Thread: Difficult blade.

Just wondering if others have this problem. out the razors i have honed i have found 2 that i never got right. one was a stainless steel blade the other is an old sheffield. The sheffield i have taken to the hone 5 times and still haven't got what i consider a comfortable shave. I'm just before removing the blade from the scales and chunking the blade. It's not what i would call a good looking blade as it is but for me now it's about actually getting it to shave right. after that i may use it to cut patches for my smoke pole. I got the thing off the bay mainly for the scales. they were ivory and the razor was very inexpensive. I removed the blade and cleaned the scales then made scales for the blade out of plastic.
I used the naniwa hones 1K-3K-5K-8K- and 12K then finished on the Suehiro 20K. All good stones and have served me well. I use tape on the spine to create the small edge that i like. I don't have a microscope but do have 10X loop. from what i see through it the bevel is set and edge looks ok. It shaves but pulls some. The feel is not at all like any of the other blades i have. Anyway just thought i would ask and see if others have had this experience and what they may have done to fix the problem.

First off pictures would help. Next what is the grind of the blade wedge, near wedge, hollow? Don't throw out the blade until you get an answer.

5/8 near wedge. It seems like each time i hone it it gets a little better but not quite right. I've had to hone different razors twice before because the bevel was not quite right but never this many times. I will try to take some photos and post but i can't get real close photos of the edge . I have been using Lynns circle method as he shows on you tube.

On a wedge or near wedge it helps to use 2 or 3 layers of electrical tape on the spine. This keeps the sides of the blade off the hone.

Must have been a real good edge if you started restoring at 1k.

The blade had some rust and when i started sanding i noticed that it was too deep to get completely out. i sanded untill there was some small devils spit at the tip and buffed. then i used 2 layers of .0085 scotch brand tape. I have a 400 grit hone but the edge didn't look bad enough to use it. the more i think about it i may not have the bevel set good enough. I can hold a long hair out of the wife's hair brush (i don't have any) hanging down and the blade cuts it but it still may not be right. I will try it again tomorrow and see what happens. It would have been nice if the blade was good but at least i got a good set of scales out of it.

It is hard for me to explain why I think it help, so lets just jump to what I do and forget the why. On a restored razor. I will typically set the bevel and then kill it on the corner of the 1K hone and set it again. As I watch the edge come together if it starts to develop unevenly, as in one section is good but the other is not there yet, or has missing pieces, I will kill it hard one more time, and then hone to finish. If it comes together fairly nicely after the first hard kill, I will gently take it off on my thumbnail and then bring it back with just a handful of strokes on the 1K and then move up. In my mind it is all logical but hard for me to explain. You may be getting to the same place by having re-honed it.

Originally Posted by rhensley

The blade had some rust and when i started sanding i noticed that it was too deep to get completely out. i sanded untill there was some small devils spit at the tip and buffed. then i used 2 layers of .0085 scotch brand tape. I have a 400 grit hone but the edge didn't look bad enough to use it. the more i think about it i may not have the bevel set good enough. I can hold a long hair out of the wife's hair brush (i don't have any) hanging down and the blade cuts it but it still may not be right. I will try it again tomorrow and see what happens. It would have been nice if the blade was good but at least i got a good set of scales out of it.

When it comes to HHT I always say it's how it cuts not if it cuts.
The bevel may be ok but when it comes to old wedges & rust the steel does not always behave itself, so to speak.
Rust is like the wind. When it's gone damage often remains behind.

I will try 1 maybe 2 more times. i do know that i will order a 800 grit hone from SRD. I have been debating on whether or not i need one i think this may have made up my mind. as i said earlier the edge wasn't bad enough to go to the 400. no nicks or chips just really dull from sanding. It may seem like a lot of work for a blade that's really not that good but I'm kind of hard headed. I may end up throwing in the dump but i will get at east one comfortable shave out of it. The more i read and the more i think (sometimes that may be dangerous) the bevel can't be completely right. I'll let ya'll know how it goes after i try it again. I need to order some more shaving soap from SRD i just have to find enough to order to get the free shipping. I don't know if I'm frugal or just cheap?

Oh and it cuts the hanging hair but not like any of the rest of my blades. It's slower to cut. kind of pushes the hair before it cuts. The hair is blonde and very thin and or light.

I will try to explain my theory on what is happening, and it kind of fits with what Oz said too. The fat edge has been beat up and rusty for a while. All of the fatigue goes past the edge. Kind of like when you file the serial number off of you handgun but the lab guys can use acid on the steel to remove the damaged steel and the serial number jumps right back out again. The edge is sort of like that. You can make it smooth but the underlying damage is still there. By killing the edge hard, it takes off a bunch of the damage steel. The edge then gets honed back up again. If it does not come back nice and even that is because of the damaged, weaker metal pushed back farther than the health steel and it need to have it happen again to get the steel even and healthy. That is sort of how it all wiggles around in my brain. Of course it is an unproven hypothesis but helps me to make sense of it.