Thread: uneven bevel

I'm new to honing and I'm struggling to get things right. Last week I was popping hairs off of the Norton 4k/8k, following with CrOx stropping. The razor, a Wade & Butcher Extra Hollow Ground, shaved, but not nearly as close as I'd like. I figured I'd give a 1K plate a shot to see if maybe I could uncover some hard steel and set a better bevel. I went from the 1, to the 4 to the 8 and the toe looks amazing - there's a good 1/16 of an inch bevel. That decreases to a hairline at the heel. There are spots across the blade that are very sharp and shave well. There are other parts that are dull. I lapped the stones before starting, but I can't imagine anything other than pressure (which I think is even) or uneven stones that would cause this to happen. Any ideas? Thanks guys!

you can torque the razor to get spots that are not hitting the stones properly but sometimes on older razors if you get them to shave comfortably with an uneven bevel you may just want to leave it. Even bevels are pretty but the shave is what counts.

Most blades have some sort of warp to them. What you are observing is not at all unusual.

It sounds to me that the most likely thing is pressure. It could also be that the hone wear on the razor was uneven to start with, so you may have inherited some issues along the way too.

Be careful going back to the 1K as you may find that you add a good amount of hone wear yourself.

There are people here with much more knowledge than I have and they will be along shortly I'm sure. I would perhaps practice on something other than a vintage W & B, but that's just me.

I wish you all the best with this and I really hope that you can get to the bottom of the issue without damaging your razor.

I'm not an expert at all, hones can be perfectly flat, but razors are always subject to imperfections and unevenness as well.
I have plenty of razors with unevenness in the spine and bevel, some were a PITA to hone, some went really easy I don't care much as long as the razor shaves as it is supposed to.

I usually use a magic marker and color in my edge, that way at least I can see where the hone and razor are making good contact and where not, in my latest honing endeavor the heel was giving me a lot of trouble, I noticed it took much longer on one side of the razor to remove steel thanks to the line of marker.

You might notice that those dull parts are not coming into contact with the stone. Which parts exactly are dull on your razor?

I can't speak for synthetics bevel setting, since I find them hard to judge. (I don't have a microscope etc.) I see plenty of people here using one, or a magnifier, but I never figured out what to look for/at in all honesty, I'm a simple man so I do a shave test coming off a very fast Coticule for bevel setting, it it shaves on both sides of the razor on every part from heel to toe, I move up in my progression. That's my only requirement.

I also noticed I put different amount of pressure unconsciously during certain strokes, so there's also that. And when I get a razor where I focus on even pressured strokes on both sides, I sometimes still get uneven wear but that's due to the razor itself, so that's also to factor in.

I think figuring out what to look for with a magnifier will make life easier, because it's sometimes hard to judge which parts of the bevel are meeting and which aren't, i.e. which parts are meeting and shave well and which need more attention/work and consequently one can judge the unevenness in the edge and spine being it a razor's imperfection or caused purely by the honing strokes and pressure.


I'm not of much help, but I figure your bevel is not set well and isn't meeting along the entire edge, I think it just needs more work bevel setting.

Could be the blade has an uneven grind or a warp/twist to it. So long as the blade cuts all along it's length the uneven bevel is a cosmetic blemish I can live with.

Using a magic marker on the edge is a good idea to see if you are honing all the way to the edge. A good low magnification loupe, 20x - 30x power, and a strong light source will also be useful to see if you are honing to the edge.

For me, checking the edge visually with a loupe till I feel the bevel is set and then seeing if the blade will easily cut arm hair all along the edge confirms for me that the whole bevel is set. Only when I am confident that the bevel is set do I go up the progression.

If the blade has a warp/twist you may want to try some form of heel forward X stroke.

Bob

Here is a good thread about what to look for with a loupe. http://straightrazorpalace.com/honin...ggestions.html I cannot say often enough about how attending meets can make for incredible learning experiences.
There are a few things that could be causing your issues. Most of which have already been mentioned except heel issues. If your razor has a high heel or a heel hook it will keep the back of the edge up off the hone. Pictures are worth a thousand words. A good loupe and a magic marker will help you figure it out.

lots of things can cause an uneven bevel, bad honing before you got the razor, a warp, a frown etc. I use a rolling x-stroke on every razor I hone now as I can be consistent even if the blade is a bit wonky

You really need to post some pictures if you want help figuring this out. There are multiple possibilities and we can only make educated guesses using your description. Close-up pictures of both sides of the blade would be very helpful.

Thanks to all... I'll see what I can do with pictures, but thinking I'm not equipped. I'm also thinking that I need to knock down the edges of the Norton. I've noticed that I occasionally feel a catch when coming off of it. Will try the Sharpie on the edge. That was suggested by someone else a couple of weeks ago, did it once... then forgot about it. I need to pick up a loupe too. More than anything else since I started this endeavor... I've learned I have no idea what I'm doing. Thank you for the advice, hoping to some day get a handle on this.