Thread: Help a noob reset a bevel?

Does anyone have any tips on resetting bevel? I bought several Wapienica's to practice honing with, and both of the ones I've tried have gotten very uneven bevels on both sides. I'm going out on a limb (not really) and assuming that it's my technique. What should I do? Do I need to go to a 1k for that? I have a norton 4k/8k. Also, if it's not just me and I have spines that aren't flat, what will I alter to reset the bevel and continue to hone correctly? I've lapped both sides of the stone, and I've done the magic marker trick. The spots on the razor that have a shorter bevel are not getting the same contact as the rest of the blade. I am also curious how wide/long a bevel can generally be..it seems to me that in spots mine are close to a mm and in other spots maybe a quarter of that. I appreciate any tips/suggestions!

You can do it very quickly on a 1k stone, or using 1k paper on a dead flat piece of glass or tile. But you can also reset the bevel on a 4k stone; it just takes a little longer.

I find that the bevel on a Wapienica is very narrow compared to other blades (Sheffield and Solingen) that I have experimented with. I also notice that it isn't a consistent width; it could be that the blades aren't 100% straight, and the narrow bevel is highlighting this.

1 mm is way more bevel than I get on these, although it would be pretty typical for most other blades. I can't say if you have a bent blade, or what would be the reasonable tolerances for this, although it certainly sounds possible from your description. Is there any way you can check this?

I will have a look tonight to see if the spine lays flat against my honing stone..I probably should have looked at that before. The width of the bevel is very uneven. It kind of waves in and out and that is my main concern. The blades both have a very slight smile to them, more so at the heel than at the toe. I've only done anything with these two so far because these were the ones that had a slight chip in them and I don't want to ruin one that's in good shape already

You really want to check your razor's blades with a straight edge. Your stone should do, but it occurred to me - do you have a flattening stone, and are you sure that your Norton is completely flat?

I do not have a flattening stone but I did lap both sides of the stone using a glass tile and the pencil grid method. When I held the razors against the stone I was able to see a very small amount of light in some places, maybe a 1mm gap..but I still think the wavy bevels have more to do with my technique than the spine being off. What is the general technique for setting/resetting a bevel? Just honing alot? That is one thing I have not been able to figure out. Thanks again!
Edit: I just looked at the gap again and it's not even as big as 1mm in any place...maybe 1/2 or 1/4 of a mm