Thread: Can This Blade Be Honed?

Hello All,
First off, thank you to all those that can offer some insight here. I am new to the honing process and am seeking advice on everything from technique to tools to even workable blades.

Which brings me to my title question. In the pictures attached, I took a sharpie to the edge of the blade and the spine, did a single pass on both sides, with a wet Naniwa 1000 stone. The first image shows that the sharpie marking was pulled off the tip to the middle of the spine, and then the middle to the base of the spine has not been touched. Also with this first image, you'll see a bit of the tip of the edge has been pulled off and from the middle of the edge to the base. It is also important to note that the extreme edge, along the length of the blade still has sharpie on it. To my mind, this tells me that the bevel is really, really bad, being that I used a flat run across the stone with the entire blade on this stroke. I also get the feeling that the blade is warped.

The second picture, it is just the opposite, sharpie was removed from the middle of the spine to the based then from the middle of the blade to the tip, again also showing that the very edge of the blade still has sharpie on it.

So, my questions here is, does this represent a warped blade? And is this blade one that can even be honed? If so, what do you suggest as a method to overcome the issues as seen?

Thank you all VERY much for you assistance and opinions. I will gladly take all the help I can get.


Pic: 1


Pic: 2

Yes it is seemingly warped. Is this your only razor? I really hope this is just a personal project to see if you can sharpen it and that you have other razors that are of good quality. I don't mean to offend and I don't know how much you paid but this razor is of the "not good and should never buy if you plan to shave with it" quality. It may be able to be honed to a degree buy a professional but it would take forever and be frustrating and not worth the time being as it wouldn't even keep the edge.

If this is your first and only razor let me know in a PM.

The reason for the sharpie test is to find a stroke that will cover the entire blade of the razor. From what im gathering from your post, seems like you only did a flat run on the stone. I would suggest to look at this link and find a stroke that will remove the marker along the entire blade of the razor.
Strokes for honing a razor - Straight Razor Place Library

Thank you much for the feedback! Yes, it's a cheap-o razor, and was given to me, so no cost there. I have a few others, some of very good quality, i.e.; J.A Henckels and McLellan. I thought if I was going to practice some honing skills, I might as well start on the free-bee and not ruin a quality blade. But it looks like this bad boy is only good for a scrap pile....

Edit:


No longer needed as the message was clear

Martin - Wonderful link! Thank you for that! I went back and placed the blade on some glass, and sure enough, the warp is so bad, I can actually make it wobble when laid flat on glass! So, I gave a few different stroke types a try (thank you again for that link!) and found I could only take off the marking for the length of the blade if I actually lifted it off the hone, ever so slightly rocking it this was, side to side.

I'm beginning to feel like it is more banana than razor.....

Originally Posted by JohnGlueck

Martin - Wonderful link! Thank you for that! I went back and placed the blade on some glass, and sure enough, the warp is so bad, I can actually make it wobble when laid flat on glass! So, I gave a few different stroke types a try (thank you again for that link!) and found I could only take off the marking for the length of the blade if I actually lifted it off the hone, ever so slightly rocking it this was, side to side.

I'm beginning to feel like it is more banana than razor.....

That is why the "rolling X". A little more of a challenge but that is what makes it interesting.

It may be a difficult blade, but I'm guessing someone managed to hone it before, so with practice you probably could too.. I guess if you want yo avoid wear when using the sharpie test and different strokes work with a high grit hone.. Once you are ready to set the bevel my recommendation would be to set it with one layer of tape, replacing tape as needed.. Once set, dull on glass and reset without tape.. This may take a while, and you may want to periodically lap your bevel setter to ensure that once you progress past beyond setting there will be less or no geometry issues.. After you set the bevel the second time honing should continue the same.. So it's maybe a bit of what honing stroke is needed, what honing stroke is wanted, anyhow to avoid unnecessary wear.. Hope this helps.