Quote Originally Posted by Wayne1963 View Post
I think all 3 of your solutions would work. BUT, since you are attached to the razor, I would hone my skills (bad pun) on a razor you're not afraid to mess up. Try PMing Lynn or Glen for their opinions.
The more I'm thinking about it, I may try to send this one out to a pro. I still have a Boker I can sharpen, and have sharpened. I may try a few of the rolling x strokes first though. I doubt me getting it, but it'd be a learning experience. If I do send it, would be in bad form to ask them to finish it with the norton 8k? I think it'd give a good benchmark if I ever try again.

Quote Originally Posted by Euclid440 View Post
Is that rust on the bevel or ink, the spots? What does the other side look like?

A photo of the razor without your thumb on the heel, on both sides would help.

You can easily set a bevel on a Norton 4k, but the razor may have issues. What those issues are, will determine how to hone it. The condition of the spine and edge may tell the tail.

More than likely there is some warp in the blade, set it on a flat surface on both sides and see the condition.
Colored ink is easier to see, and will not be confused with a shadow or rust mark.

Use 2 layers of tape, to set the bevel, then once set, drop down to one layer. But first post some better photos so we might figure out what is going on.

What you should do, depends, if you just want to shave, send it out for honing. If you want to learn to hone, post some photos and we can get you over the hump. If you can find a local mentor, you will cut your learning curve dramatically.
Those spots are the spots I put along the edge with a black sharpie. I went with black because it's the only color sharpie I own.

The opposite side seems to be flat with a decent bevel. I placed sharpie marks on it as well and they were removed with a few strokes on the 4K. The pictured side though,
the the marker wasn't removed around the area about 1/3 up it. It was removed before and after that area. The good looking side also moves water better than the bad side.

Setting the bevel with 2 layers and then removing 1 for the finer honing confuses me. Wouldn't doing that create a situation where the finer stone wouldn't be able to contact the cutting edge of the bevel and instead cause you to hone the back edge of the bevel?

Quote Originally Posted by Maladroit View Post
New production TIs have a problematic reputation, that is some have very uneven bevels that are challenging to correct. If yours is one of these I'd recommend you send it to a pro to have the bevel properly set and the edge brought to where it should be.
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I hope mine isn't too bad off. I'd like to get it Honda Ke by me one day.

Quote Originally Posted by MisterClean View Post
Get a 1k to set your bevel. My 2cents...
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I'd love to, however I have other items that need purchased first. Perhaps next year for my birthday or Father's Day.


I'll post another couple pics to see if they help show what I'm thinking and seeing. It's almost like they sharpened one side at the factory with too much pressure and thinned one spot out a little too much. They got the other side correct.