Thread: Two Wade & Butcher Near wedges - Both a nightmare to hone

Had the "pleasure" of honing two W&Bs this week end. One is mine one is my roommates.

Mine

The grind on this wonders to one side at the heel, and had some uneven wear in the middle on one side, required a bit of rocking as well as some corrective strokes

My Roommates

This one the grind is completely slanted against the spine, the toe goes one way the heel goes the other. No amount of finese enabled me to get an even bevel, what i ended up with is shaveable (and quite nice) but will have to be corrected as it will frown eventually.

Compared to all my full hollow grounds these two are like combat honing.

How do you all deal with these?

Originally Posted by Daekkon

How do you all deal with these?

Patience and persistence. I tape the spine, usually one layer some guys use more. Some guys partially tape to try and build up areas where the spine is worn down badly, but not consistently from end to end. I've never tried that. As in the rolling X stroke I try to follow the blade and make sure the spine and bevel are hitting the stone parallel throughout the stroke.

What is bad is when you get a warped blade where it is concave and convex. The convex side is no problem, but the concave side is a pain. I tend to use the area close to the edge of the hone to get the concave side. My solution, such as it is, to problem razors like this, is I pass on them when I see them for sale or trade.

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

Some guys partially tape to try and build up areas where the spine is worn down badly, but not consistently from end to end.

This is pretty much what had to be done, It was bugging me so i went back to the stone again, and did some more corrections. I finally took the tape and put it at a bit of an angle on the spine to correct for the diagonal grind of the blade. Bevel is alot of even now. Also did some very targeted circles to pull the heel and the toe in line.

Can't always forsee these things though, sense these were from ebay. And at what my roommate got his for, can't complain to much

I still think these are excellent to discuss.

Another thing that some guys do, particularly some of the real old time honers, is hone the thing without tape. Just stay on it until the spine and bevel are worn into a working relationship. I'm not advocating that, just commenting on that being another approach. You end up with a shaver, but an uglier razor than you started out with. Usually a real wide bevel and far more spine wear.

Clicking your heels together 3 times and chanting "there is no place like hone" also helps. :<0)

If those photos are with the bevels already set, it doesn't look like the process should have been too bad. Neither has that wide of a bevel.

As for having to correct uneven bevels, well, I just don't see any need to on either of those (or pretty much ever, unless it results in a frown).

With regards to how I deal with old, messed up razors with heavy grinds - a Chosera 1k and every honing trick I know.

How much did ya pick them up for?? They look nice

I feel your pain. I tried to do the whole honing routine on a coticule. Dont ask why, I can say I will never do that again. Dont be me.

If it only took you ONE day to hone then it couldn't have been that bad.

Originally Posted by Chevhead

If it only took you ONE day to hone then it couldn't have been that bad.

Thank -you for the perscective. Watching honemeisters videos, and reading in the library , A member like me with less than a year in thinks "This should be easy ,circles, rolling x strokes,ect...ect... Glen gets it done in videos in 35 minutes. I can mimic him, should take no longer than a couple of hours"
I am not Glen or Lynn, I am not with another experienced honer ,I have no point of reference and what am I listening for and feeling for???
What do you mean the blade not perfectly straight and the heel was never really set??
You make a very good point that all of the members should keep in mind. We are at different spots within our skill set. Different places on the learning curve. So one day not bad is an understatement.