Thread: honing old wedge blade without making a large edge

Originally Posted by BobH

Yes, it looks like a heel forward rolling X stroke might have done the job. That would keep you off the flat on the tang which looks like you honed into on the second photo. The tape on the spine should stop just before/at where the flat starts on the tang. That would be my amateur honers guess.

Bob

This is something that all of us have to confront at the beginning (where I am and I'll bet you are not!). It really requires one to look at the style of the blade to get cues on how to hone it. Using conventional intuition won't work because conventional intuition would say that the bevel of the blade, the actual cutting edge, can be honed by running the razor on the hone at a 90 degree angle to the spine. If you do that on this grind of razor you will grind into the flat and effectively destroy the razor which is a little sad.

Originally Posted by WW243

This is something that all of us have to confront at the beginning (where I am and I'll bet you are not!). It really requires one to look at the style of the blade to get cues on how to hone it. Using conventional intuition won't work because conventional intuition would say that the bevel of the blade, the actual cutting edge, can be honed by running the razor on the hone at a 90 degree angle to the spine. If you do that on this grind of razor you will grind into the flat and effectively destroy the razor which is a little sad.

Novice honer here no expert by a long shot. I have to say though that I have very few razors that will sit with the spine and blade flat on the hone, most have some sort of warp/twist to them. That being the case I generally wind up honing with a rolling X stroke heel forward for either smilers or ones with straight edges and spines. I have learned the hard way that you do not want to start your stroke on the tang or run tape up on to the tang. Heel forward helps keep me of the tang while honing.

Bob

Originally Posted by BobH

Novice honer here no expert by a long shot. I have to say though that I have very few razors that will sit with the spine and blade flat on the hone, most have some sort of warp/twist to them. That being the case I generally wind up honing with a rolling X stroke heel forward for either smilers or ones with straight edges and spines. I have learned the hard way that you do not want to start your stroke on the tang or run tape up on to the tang. Heel forward helps keep me of the tang while honing.

Bob

If you watch the blade edge as you do your rolling X stroke, heel forward, is the edge and the spine in contact at all times?

Originally Posted by WW243

If you watch the blade edge as you do your rolling X stroke, heel forward, is the edge and the spine in contact at all times?

Never really looked but I assume so.

Bob

If you want to shave with it, you may have to sacrifice visual aesthetics. Too much emphasis on spine wear and bevel wear, so long as it shaves well IMO. If you do not like spine wear, hone without tape until the bevel is correctly set. Then take it back to the buffers and buff out the spine wear and use one layer of tape to re-set your bevel.
Mike

Originally Posted by MODINE

If you want to shave with it, you may have to sacrifice visual aesthetics. Too much emphasis on spine wear and bevel wear, so long as it shaves well IMO. If you do not like spine wear, hone without tape until the bevel is correctly set. Then take it back to the buffers and buff out the spine wear and use one layer of tape to re-set your bevel.
Mike

Funny you say that. I have been honing without tape (unless I have to for geometry reasons) since I started and not long after I discovered that hone wear is easily buffed out. Sometimes I start with 1000 grit sandpaper and then 2000 grit and then buff. Usually takes about 5 minutes.

Originally Posted by Steel

Funny you say that. I have been honing without tape (unless I have to for geometry reasons) since I started and not long after I discovered that hone wear is easily buffed out. Sometimes I start with 1000 grit sandpaper and then 2000 grit and then buff. Usually takes about 5 minutes.

Yes sir, my personal razors are honed without tape. Many wedge type blades can have some funky looking spine and edge wear. Hand honing or polishing is certainly preferable than using a machine to correct an issue.

Not sure I understand what is meant by re-grinding but that is the last thing I would do to beautiful vintage steel. Overheating the steel and losing the temper would be a shame. I’ve seen many ruined razors that are pretty to look at, but do not hold an edge to shave with...
MIke

Originally Posted by Steel

Funny you say that. I have been honing without tape (unless I have to for geometry reasons) since I started and not long after I discovered that hone wear is easily buffed out. Sometimes I start with 1000 grit sandpaper and then 2000 grit and then buff. Usually takes about 5 minutes.

If you are buffing hone wear out then surely you are altering the geometry. So in a hundred years time someone will pick up your razor and start altering the geometry again because it doesn't suit their skills.