Thread: Honing a pair of Wade & Butcher Wedges

Boy do I need help with this! I have researched the library only to become totally confused about how to hone a wedge straight razor.
I just restored two Wade & Butcher straight razors (they turned out nice) and then tried to hone and sharpen them. I spent two days with razors and they ended up humbling me to the point of total frustration.
I started off with a 1K Norton stone. I followed the posts that said try 40 circular motion laps followed by 40 straight laps to set the bevel. I spent 8 hours each of the last two days trying to set the bevel and they never took an edge. I can hone my other razors (hollow ground) to a perfect shave ready edge.


What could I be doing wrong here? Totally frustrated with these wedges...

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 ??

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 ??

Yes I am. I have three layers of electrical tape on the spine. This is what makes it so frustrating. I went one thousand (1000) strokes and ended up with about an 1/8" grind at the bottom of the blade. It looked real ugly so I stopped. It did only get slightly sharp and when I went up the the 8K stone, it seemed to dull the blade back down. Does this make sense? Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated!!!

Bevel bevel bevel

It really is all about the bevel, once the bevel is set then honing gets pretty easy,,

I would try the Marker Test, color the edge do 1 or 2 perfect X strokes per side and see what is going on..

From there it will at least give you a target and a visual indicator of where the problem lays...

Originally Posted by gssixgun

Bevel bevel bevel

It really is all about the bevel, once the bevel is set then honing gets pretty easy,,

I would try the Marker Test, color the edge do 1 or 2 perfect X strokes per side and see what is going on..

From there it will at least give you a target and a visual indicator of where the problem lays...

Wonderful. Will get back to you soon with results!

A close up of the edge and the marker from both sides will help if possible

ps: Tackle one then the other,,, Trying to tweek both while learning a slighty new skill will actually slow you down

Originally Posted by gssixgun

Bevel bevel bevel

It really is all about the bevel, once the bevel is set then honing gets pretty easy,,

I would try the Marker Test, color the edge do 1 or 2 perfect X strokes per side and see what is going on..

From there it will at least give you a target and a visual indicator of where the problem lays...

Glen isn't wrong of course - the difficulty that we occasional honers have is in following the instruction to 'do perfect X strokes' - it's generally the issues with geometry that cause this.

I've had near wedge blades that I spent hours on - hoping for some kind of insight - that unfortunately never happened. I guess that is experience in itself.

Another thing that occurred to me is that the razor looks as if it may have had a smile originally that has been honed down to almost a flat edge - that could account for the bevel being wider in the centre. So, as well as Glen's recommendations, a rolling honing action might be required.

Having said that, take notice of my previous post - I'm pretty sure I convinced myself to do the same.

Originally Posted by gssixgun

A close up of the edge and the marker from both sides will help if possible

ps: Tackle one then the other,,, Trying to tweek both while learning a slighty new skill will actually slow you down

Here is the close ups for your review. I have the hones soaking in water and will give you a couple of the best X strokes that I can muster. I'll then take pictures and we can go from there. Just two X strokes on each side? I'll be using a 1K stone or do I need to go to a 600grit stone?

Also I will be applying 3 strips of black electrical tape. Do you agree with that?