Thread: Frustrated - setting the bevel

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?

pics would help

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

There have been quite a few threads about setting a bevel on a DMT. Most of the more experienced honers don't recommend them. Do you have an alternate? 1 or 4K whetstone?

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?

Welcome to the World Of Honing. As my friend Glen says; "Honing is Easy, till it Aint" or at least something close to that.

You Wrote;

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.

That's not honing that's Restoration, Now you've entered an entirely different Realm. It really does complicate the equation.

You also wrote;

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?

Patience is the key with Everything involved with using, maintaining, honing a straight razor.

Again, Patience is the key. I'm a former Meat Cutter and I was very confident that honing a straight should be a breeze. To say that I was Plain Ass Wrong would be an understatement!

Your choice for a bevel setter is 'questionable'. While it may be what you have on hand there are better options that aren't very expensive

Bite the bullet and send it off to a Pro, then you will have something to gauge your efforts with.

I have a favorite Pro PM me and I'll tell you who it is, in fact I'll pay for the shipping home to you if you would follow my counsel!!

Sanfte Rasur, mein Klingenbruder!

(Smooth Shaving My Brother In Blades)

Now there is a proposal you probably should not turn down.

Originally Posted by RezDog

There have been quite a few threads about setting a bevel on a DMT. Most of the more experienced honers don't recommend them. Do you have an alternate? 1 or 4K whetstone?

I also have a King 1000. In addition I have a King 6000 and film (again based on everything I read and viewed.)

Furthermore I have a DMT 600 which is what I used to speed things up with he chip.

Just PM'ed you

Originally Posted by cudarunner

Welcome to the World Of Honing. As my friend Glen says; "Honing is Easy, till it Aint" or at least something close to that.

You Wrote;

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.

That's not honing that's Restoration, Now you've entered an entirely different Realm. It really does complicate the equation.

You also wrote;

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?

Patience is the key with Everything involved with using, maintaining, honing a straight razor.

Again, Patience is the key. I'm a former Meat Cutter and I was very confident that honing a straight should be a breeze. To say that I was Plain Ass Wrong would be an understatement!

Your choice for a bevel setter is 'questionable'. While it may be what you have on hand there are better options that aren't very expensive

Bite the bullet and send it off to a Pro, then you will have something to gauge your efforts with.

I have a favorite Pro PM me and I'll tell you who it is, in fact I'll pay for the shipping home to you if you would follow my counsel!!

Sanfte Rasur, mein Klingenbruder!

(Smooth Shaving My Brother In Blades)

well you should be trying to set the bevel on the 1K. A bevel it set when the two sides come together and for a perfect apex. There are some tests that are good indicators, however to be certain that you left as much metal as you can you should be monitoring this with a loupe. You should be able to shave with a 1K edge. It is not a pleasant and beautiful shave but it is doable. Hopefully you have a loupe, they are not expensive but are an essential tool. The other essential tool is the benchmark. That is a pro razor that you occasionally test shave to get a comparison edge. If you don't have those two things you should stop and get them. There are several threads on using a loupe for bevel set testing. If you are testing your bevel set using a thumb nail test you do need to keep in mind that it indicates your bevel was set. It also kills your edge and that needs to be re established after the test passes.

Yea, hair test are unreliable, your hair may just not cut.

But probably, the bevel is not set. First as said look at the edge, straight down with magnification too see how far apart the bevels are.

Put 2 layers of tape on the spine, a DMT will quickly eat the tape and a spine if un-taped.

First do some 45 degree laps on the DMT to knock off the corners of the bevel with the spine off the stone about a thumb width.

Look at the edge again to see how close they are. Now do 2 sets of 20 laps each of circles to flatten the bevels, use a bit of pressure. Keep an eye on the tape replace as necessary.

Forget the hair test, just look at the bevels, do circles until you see the shiny reflections start to go away, then re-tape and switch to your King 1K until there are no shiny spots on the edge.

Here are 3 photo of the same edge, the first is a freshly bread knifed edge (chip removed).

The second, the bevels are beginning to meet, (Fewer reflections).

And the third photo, the bevels are meeting, the edge is in the middle of the photo and hard to see, but there are no shiny reflections.