Thread: Is this microchipping...

I did more strokes with quite a bit of pressure on the toe and heel, and they look much better...

I used 2 layers of tape, and tried the 3um film again. Here's what I see...



Looks pretty good. Next time I work on it, I can try the 1um file. Do I then go to 0.3um file and then 0.3um with paper under?

Looks good, a very nice straight edge. Yes the 1um then the .03um then the .03um with paper to finish. Just a few laps on the .03 to set the stria then paper to polish.

Nice work.

I always did 1um then a few very light laps on 1um over damp paper then stropped. The very end of your sequence is where personal preference comes in.

I'd like to ask you a serious question that may come across sounding sarcastic so please don't take this the wrong way. Are you trying to make this bevel shave better or are you trying to make it look better? I can understand and respect that some want their bevel to look perfect but looking perfect and shaving perfect are not necessarily the same thing.

There is that old saw, It does not matter what the bevels looks like, just the edge is all that matters.

But…

In this case this razor had issues with chipping. The OP has removed a bit of metal and is down to better steel but still experiencing chipping at 12k. I suggested using film, as I had had good results with chippy edges.

Film creates a very uniform stria pattern, a super straight edge and comfortable shave.

So what an edge looks like, does matter, but just making the bevels shine does not make a straight or comfortable edge.

You must polish the bevels, to polish and straighten an edge. The finer and more uniform the stria pattern, the straighter the edge. And this is where film and Nano pastes/sprays excel.

None of this is new, and has been practices for hundreds of years with fine naturals, Slates, Coticules, Hard Arks and Jnats. The difference is, film and pastes, put these kinds of finishes available to the average honer without mastering a particular stone/s.

Now the question is do you need it, nope. A good 8 or 12k edge is a very shaveable edge, but then for most of us on this fora…

Here is the edge at 12k and at 3um, 1um will refine the stria and edge even further, .03um even further, possibly to excess.

12K


3um

Now go ahead and look at it again after a couple of shaves and see how much it really mattered.

What is important about this thread and the one that preceded it is how far the OP has come. Without anyone looking over his shoulder, he has created at least one perfect edge, and working on another.

Just because he did not do it the way you do, does not minimize the scope of what he has accomplished and learned in the process.

Clearly we look at the world differently, I see the glass as half full…

One thing that I am taking away from this thread and other similar ones is that I am going to experiment with not worrying about taking it to the extremes. Is the extra effort worth it? Many of these pictures to me say it's not.

Not having access to a local mentor, I've been using the forum as a surrogate, and have really appreciated the inputs, and even differences of opinions.

With this blade, I started with a chipped edge that was not comfortable. I worked it up to 12k, had to fallback, and finally got it back to 12k and then test shaved and I was very pleased with the edge.

Towards the end of that cycle, Euclid440 had sent me some film to try, but I wasn't quite ready to give it a try. Now, I've got some time, and more importantly, some curiousity about the film.

Not being familiar with it, and having a set to try, I'm looking for guidance on what one normally does for their process with the film. I'm really anxious to see how it shaves, and hope I can get some sense of how it feels compared to the 12k.

Will I go overboard and do more than I need to? Probably. But, at this point, I have something that works, and now I'd like to see how other methods work (maybe some day I can try coticles? ).

Since I have the microscope, I've been making a record of how the edge looks, mostly, because this blade was hard to get toe to heel (I had to learn a rolling X stroke), but also to see how it looks. Maybe it won't make a difference in feel, or maybe not enough to notice, but that's ok too. If I find that doing ten more steps provides no difference in shave feel, I've also learned something valuable. Granted, I see that the microscope is not as useful, as it was, when setting the bevel. However, it was useful to, see the small microchip ping that occurred, and catch the chip I got, likely through contamination (old tape). I wouldn't have caught that, otherwise.

Later this week, I'll try the 1um, and then test shave, and then try the 0.3um and 0.3um with paper and see how that feels.

I have another blade (a Dovo) that is starting to get a little uncomfortable, so having a few methods I could employ to refresh it, will be good, I think. I'll likely start by examining the edge, and then see what people think about the starting point for that type of refresh (versus this microchip issue, or my previous antique shop buy that needed a bit of restore).

On area I want to learn, is how to identify what level to start at, based on the condition on the blade. Something I hope to tap from the experience of the community.

That's another story though. For now, I want to wrap up the work on this blade. Hopefully this week. Then, I can start my next adventure.

This has been great!