Thread: Removing a chip in the blade.

I recently received an Ebay purchased Henckels 72 1/2 Friodur that has a chip in the point of the blade. The seller did not mention it and did a wonderful job of hiding it in the photographs. I am wondering if it is possible to hone this chip out without severely altering the blade geometry. The blade does not seem to have ever been honed before. It is NOS but with the chip.

Any suggestions?

That should hone right out.

Would you suggest taping the spine during a bevel set to more aggressively cut that spot out, or just proceed as usual with a 1K?

I always tape the spine for the entire process. I agree that it should hone out easily. That is a nice razor. If you are brand new to honing it may be a tough one to learn with as the Friodurs are a little bit hard and don't like pressure. It will be a fantastic blade if you have a little experience, because as an NOS blade it will be free of all the bad stuff that makes honing a challenge, not guaranteed but likely. It is my favorite brand and will be a great shaver once you get it all tuned up. I think it won't take long before you have to look for that chip with a loupe and then it will be gone and you will have the bevel set.

I've used a King 250 to commence bevel sets on real messed up/chipped blades. It'll work scary-fast but effective on hard steel like a Friodur. The 1K will also do the trick, if slower. Sometimes, with some decent magnification to examine progress, slower is better. I am not expert and, as such, prefer slower grinding and frequent looks (up close) to avoid going too far, too fast.

That chip will come out easy if you work on it carefully. I love my Frio.

edit: worst case there - is a razor mutant in Idaho who can hone a sow's ear into a silk purse; if you want a great edge without self-education, talk to gssixgun.

Yea that little guy is nothing to be worried about. I've had to hone out chips that there easily 1/16. Use tape, start on the 1k or lower if you have one. The friodurs are really really hard steel. Go slow and inspect the blade very closely, frequently. Good luck!

I always use tape as it cuts down on hone wear to the spine.

I would suggest a slightly different approach which is to free hand just that small area on some 400 grit wet and dry at about 45 degrees to slightly re-shape the radius. You are almost at the very end of the cutting edge anyway so you will not lose anything. You can then re-hone as required - and like others have suggested I'd recommend tape.

I use Glen's bread-knife method:

http://straightrazorpalace.com/advan...l-setting.html

Cheers.

Originally Posted by Straightandproud

Would you suggest taping the spine during a bevel set to more aggressively cut that spot out, or just proceed as usual with a 1K?

Tape or not is up to you. It should hone right out with no worries. I personally would tape the spine until its gone and then remove the tape around a 5k level and do 20-30 laps. This easily resets the bevel so you don't have to use tape to refresh but also protects the spine. Gssixgun has a video about this and I personally feel its the best of both worlds but again that is just me.