Thread: Frustrated - setting the bevel

Originally Posted by daverojo77

Attachment 195330
here's the razor I'm trying to hone. I took it off the scales because I cleaned and polished it up a bit.

Here is what I am seeing and reading correct anything I am wrong about


1. The Spine / Edge Geometry are off in that pic.. It seems that the edge is flat and the spine is curved this will add to the difficulty

2. You are honing Without scales on the razor ???

3. You restored the razor and removed a chip from the edge ??? please give more details of how that was done

4. You are honing a razor that seems to have a few issues but I will wait for some answers before I try and diagnose the Patient

Originally Posted by gssixgun;14717044.

You are honing a razor that seems to have a few issues...

Uh huh.

I bought two pretty much played out GW Pipe razors thinking they be good fun to practice on. They were neither good nor fun for practice. A year later after fits and starts learning how to do an "easy" touch-up on a non-fouled-up blade, studying edge micrographs, going to the 2014 Asheville NC meet (thanks again, honer-wizards) and getting a decent (but inexpensive) loupe... phew - recently had another go on those old Pipe razors that had been taunting me for so many months. Fair to say it took me at least a year to figure out how to turn scars into stars.

@daverojo77, I feel your pain.

have you tried magic marker test? paint the edge with marker pen and spine then do couple of normal x strokes. Check if the all marker/paint gone? As above said your edge or your spine is not laying flat on the hone. After that the solutions will be easy to find.

Patience, patience and more patience--and when that fails, send it out to a pro so you'll know what a good shave really feels like. I've been straight shaving for 30-plus years. I've always touched up my own blades. "Sharpening a dull razor must be a breeze," quoth I. What an idiot! Man, it's tough! I've just about memorized all of the advice from gssixgun and the other amazing craftsmen on here, and it still ain't easy. But it's getting easier. Keep trying!

answered your questions in bold

Originally Posted by gssixgun

Here is what I am seeing and reading correct anything I am wrong about

1. The Spine / Edge Geometry are off in that pic.. It seems that the edge is flat and the spine is curved this will add to the difficulty I see

2. You are honing Without scales on the razor ??? Without scales

3. You restored the razor and removed a chip from the edge ??? please give more details of how that was done layer the razor flat and went back and forth until I no longer saw the chip

4. You are honing a razor that seems to have a few issues but I will wait for some answers before I try and diagnose the Patient

thanks

Good to know that I'm not alone

Originally Posted by MisterMoo

Uh huh.

I bought two pretty much played out GW Pipe razors thinking they be good fun to practice on. They were neither good nor fun for practice. A year later after fits and starts learning how to do an "easy" touch-up on a non-fouled-up blade, studying edge micrographs, going to the 2014 Asheville NC meet (thanks again, honer-wizards) and getting a decent (but inexpensive) loupe... phew - recently had another go on those old Pipe razors that had been taunting me for so many months. Fair to say it took me at least a year to figure out how to turn scars into stars.

@daverojo77, I feel your pain.

I'll try the marker test thanks

Ok

You have a steep hill to climb

You Breadknifed the edge, which in itself is a challenge to hone out

Read here about dropping the angle down as you hone you have already done the first couple of steps start at about 30° like you are honing a knife, use a curved stroke to get the smile back in the blade it should match the spine so the geometry is correct again..

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

Honing without scales is a challenge unto itself because you can't use your pinky to balance the edge on the hone..


Until you get the edge to knife sharp you are not honing you are doing "Edge Restoration" and all the honing rules do not apply...

Hone it like a knife until it gets as sharp as a Knife, then drop it back down to the spine touching the hone then treat it like a razor again... Use two layers of tape until the bevel feels set, then do a few Thumb Nail Tests to check the bevel, switch to one layer of tape and reset the bevel...
You will be cutting deep into the steel you don't want to leave that in the bevel what I am telling you will help eliminate that issue

This is not going to be an easy honing, you created some work for yourself on this one G/L

Bread Knifing

I've just finished two razors yesterday for a member and both had chips in the edge.

The first one was easy, the chips were very, very small and came out with setting the bevel on a 1K.

The other was more work, the chip was at the toe and it wasn't a large chip but it was a smiling blade. I didn't go to the 90 deg bread knifing, instead I went with the 45 deg, then the 20 deg and then to 6 layers of black plastic electrical tape on the spine/all on a DMT 325.

Then I went with 4 layers of the tape on my 1K, then I used 1 layer of tape to actually set the bevel and used one layer all the way through.

Boy does that sound like a lot of work or What???

Compared to the amount of work that would have been required by going to the 90 deg bread knifing, I saved a lot of time, steel and frustration.

The bonus is that the razor is a great shaver and the two of them are being sent home for the owner tomorrow to enjoy!

Originally Posted by daverojo77

Hi Gents,
I have read many a threads, watched many a videos (by you and others) and I feel like I don't have this down yet.
I'm using a DMT 1200 to se the bevel on this eBay razor (GW Pipe). I had to remove a small chip then I got to work and it's been a good 45 min and the razor is not cutting hairs.

WTH!

So what do I do? I'm sure I'm being impatient but I'm usually pretty good at stuff I put my mind to.

So what's the secret here?

Well since you moved a chip and then have to set a bevel after that you're in for a long run. I ran my blade edge down to get some chips out of it last night. Girlfriend didn't see me for 4 hours. It took that long just to establish the bevel and that was using 400 grit to even get an edge on it and then moving to the 1000 grit. I was jaw dropped at how long it took but fixing chips isn't like honing a regular dull razor. Just some food for thought. Keep at it but also heed the advice of the honemeisters above!