Thread: Honing a Wedge/Near Wedge

Originally Posted by JP5

If it is one of your nicer razors save yourself some trouble and send it to Glen (gssixgun) for honing. I try to save money on that type of stuff, but having him hone a wedge and hollow ground for me and it gave me a standard to go by until I got more confident in my ability to judge an edge.

I noticed when I was honing on a 1k that I couldn't get it to shave my arm really well. Of course after I went to 6k it would. I started doing like so many had suggested in other threads and using clear water and less pressure before going to the next stone in my progression. Huge difference. Arm hairs were coming off with no problem off the 1k. This had been bothering me because if you can get a pocket knife to shave off a coarser stone shouldn't I be able to get a shaving edge off a 1,000 grit stone which is finer by knife standards? Anyway, make sure you aren't using too much pressure on the higher grits?

Are you shaving off a 5k? What is your progression?

That is interesting. One strip of tape on each blade face near spine? Full or half strip? Does that make it harder to run parallel to the edge without going over the spine?
I ask Richard because I have a wedge I want to hone but I'm more timid after what I did to a bevel a few years ago on one. Thanks as always R.

I mark a line on each side of the blade exactly parallel to the edge curve and close to the spine. a super-fine felt pen works well. Then I take electrical tape and follow that line with the tape side toward the edge. doing both sides in turn.
What it does, is to make a surface that follows the edge rather than the previous honings. The only time I use this is on a blade whose grind is almost flat. A couple layers may be needed but the first layer is the one to check with. A felt pen...marksalot type along the edge will tell where the hone strikes the bevel. That should give an idea of how many layers of tape will be required to create a realistic bevel. Oh yes, get the marksalot that is a transparent color, there are some tht are closer to a paint, it will not chip off and allows a better view and water/ swarf flow along the edge...
All one can do is the best one can at the time.
These are just my experiences and do not constitute a "dogma!"
~Richard

Hey guys, disregard my previous post, i have been doing a bit of reading, the razor? i was referring to may actually be a microtome, one side is flat but the other is not hollow ground, its a wedge, strange thing is... the barbers notch, what sadistic person put a barbers notch on it!!

"Barbers' notches" are at the end of the blade. A" Fuller is a groove along the spine of the blade.
~Richard

I am aware of that Geezer, and my statement stands, the only reason i can think is so that in pictures it looks more like a razor.

When a bevel is at or over 2mm, I always go to 2 layers of tape. On a true wedge, I even use 3 layers. Never more than 3 though for me.