Thread: Finally a good edge!

Hey guys, I'm back to straights after being lazy and using my feather all this time.. Anyway all my razors were dull so I had to jump on the hones. I don't have lots of experience with honing, and was getting sub-par edges. Here's how my honing went.

My two Dovo half hollows went very well. Started on chosera 1k, didn't do circles just loots of x strokes. Moved to naniwa 3k then 8k and stopped there. On one razor I continued onto a coticule as a finisher (about 30-50 x strokes with no water). The shaves were surprisingly good from both razors, didn't feel much of a difference from the 8k finished razor.


The next razor was a wade and butcher wedge with a slight smile I restored, and I wanted to give "one stone honing" a shot. Set bevel on chosera 1k with slurry this time(heard it gives smoother edge) with a bunch of circles then moved to coticule with medium/heavy slurry and kept diluting whenever I felt nessecary, until I got to water. I spent a while on the coticule. The shave wasn't very good off this blade. It still shaved but not like my Dovos.

I guess my question is, what step should I take with the wedge?? Do I have to go all the way back to 1k?? Or can I throw it right on the naniwa 3k? Thanks guys, sorry for the long post.

I would go back to the 1k with just the x strokes on the then wedge for a bit longer at get closer to finished then move up to,the higher grits
I can't comment on the coti as I don't have one
But if the base work is right the rest should only be polishing and smoothing the edge

Well I am having a bit of a pondering about how well the bevel has been set on your wedge. A restored wedge requires a substantial amount more work to get the bevel set than if you were resetting a poor bevel or one with say a mildly folded edge. You have to cut new steel all the way. Get out the loupe and check your bevel, if it has any flat spots in it, it will shave terrible. The wedge should be able to easily shave hair along it's edge before you move up. My mistake in the past has been to use too much pressure in the bevel set on some wedges. As time progresses and the bevel is not quite there still the temptation to add a little pressure increases. The problem with it is it leads to chipping in the polish which also gives a terrible shave. You have already started so I'm with Substance in the back to the 1K thought. The other thought is that the one stone is a bit more of an advance technique that will take some time to get as an established routine.

One stone honing is especially advanced (read that as unadviseable) on a restored wedge. Kudos for you wanting to experiment but wedges are already a lot more work so they are not the best choice for your first attempt at it.

How much tape and how wide is the bevel on the wedge?

As Shaun said, look at the edge and make sure you have fully set the bevel.

In another thread Glen mentioned the disconnect with novice honers understanding, there is a big difference in setting a bevel on a razor that just needs a touch up, the bevels are already flat, just not meeting. And setting a bevel on a razor that has been sanded or buffed and has no bevel or a completely uneven bevel.

Both are Bevel Setting, but really two completely different pieces of work.

Tape, probably at least 2 layers and look at the edge with magnification, do not use pressure to speed up the process or you may end up with edge chipping.

It does not matter if you use a 1 or 3k as long as you do not use too much pressure and you remove the stria from each previous stone before moving on.

Originally Posted by RezDog

Well I am having a bit of a pondering about how well the bevel has been set on your wedge. A restored wedge requires a substantial amount more work to get the bevel set than if you were resetting a poor bevel or one with say a mildly folded edge. You have to cut new steel all the way. Get out the loupe and check your bevel, if it has any flat spots in it, it will shave terrible. The wedge should be able to easily shave hair along it's edge before you move up. My mistake in the past has been to use too much pressure in the bevel set on some wedges. As time progresses and the bevel is not quite there still the temptation to add a little pressure increases. The problem with it is it leads to chipping in the polish which also gives a terrible shave. You have already started so I'm with Substance in the back to the 1K thought. The other thought is that the one stone is a bit more of an advance technique that will take some time to get as an established routine.

Ahhh, Very usefull information. Yeah this is the first wedge ive attempted to hone, and it definitely could have use more time on the 1k. How do people feel about using slurry with Chosera 1k?? Ill try again without. I'm just gonna go back to the Naniwa instead of one stone honing on the Coticule.

Originally Posted by Euclid440

How much tape and how wide is the bevel on the wedge?

As Shaun said, look at the edge and make sure you have fully set the bevel.

In another thread Glen mentioned the disconnect with novice honers understanding, there is a big difference in setting a bevel on a razor that just needs a touch up, the bevels are already flat, just not meeting. And setting a bevel on a razor that has been sanded or buffed and has no bevel or a completely uneven bevel.

Both are Bevel Setting, but really two completely different pieces of work.

Tape, probably at least 2 layers and look at the edge with magnification, do not use pressure to speed up the process or you may end up with edge chipping.

It does not matter if you use a 1 or 3k as long as you do not use too much pressure and you remove the stria from each previous stone before moving on.

Oh yes forgot to mention i was using 2 layers of tape the whole time (and didn't changed tape at once, i will switch tapes after each step next time) as far as how even the bevel was I was able to get the heel and barbers point pretty sharp. Maybe i was focusing too much on getting the heel and point up to par because they were flat. Thanks for the input!!

p.s. the bevel was a bit wide, the two layers of tape helped though. Seems like a common problem with wedges?

Figured I'd reply back.

Was able to get the edge pretty damn sharp, heres the method i used this round:

2 layers of tape switching after every stone (except from 3k to 8k)
Started on Chosera 1k with mild pressure. plenty of x strokes, normal, rolling, and swooping until no noticable gain on arm hair test, TPT and TNT. Spent a good amount of time on this stone.
Hopped onto Naniwa 3k, a good 30-40 laps, follwed by Naniwa 8k about 15 laps.
Finshed with coticule on water keeping water on the stone fresh and clean, about 30 x strokes. Also decided to do 8-10 light laps on .5 CrOx pasted strop.

Shave was pretty butter-knife feeling as i was expecting from a wedge. Still nice and sharp, but smooth.

When I touch up the razor should i use tape and should i use the Coticule?? Thanks for the help guys

Yup, you will need the same amount of tape, but Chrome Oxide and leather should keep it shaving for a long time.

Sounds like you have a good Coticule, should be fine for touch ups. You might try 3 pieces of tape and just a few laps on the coticule for a touch up, micro bevel, 4-6 on clear water.