Thread: Should I be worried about uneven spine wear?

Originally Posted by newber

This means, I will have to reset the bevel, as the tape will create a new angle on the bevel, right? So back to 1k stone. As well as all my future touch ups on higher grit stones, will need to be done with tape on the spine.

What if I don't want to use tape for the life of this blade, how can I even out the spine? Is the effort and extra removed metal worth it?

Do not attempt to even out hone wear, it's futile and serves no purpose other than cosmetic. (that is when your shaving edge is making good contact on the stones over its' entirety, that the heel and toe are sometimes lacking is normal, often needs a bit of honing gymnastics)

Would you need to reset the bevel? Well, not exactly. A popular method in the Coticule forum a while back was set a bevel etc., THEN add one layer of tape and FINISH on the one layer of tape. It works, and makes you feel purely the finisher at work in your edge.

Your touchups will indeed have to be done on tape until your taped secondary bevel becomes too thin and need a quick bevel reset without tape, etc.

There's nothing wrong with (reasonable) uneven wear, and you don't need to use tape by any means

Everybody has their method, some almost exclusively use tape, some don't.
I personally do not like honing with tape and use it only on razors with geometry issues where one or more layers of tape are necessary to create a good shaving bevel angle.

PS some of my best shavers are razors with big/wide bevels, so there's always that; I wouldn't worry too much about cosmetics when it's mostly about it being a functional item

Originally Posted by newber

This means, I will have to reset the bevel, as the tape will create a new angle on the bevel, right? So back to 1k stone. As well as all my future touch ups on higher grit stones, will need to be done with tape on the spine.

What if I don't want to use tape for the life of this blade, how can I even out the spine? Is the effort and extra removed metal worth it?



Not very clear on this part, can you elaborate please?

Yes, if you use tape you will have to reset the bevel. One layer of tape does not make a huge difference so you may get away with dropping only one level from your finishing one to reset the bevel. Yes. you will need to use tape every time you go to the hones from then on. All using a single layer of tape will do is keep the spine wear from getting worse.

You can have the blade reground if you do not want to use tape. If you keep grinding on the spine when honing the wear will only get worse.

There is no easy fix to cure the uneven spine wear. You really have limited choices.

Bob

Originally Posted by BobH

If you keep grinding on the spine when honing the wear will only get worse.

Very valid point! Technique and experience also matter, when I wasn't used to honing razors I was way too heavy handed and put much more wear on the spine than I should have

It's something you'll learn over time

If you add tape without resetting the bevel, you will make a micro bevel. This (again as was stated above) is something Coti users often do. Nothing wrong with micro bevels. But for a complete one angled bevel yoh will need to go back in stones. Not to the 1k as it wont take a lot to change. Id go back to a 5k and see if thats enough.

Originally Posted by newber

This means, I will have to reset the bevel, as the tape will create a new angle on the bevel, right? So back to 1k stone. As well as all my future touch ups on higher grit stones, will need to be done with tape on the spine.

What if I don't want to use tape for the life of this blade, how can I even out the spine? Is the effort and extra removed metal worth it?

Not very clear on this part, can you elaborate please?

Perhaps this video by a man who has thousands of honings for others under his belt will be of some help.

All good points thus far.
Looking at the bevel it looks pretty even, the toe and heel are slightly larger but id say that would mirror the grinding. To be honest from what I can see on my phone it looks absolutely fine as is. I would however use tape from now on just to protect the gold wash, as said use one layer and reset.
One thing id mention about wear of a razor is that I have a experiment razor that ive set the bevel on a few times with and without tape and tried all number of finishers on and it still looks absolutely fine with minimal wear.

As a side note if uneven bevels upset your OCD dont look into the new Thiers Issards!!

One thing, that may be because of a slightly uneven grind or because your technique, and you eluded to it in your original post is, pressure. When I started honing I used more pressure on the heal side of the razor. The heal also spent more Tim on the hone than the toe and middle of the blade. It results in more metal removal.

I would just drop back a hone in you progression, concentrate more on nice even strokes and carry on. If you wanted to you could spend a little extra time on the toe and middle of the blade and at some point, many refreshes down the line the hone wear may even out.

Tape versus no tape is preference of the user, and can be used to correct some geometry issues. I prefer tape, but have honed razors without.

I don’t see your hone wear on that particular razor as much more than cosmetic, though it may tell a tale of uneven or inconsistent strokes on your end

Originally Posted by newber

Nonetheless, it bothers me mainly for 2 reasons:
- further honing will emphasise the unevenness even more and I am afraid that at some point will create a smile on the heel area
- my OCD can't stop thinking that it looks (and it will look in the future) unclean

Really that razor looks quite ok.
The only thing I would do is stay off the 1k unless the edge needs it, ie damage or rust.

A razor should be honed towards a smile as the opposite is a frown & we don't want that. You may just need to work a little more on the toe over time.

Tape will only change the angle by 1º so it won't do much for edge wear. I wouldn't worry about the spine being softer than the edge as the edge is much thinner. With correct pressure & torque the spine will not wear excessively.
The tang is another thick part of the razor & yet I've seen tangs test as high as 62HRC on vintage razors.

Originally Posted by onimaru55

Really that razor looks quite ok.
The only thing I would do is stay off the 1k unless the edge needs it, ie damage or rust.

A razor should be honed towards a smile as the opposite is a frown & we don't want that. You may just need to work a little more on the toe over time.

Tape will only change the angle by 1º so it won't do much for edge wear. I wouldn't worry about the spine being softer than the edge as the edge is much thinner. With correct pressure & torque the spine will not wear excessively.
The tang is another thick part of the razor & yet I've seen tangs test as high as 62HRC on vintage razors.

+1.........

Thank you all for your answers and clarifications. Really appreciate your inputs.

LE: another point I would like to clarify is that I don't have a problem with spine wear, but rather with uneven spine wear. This is why I have not used tape.