Thread: Hone of the Day

A little touch-up to the edge of the Tanifuji MaxFli Gold using this wonderful kiita koppa. The honing session was both fun and challenging, and I’m finally getting an edge that closely rivals its previous SG20k finish.

Originally Posted by CrescentCityRazors

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The worst part about it is that the worst razors are marketed for and bought by those least equipped to deal with them, which is beginners who want a brand new razor that hasn't been half destroyed by previous owners and honers.

Agree with that, but you could say the same of about 50% of Gold Dollars too! Your first dance with a funky Dollar is something you’ll remember.

Originally Posted by Steve56

Agree with that, but you could say the same of about 50% of Gold Dollars too! Your first dance with a funky Dollar is something you’ll remember.

HAHA indeed it was! The thing is, with a $3 razor you don't have to be afraid to go nuts on it and do what it takes. Who cares if you screw it up? With an $80 to $100 razor supposedly ground by a Solingen Master, there is a lot of fear factor in breaking out the belt sander or dremel or 200 grit carbo or 100 grit sandpaper, and rightly so. And back in the day it wasn't 50% of Gold Dollars that were wonky. More like 100%. These days, they are pretty tame and mild mannered in comparison. (Bevel angle still a bit on the fat side, though.)

And like the entry Dovos, once you had them sorted out, shave wasn't bad at all.

On B&B there is a competition every year, around the end of May I think, where guys modify GD's, pulling out all the stops to make it a great shaver that also looks great. Sure, way more work than it is worth, but lots of fun. A lot of GD66's get destroyed in the process. Imagine the heartache if it was new Dovos.

“I have often thought that giving entry level Dovos the old Gold Dollar treatment, grinding in a thumbnotch, getting rid of the stabilizer, etc, would be a cool thing to do. So a lot of Bests get set aside in junk drawers.”

Yea don’t put them on a belt sander/grinder and grind the stabilizer. Reshape/profile the heel. It just takes a few minutes on a diamond plate or low grit stone and takes the stabilizer out of play all together.

Do not hone on the stabilizer, just re-profile the heel.

Honing on stabilizers are a large part of honing issues. A look at most vintage razors, shows excessive hone wear on the spine over the heel as the honer attempts to force the heel on to the stone. You don’t see that on shoulder less razors.

Notice the excessive wear on the spine and bevels on the Wade Butcher, in the example below, caused by the stabilizer.


Here is a post on Heel reprofile. ( How to correct/re-profile a heel)

I needed a haircut, my wife often cuts my hair but she didn't have time. So I touched up our barber shears and took them with me to the stylist. I like taking my own shears to get feedback from the stylists on how well I sharpened them. I told the stylist that she could switch to her own shears if she wanted, figuring that she would rather use the tools that she was used to, but I just wanted her to try out mine.

She used my shears for the whole haircut and said it was nice using sharp shears.

Are you using a jig to sharpen shears? I have several pairs of shears that I got in package buys. And have been interested in sharpening them and scissors.

I saw a knock off of the Edge Pro on eBay that had a scissor attachment and was thinking of buying one to experiment with. I think they were about $15-20.

I've sharpened a few flat bevel scissors freehanded and it turned out alot better than I thought. Started with a marker test on the angled side and kept going until I had a burr and no dings. Then did a bit of work on the inside flat to remove the burr, then did 20ish alternating laps. Dunno if it is the "proper" way to sharpen them, but they cut astoundingly well.

I know there are shears with a curved bevel (there's a whole contraption for sharpening them) that seem extraordinarily difficult freehand and the internet tells me those are the most popular. My stylist never used them nor heard of them...

Originally Posted by dinnermint

I've sharpened a few flat bevel scissors freehanded and it turned out alot better than I thought. Started with a marker test on the angled side and kept going until I had a burr and no dings. Then did a bit of work on the inside flat to remove the burr, then did 20ish alternating laps. Dunno if it is the "proper" way to sharpen them, but they cut astoundingly well.

I know there are shears with a curved bevel (there's a whole contraption for sharpening them) that seem extraordinarily difficult freehand and the internet tells me those are the most popular. My stylist never used them nor heard of them...

That's how I have alwasy sharpened scissors. Also a good time to tighten up the pivot if possible.

Originally Posted by Euclid440

Are you using a jig to sharpen shears? I have several pairs of shears that I got in package buys. And have been interested in sharpening them and scissors.

Originally Posted by dinnermint

I know there are shears with a curved bevel (there's a whole contraption for sharpening them) that seem extraordinarily difficult freehand and the internet tells me those are the most popular. My stylist never used them nor heard of them...

The shears that I sharpened were the convex ground shears, and I did do them free hand, close to the way I was taught by Ozarkedger (a member here). It's hard for me to imagine a fixture or jig for convex ground shears that would not result in excessive metal removal. One of the important things about them is to take as little metal away as possible as they can only be sharpened so many times. The blades have a curved set to make the edges meet along the whole cut. There is a good thread here; https://www.kitchenknifeforums.com/t...cissors.41918/ Post 15 gets into the nitty gritty.

There are countless bad videos on youtube that show you how to quickly destroy convex ground shears. Convex ground shears can be quite expensive and the stylists who own good ones are rightly very protective of them.

Amazing to me is that the convex ground shears were not invented until the 1960s.

I don't post most of the razors I hone, but occasionally a nice vintage NOS razor drops by for honing and it's deserving of a photo, this one came in a NOS Dorko a big 8/8 bellied hollow, and very nice it was.