Thread: Did someone wreck my razor?

Hello all,
2 years ago, my wife gave me the greatest present ever. A nice straight razor.
1,5 years went by, and I couldn't save properly anymore. Time hor a hone. I got a coticule and tried honing it myself, but I never managed to get it as before. In fact, I even got it just a wee bit of a wavey edge (ever so slightly).

So recently I passed by a knives shop that also sold razors. I asked if they also honed, and they did. I was happy to pay €10 for the job.
After picking up my newly honed razor I was hoping to experience the new sharp edge, only to discover that the edge was still wavey (again, very, very slightly). That was odd, becaus I realize you can't get a sharp edge if you don't have a straight edge.
And indeed, I tried shaving and the razor shaved even worse then when I brought it in.

The shop owner claimed they honed razors for over 3 generations. They offered to take it back and hone it again.

I let them, only to get my razorr back in the state you can see in the pics below.
The edge is now... round?! That means I can never hone this myself again (on a coticule that is), right?
And it still does not shave well (tearing eyes, painfull).
What is even more, there are parts of the handle that also show signs of "honing".
And when I lay the razor slat on it's spine, I see the tip lifts a bit.

I'm not mentioning the shop here. I just want your honest opinion on this job. I'm heart broken, and I have the feeling someone wrecked my razor.

What do you think? Is this a botched job? What can I do about this?

Thx!

It does look like they got it wrong, but it can be sorted out in the right hands. Try to find a member here that is close by and hones razors, everyone is pretty helpful here.

You have a few guys on your side of the world that hone Straight Razors that can get you shaving again

I see nothing that makes that razor un-honable from the pics, it just needs an experienced SR honemiester

Mostly we recommend to never bring a SR to a knife shop, (Cue the people that want to argue) the odds are against you as proved by literally hundreds of posts eerily like yours..

A smile is not a bad thing, in fact most of my razors have some sort of smile just due to the way that I hone. Nothing that you showed in the pictures appears to be an issue as many spines contact the stones differently. The pic of the heal is where they may have removed material so that you didn't have a "hook". I cannot comment on the edge, but nothing appears "wrong" in my eyes.

Fine a honer who shaves with straights, they are the only ones who truly know how to hone razors...first place I would look is on the classifieds here. Ask a few straight razor "brothers" here on the forum who they use in your area and go from there. Typically, knife sharpeners can't hone razors...but razor guys put wicked edges on knives

Dang you guys are quick!

Hi NLMA, the guy may have dug a little into the shoulder. Is there a little hook/point at that place on the edge? If so, could still work but just be careful. Not sure about the toe being up. Is that after a good stropping? The curve on the edge is great though. Its called a smile, going the other way would be very bad (frown). I have an extreme smiler that is my absolute favorite to shave with, but I haven't hone it myself yet. Just look through the library to see how to do swooping strokes and "rolling" x strokes to hone a smiler.
Just my opinion. I know there's a mentor around your neck of the woods, its recommended to learn honing with someone who has a lot of experience like that.
Dave

As said before your blade is easily fixable. I bought a couple Dovos from a guy who got them professionally honed at some "razor store" and they were terrible IMHO. They are also went past the heel during honing and left a mediocre edge to boot. Send it out as suggested or get a practice razor to learn your Coti. What is your current honing regiment on the Coti? What size is it? I actually love my Coti for "difficult" razors as it's narrow and super fast with a dilution process.

Your edge seems to have a slight "smile" to it. Rest assured that this in and of itself is not necessarily a problem. Perfectly flat/straight is not required. Now if the curve was in the opposite direction, a frown, that would be a problem. As others have said, it looks like your razor should be fine once its been handled correctly.

Yes, you sure are quick.

I understand that not all is lost. However, I live in Belgium and, ironically, for the land of the coticule, the art of honing is not very well known here in the Flemish part. One shop owner once tested my razor after me complaining I couldn't get it as sharp as in the early days, and he said I did a great job (which does not explain my eyes still tearing up during shaving) and now this.

I find it difficult to find a shop in the vicinity that hones. I'll have to look at mailing in the razor somehow.

I'll have a look around here in the forum if there is someone in the (relative) vicinity.
Still. Heartbroken that I now have to shave with those plastic thingies for a while.

I also find it sad not being able to correct this myself (on a coticule that is) and that the handle and blade will have lost quite a bit of metal at the end of all of this. Snif.

Originally Posted by aa1192

As said before your blade is easily fixable. I bought a couple Dovos from a guy who got them professionally honed at some "razor store" and they were terrible IMHO. They are also went past the heel during honing and left a mediocre edge to boot. Send it out as suggested or get a practice razor to learn your Coti. What is your current honing regiment on the Coti? What size is it? I actually love my Coti for "difficult" razors as it's narrow and super fast with a dilution process.

this one:
http://www.ardennes-coticule.be/shop...?id_product=57