Thread: Bevel Curvature

Originally Posted by Kirasy

Man, that's really interesting. Over decades of constant shaving and honing would it eventually get a bigger and bigger curve at the end? That would sort of kill the aesthetic for me.

It will even out with time. Especially with flat hones.
Go with the flow and use a rolling hone stroke.
Once it is shaving well you may never need to touch anything but
a 8K to 10K modern hone where the wear will be slight to maintain
the shaving edge. Once the bevel is set it should be good for a long long time.

In decades of shaving once in five or ten years take it back to 1K or coarser
and calm the smile down if you like.

Originally Posted by Kirasy

Sure things. The rest of the bevel is straight as far as I can tell.

Attachment 280069

Attachment 280070

Looks perfect!

When I was starting out I had a red imp honed by a professional and was disappointed when I got it back with the same characteristics you are describing.
After learning to hone myself, I understand why the blade obtained the smirk and do now appreciate it. It's a good indication that whoever honed it is on the right path. I can hone a square point and keep the point good and square (and usually do if it's a new blade) but it's much much harder to get the same quality of edge that way.

Originally Posted by Kirasy

Man, that's really interesting. Over decades of constant shaving and honing would it eventually get a bigger and bigger curve at the end? That would sort of kill the aesthetic for me.

Probably not if your honing correctly, plus how often do you hone it really? If your doing your job on a strop the thing might see the stone once or twice a year. Tc

Originally Posted by Kirasy

Oh, never heard of that. Why would it be beneficial?

You can make an edge dead straight BUT...when have you ever seen a person with even a single area of their face that is dead flat? Faces have curves, concave areas, convex areas...places that would be difficult or nigh impossible to get at with a perfectly straight edge. Sometimes I wonder if that isn't why a lot of newbies have real trouble manipulating their blade to get at certain areas. They buy a brand new straight. It's edge is exactly that - dead straight with no curve.

A smiling edge on the other hand, can more easily get into the hollows that always seem to have stubble left over, etc.

I do have some that are honed dead straight so the edge matches the spine. By and large these see less face-time than blades that have a smile. I've learned to use them and get as good a shave from them, but why do the extra passes when you can grab a good smiling edge and get it done with 1 pass and maybe some spot touch up after?