to get it sharper, then CBN or Crox to make it humanely smooth. I've done it the hard way through a nice Jnat, but I don't find it worth the trouble.

Get sound blades, get the feel when things are normal, then take on the riff-raff. You'll be happier and learn alot faster.