Thread: Wedge with a hell of a heel

Hi gents.
I am having a hard time with the heel of this greaves.
Not sure if it's legible in the pic but the heel will not fall inline with the rest of the blade as I try to set the bevel.
I am using two layers of .010" electrical tape on the spine. Heel forward and a 1k king stone. My mid bevel is getting wider, but my heel is still basically untouched.
The distance changes from spine to edge on this razor along the length of the blade with it being closest at the heel and widest just before the toe so I expected a different angle to some degree along the bevel length. But I've spent hours trying to focus on the heel while avoiding the shoulder and it still seems to be pretty far off.
I have read that some have used a barbers hone to focus on only one area of a blade to get the pre-bevel going.
My area of concern is now maybe 1/2" at the very heel. Would using a small piece of barber hone, say 1/2" wide only on the heel in circles and even pressure be an option, or would that just create further unevenness along the blade because of the localised focus as opposed to full blade length blending in of the bevel?
Tips and suggestions from wedge honers are always appreciated.
Thanks gents. Stay warm in this cold snap.
Mike

It is a smiling blade. Rolling x. In a situation like that I tilt the blade so I'm focusing on the heel. A smiling blade will not hone like a straight profiled blade. If one area needs more just focus on it until you get it where you want it and then go back to rolling the length of the blade. IMHO.

This may be blasphemy, but you could also consider just not worrying about that last half inch.

Yupper, I would try the same. Start the tape just slightly ahead of the shoulder and do heel forward circles, keeping the rest of the blade edge slightly off the hone, on that 1/2 inch at the heel till you get a bevel set there. Then a rolling X stroke.

Bob

Originally Posted by Utopian

This may be blasphemy, but you could also consider just not worrying about that last half inch.

LOL, heretic.
I have been shaving with it and rarely (never) use that last 1/2 of the blade. I use the toe for detail trimming.
It's purely aesthetics and my desire to improve my honing skills that has me revisiting the blade. Whoever made it originally had an edge on there the full length that was probably as narrow as Taylor Swifts eyebrows due to it's pure wedge shape and I'm just trying to get it as close to that as I can. It deserves it.
Thanks for the suggestions on how to tackle it gents!

I am a fan of the heel leading finish with a J hook stroke. In my early adventures in honing I stuck pretty close to Glen's videos. It also looks like the edge does not follow a true line or arc. Like in the last 1/4 there is a very tiny frown or perhaps a flat spot. It could be the picture. Magic marker?

Has that blade been on buffing wheels (looks like it has to me)? A common result of buffing is that previous uneven wear is removed, giving the illusion of an evenly worn blade. Then you hit the 1k and BAM, uneven wear comes right back. (Unless you take steps to really remove the uneven wear.) Also, uneven buffing can lead to uneven bevels. This often becomes very apparent at the heel.

Originally Posted by Utopian

This may be blasphemy, but you could also consider just not worrying about that last half inch.

Well then that blasphemy has a well rooted base in the past

Many of these older Sheffield's have wonky heels, and many of them have never had the bevel set over their lives...

I get tons of them that are missing an edge on the last 1/2 inch or so and OMG is it a pain to bring everything in line again..

This is beyond general honing and starts falling into the realm of edge restoration, I did one a couple of months back that no exaggeration sat on the honing bench for 14 cycles before the heel finally popped a full bevel..

One piece of advice, "learn to walk away" leave it on the bench and walk away, sitting there grinding at it usually ends up in something bad happening..
Personally I only go through a bevel setting cycle twice on any one razor before I set it aside and move to the next ...I come back to it the next day and try twice again, so to give some real numbers to that razor I mentioned above.. It went through 28 full bevel setting cycles on a Chosera 1k before it had a proper bevel....

I would bring the heel forward on a grinder, again , in effect, ignoring the current heel but also bringing back the smile.

I too, see a bit of a frown on the heel and possibly some stria on the stabilizer, could be the photo. Some ink on the stabilizer, fresh tape and circles on the heel.

That shape of blade will have a thin bevel at the heel, but it does need a honed heel. I use the heel all the time, actually use the whole edge, I especially like a keen tip and heel.

Try 3 layers of tape and some ink, just to see if you can hit the heel.

Once you start hitting the heel, that heel forward, X stroke with the curly cue pig tail stroke at the beginning or end or both of the stroke, one on the toe and one on the heel, works to give them extra attention, but I don’t think it is just a heel issue, you will probably have to take a bit more from the middle of the bevel to get the heel on the stone.

Ink and more tape will tell you, then go back to 2 pieces of tape.

Some just take more time, just because no one wanted to put in the time, doesn’t mean it can’t be done.

Nice looking razor…