Thread: Honing a pair of Wade & Butcher Wedges

LOL No Prob happy to help

In fact anyone that has been at a meet up will tell you "Getting Glen to talk about Razors Hones and Honing is never a problem, getting him to shut up on the other hand can be difficult"

Originally Posted by gssixgun

LOL No Prob happy to help

In fact anyone that has been at a meet up will tell you "Getting Glen to talk about Razors Hones and Honing is never a problem, getting him to shut up on the other hand can be difficult"

Glenn,

The razor has a slight edge now. Still not popping arm hairs. Have to stop for now. Going outside and smoke a good cigar. I'll enjoy that. This honing a wedge is a real pain in the ass. However, I don't give up once I'm on a mission. And it's my mission to get these wedges shave ready. I'll be back in touch with you later.
Many Thanks my friend!

A couple of things. Glen has an amazing energy level when it comes teaching honing. The other thing I would like to point out is that you are not just doing regular honing. When you start creating a bevel where none had previously existed it is restoration honing and is a tad more difficult and more time consuming, and then a tad more difficult and time consuming because it is a wedge. We are not require to do marathons to get our bevels set or razors honed. When it gets to a point of frustration or you are simply getting tired put it aside. Sometimes it's faster to go slow.

I can sympathise with you mate have had a similar W&B wedge, I had to go to 5 layers of tape and worked my way back to 1 layer the bevel ended up a lot bigger and took many hours on a 1k stone before getting a DMT.
I think this problem with wedges stems from never being put on a stone and only being kept sharp with a pasted strop causing the razor to have a convex bevel edge, which has to be removed to hone flat again and rest the bevel.

Originally Posted by gssixgun

It is the previous hone wear that is making it hard

The grind is irrelevant, the geometry is what makes the determination..
That being said, there is of course more metal to move on a Wedge than a Hollow if the geometry is off..

Are you using tape ??

Tape is the answer to all your questions.

And I will add my usual comment...

Make sure that you occasionally change the outermost layer of tape. As the tape wears, the spine gets closer to the hone and the edge lifts away from the hone. Fresh tape puts the edge where it belongs--on the hone.

Originally Posted by Johntoad57

I just restored two Wade & Butcher straight razors (they turned out nice) and then tried to hone and sharpen them.

#1 "rule" of restoring...
Make SURE you can get a nice bevel set BEFORE doing ANY restoring!

I learned this the hard way and it sounds like you might have too...

This razor is really kicking my ass badly. I have never been humbled this way in a very long time.
Latest update: I have worked on this to my fingers are numb on the ends and I still don't have a good bevel. Do you all think that I should add two more layers of tape to the spine? That would bring the total to 5 layers. This razor is knife sharp and no matter what I do, it will not get any shaper (or so it seems). Before I start honing again, I'm just going to take a little break and let my fingers get feeling in them again.
I really appreciate all of your input. It encourages me to continue and not give up. As long as you're there to support me and give me advice, I will continue. This razor will not beat us. We shall overcome together! Again Thanks everyone!!!

Just a couple of points - watch your tape wear, Nortons go through tape very quickly. A 1k may not even go 50 laps before requiring a change of the outer layer. I use colored tape, with a contrasting color for the outer layer; it makes seeing the tape wear easier. Usually yellow over red. Refreshing the surface of the stone with a diamond plate every hundred or so laps also helps to keep it cutting faster.

Remember, it's just steel and stone - the stone will always win in the end. It's just a matter of time and patience.

Originally Posted by sqzbxr

Just a couple of points - watch your tape wear, Nortons go through tape very quickly. A 1k may not even go 50 laps before requiring a change of the outer layer. I use colored tape, with a contrasting color for the outer layer; it makes seeing the tape wear easier. Usually yellow over red. Refreshing the surface of the stone with a diamond plate every hundred or so laps also helps to keep it cutting faster.

Remember, it's just steel and stone - the stone will always win in the end. It's just a matter of time and patience.

I have a diamond plate stone but never thought to use it on a straight razor. I use this to sharpen my knives, but I appreciate the info. I'll give this a try and see what happens. Many Thanks!