Thread: New Hones, a Troublesome Vintage....

I would bet whipped dog initially used tape to hone that and I would actually try two layers and then as I finished add another for the last few passes. Or you could continue to add to the hone wear and use a rolling x or a 45 forward heel or whatever stroke it takes to get the whole blade on the stone. But if it were me this blade would be one of the few times I would use tape.

It "SHOULD" at least help to see if it can be done.

So I added 3 layers of tape. This got the vast majority of the spine and razor on the hone. I went through a 1k-4k-8k-12k progression and made some pretty serious progress. I don't have time today to really go to it, but the edge is really coming back to life! This razor is out of my rotation and is being used to learn to hone, so I don't really care TOO much what happens to it as long as I am learning. Based on these preliminary results I think it is fair to say that this blade was taped the last time it went through a whole soup-to-nuts progression. I will continue to work on this one and refine the technique, but I think in this case I am headed in the right direction. Thanks for the input everyone!

Good to hear!

I wouldn't recommend trying to hone that razor at this stage in your honing career. I would suggest you wait until you have more experience with honing.

When you do, you will probably be able to figure out what needs to be done. I know that I personally cannot diagnose a razor by looking at it, though I could suggest what I would try first. On that blade, what I would try first would be a pretty serious rolling honing motion; starting with the heel on the hone and the toe off the hone. I simply cannot imagine that you would ever get the entire length of that bevel on the hone at the same time (unless you remove enough steel from the rest of the blade to even things out).

The photos look like the bevel was never close to being set. There are too many dark spots in the bevel, there's a divot in the bevel left of middle on the back of the blade, and the front side shows the edge in the middle of the blade reflecting light.

Originally Posted by Denvernoob

So I added 3 layers of tape. This got the vast majority of the spine and razor on the hone. I went through a 1k-4k-8k-12k progression and made some pretty serious progress. I don't have time today to really go to it, but the edge is really coming back to life! This razor is out of my rotation and is being used to learn to hone, so I don't really care TOO much what happens to it as long as I am learning. Based on these preliminary results I think it is fair to say that this blade was taped the last time it went through a whole soup-to-nuts progression. I will continue to work on this one and refine the technique, but I think in this case I am headed in the right direction. Thanks for the input everyone!

Congrats. Learn everything you can.

I think a magician is what you need to get that razor new looking and shaving.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

I think a magician is what you need to get that razor new looking and shaving.

I took another stab at this one today and it got a little better...but I just can't get it there. I have honed 3 other razors on the 4k and up (no need for a total bevel reset on them) and those ended up fantastically (pyramid progression 4k/8k then finished on the 12k, CrOx, leather). I have used those 3 razors all week and had absolutely wonderful shaves so I think I have a pretty steady hand with blades that have good geometry. Perhaps it is time to find a razor with decent geometry that needs a good bevel set (I don't have one at the moment) and go from there....this one will be neatly tucked away for a time when my skills have developed considerably and I can take another stab at it!

Originally Posted by Denvernoob

I took another stab at this one today and it got a little better...but I just can't get it there. I have honed 3 other razors on the 4k and up (no need for a total bevel reset on them) and those ended up fantastically (pyramid progression 4k/8k then finished on the 12k, CrOx, leather). I have used those 3 razors all week and had absolutely wonderful shaves so I think I have a pretty steady hand with blades that have good geometry. Perhaps it is time to find a razor with decent geometry that needs a good bevel set (I don't have one at the moment) and go from there....this one will be neatly tucked away for a time when my skills have developed considerably and I can take another stab at it!

IMHO contact the person that honed it and ask how to do it, I am going to guess he may have used different number of layers of tape along the spine to compensate for uneven hone wear.