Thread: Does this look like a good bevel?

Other than how scratched up it still is? First this look like a good start to a bevel? I have shaved off this edge, and got a decent shave, but it wasn't smooth.

G'Day Mate,
The bevel you have here (from what I can see) looks OK.
The 'trick' to a good, smooth shave is to
A. set a good, consistent bevel,
B. gradually refine the edge with progressively finer hones and less pressure,
C. Watch ALL of gssixguns honing videos on YouTube 'cause he tells it like it is.
This, of course, is just my humble opinion and YMMV.
Good luck

The bevel does not look finished to me, but it may just be the quality of the photos. The bevel should look the same all the way until it disappears at the edge. Your bevel seems to have a lighter region at the edge, suggesting that the bevels do not yet meet to form a proper edge.

I see that you are only an hour away from Kansas City, MO. That means that you are only an hour away from HiBudGl, Nun2Sharp, and Modine. If you get hold of one or more of of them you will get yourself an excellent honing education.

Originally Posted by Utopian

The bevel does not look finished to me, but it may just be the quality of the photos. The bevel should look the same all the way until it disappears at the edge. Your bevel seems to have a lighter region at the edge, suggesting that the bevels do not yet meet to form a proper edge.

I see that you are only an hour away from Kansas City, MO. That means that you are only an hour away from HiBudGl, Nun2Sharp, and Modine. If you get hold of one or more of of them you will get yourself an excellent honing education.

I keep trying to set some time aside to do that, but with work and family it hasn't happened. I have a bunch of hones, and several dull razors, so I decided to try on my own. So the lighter area at the end could mean I need to go back to the 1k and work on that again?

Just to be sure Drygulch, do you mark the edge with a sharpie or marker so that you can easily see the the complete honed edge?

I follow each step to the T, usually things go along decently when I use all the tips and stay within the guide lines.
You are lucky to have some Honemaster's not far from you, might you get the chance to see the hone masters?

What stones do you have and what did you use on that bevel?

How a bevel looks, tells you nothing about the edge. Look straight down at the edge with magnification, if you see shiny reflections on the edge, the bevels are not meeting.

Read the first 3 STICKY, threads in the honing forum. If you need more, go to the Honing section, of Maintaining a Razor section of the Library, and as said watch the videos in the library. All of this in no substitute for hands on instruction. Hands on, will dramatically cut your learning curve.

Magnification can sometimes tell you that your bevel is not set but it can't really say if it is set. The light area on the edge of that pic makes me think it's not set. Read up on the thumbnail test. When I'm setting a bevel I first feel the edge with my thumb pad. When it starts to feel sharp I'll see if it will easily shave arm hair. After that I'll do a thumbnail test. It tells me what areas are fully set and what areas need a little more work. I think you should go back to the 1k and do lots of feeling and testing during the process. Ultimately the thumbnail test will tell you what you need to know, but you have to get a feel for it. Keep at it, It'll get there.

What kind of 1k are you using?

Drygulch, as you probably can guess, opinions here can vary. You can take in lots of different opinions and decide what works for you.

Here's more of my opinion. Take it or leave it--just trying to help.

As Euclid described, if you look straight down on the edge and see any reflection, then the bevel is not set. I completely agree with that. IF you have access to magnification, you can see this same thing looking at the bevel from the same perspective as your photos.

Razor bevels are geometric planes. When two bevels completely meet, they form an edge. If the bevels are not fully set, then they do not meet and there is no complete edge. If a single bevel is a full flat plane on one side viewed as your photos are, then that plane will reflect light uniformly, not like your top photo. Your top photo does not show a full plane, as it is reflecting light differently near what is to become the edge.

Unlike others' opinions, I CAN determine that a bevel is fully set solely by microscopic observation. I know that is heretical for some, but as I said, a bevel is set when the two bevels meet, and I CAN see that under the microscope.

Like the Fig Newton guy sang in his jingle, here's the tricky part...

BOTH bevels must be complete planes. You have to look at both sides of the blade. I often have described a bevel set as the the conversion of the end view of a blade from a "U" to a "V" shape. BOTH planes must meet. Sometimes one side of the blade has a bevel that is like the side view of a "V" but the other side still can be incomplete, so still in the form of a "U" so the result still is not a full bevel set and still is not a complete edge. If both side views of the bevels show a fully cut plane all the way to an edge that is straight, then you have a fully set bevel.

Final thought...

Our lingo here always refers to a fully set bevel, or a full bevel set, or setting the bevel. In reality, the use of the singular term is incorrect. An edge is created by the meeting of BEVELS. That's plural. Proper honing requires the setting of the BEVELS.

Originally Posted by FAL

Just to be sure Drygulch, do you mark the edge with a sharpie or marker so that you can easily see the the complete honed edge?

I follow each step to the T, usually things go along decently when I use all the tips and stay within the guide lines.
You are lucky to have some Honemaster's not far from you, might you get the chance to see the hone masters?

One of the big challenges I am having is that with the magnification I have avalible, (30x and 60x lighted loupe) my eyesight is bad enoungh up close that I can't see things clearly. I did use a marker on this edge, but I may not have understood what I am looking at. I posted this thread so I could start getting tips on that.

As far as meeting up with a more experienced member, several have said they are willing to meet when I reached out to them, however, I work 50-60 hours a week, and have pretty limited family time. At some point I hope to be able to set something up to spend a few hours with someone who knows what they are doing, but for now I am using this forum. I have read all the articles in the library several times, and watched the videos as well. Its sounding like I didn't get the bevel set correctly on this edge.

Originally Posted by Euclid440

What stones do you have and what did you use on that bevel?

How a bevel looks, tells you nothing about the edge. Look straight down at the edge with magnification, if you see shiny reflections on the edge, the bevels are not meeting.

Read the first 3 STICKY, threads in the honing forum. If you need more, go to the Honing section, of Maintaining a Razor section of the Library, and as said watch the videos in the library. All of this in no substitute for hands on instruction. Hands on, will dramatically cut your learning curve.

This bevel was set with a Naniwia 1K, that had been lapped. (I won it in a new member give away several months ago.) I followed it up with several Welsh Hones and an Arkansas Translucent. I know I will learn faster with hands on, but was trying to get a jumpstart on that.