Thread: magic marker test on the spine

hello everyone.
i have a question about a razor i was honing the other day, the razor is a new Dovo Bergischer Lowe .
i put the razor on the chosera 1K and started working on the bevel, water displacement looked good and the razor seemed to make contact with the stone all along the edge, but something was off and i couldn't put my finger on it, the razor felt fine on the away stroke but really really rough on the toward me stroke.
magic marker test on the edge showed even contact all the way, so i decided to check the spine using the magic marker test.
i painted the spine and did a few strokes on the stone and interestingly a large section of the middle of the spine is not touching the stone, only the toe and the heal.
i suspect 2 high points on the spine.
i will post pictures later on, but how would you guys proceed ? should i work on the stone until the high point are gone?

I use a straight edge steel ruler to check the spine. I place the edge of the ruler along the side of the spine and look for light showing through. The edge of the razor may make contact because it flexes. The spine does not. The problem you are having may indeed be an uneven spine, but it could be your stone surface is not flat. It Mar have low spots. That's why I use the straight edge.
Just my opinion.

I have never ground the spine of a razor to make it lay flat on the hone. If you can get a bevel what would be the point. As long as the razor hones, leave it be. If the razor does not hone I would adjust my stoke. Regrinding the spine would be the step I took right before throwing it in the garbage can.

I work almost exclusively with old Sheffield wedges, which are almost never straight. An x-stroke should handle the anomalies, either straight or leading with the heel. Also, be careful about pressure since the blade has no stabilizer and will tend to flex much more readily than one with a stabilizer. You do not need a perfectly true stone or blade to hone successfully.

The pattern you described is consistent with grinding more metal from the middle of the blade and less on the ends.
if you get nice straight bevels and an edge all the way you should leave the razor alone. in time it will even out.
If you decide to flaten the spine on the hones take into consideration you will alter the blade geometry and the sharpening angle on that side of the razor...i.e. wider bevel and those high spots will turn into wide spineware...

those high spots will anyway ware on the hones faster then the oter side where the whole spine is touching the hone and the weight of the stroke is evenly distributed on a larger surface.

I would eiter :
1) leave it like that and use tape on the spine to prevent accelerated ware of the side with high spots....taping will also improve the feedback on the towards stroke.
2) return it
3) sell it...although it is the less desired option.

thank you guys for the great input

Dr. Tal Azouri

I am going on the assumption that the magic marker showed that there was no contact in the center section of the spine on only one side of the razor. In this case it is most likely that the spine of the razor is slightly out of true, or warped. My B. Löwe is the same. As you have already been informed by other helpful members, it's really not a problem - just be sure to use rolling x-strokes when honing the opposite side so as to avoid any uneven wear there if necessary (it will likely be hitting heavier in the middle on that side). Use regular x-strokes for the warped side.

I wouldn't go crazy removing steel when you don't have to. This will flatten out your spine but it may also make the bevel wonky (technical term).

Originally Posted by eKretz

I am going on the assumption that the magic marker showed that there was no contact in the center section of the spine on only one side of the razor. In this case it is most likely that the spine of the razor is slightly out of true, or warped. My B. Löwe is the same. As you have already been informed by other helpful members, it's really not a problem - just be sure to use rolling x-strokes when honing the opposite side so as to avoid any uneven wear there if necessary (it will likely be hitting heavier in the middle on that side). Use regular x-strokes for the warped side.

I wouldn't go crazy removing steel when you don't have to. This will flatten out your spine but it may also make the bevel wonky (technical term).

if the blade makes perfect contact on the oter side and honeware is even...then the spine is straight but it is overground in the middle on the side with limited spine contact.

if the blade has problems on both sides...then the blade is warped

Yes, of course. Which I'd think is probably pretty unlikely on a new B. Löwe. And I did mention that as well (the bit about heavy contact in the middle on the opposite side). It's very easy to miss a high spot in the middle since humans are not robots - our hands and arms naturally flex and pivot in a very nonlinear manner to where it's easy to miss a high spot in the middle - it doesn't take much contact to wipe off magic marker from polished steel. A low spot is different since it basically produces it's own stable honing platform due to the high spots on either side.

OP- you said the marker on the EDGE was even. Then you don't have to worry about rolling X's or anything for that matter. It is the edge we are honing and worried about. I have the EXACT same issue on a M&W. The bevel is nice and true but the spine makes a horrible sound on one side and not on the other. You can tape the spine if you don't like the sound but I just hone on and the M&W came out perfect. I also had another with a bit of pitting on the spine on one side that did the same thing but did not affect the bevel. AS LONG AS YOUR BEVEL IS MAKING CONTACT YOU ARE FINE. If the BEVEL is NOT making contact then you would need a rolling x or some other stroke to compensate.