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Thread: Should I be worried about uneven spine wear?

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    Question Should I be worried about uneven spine wear?

    Hi all,

    I have been intermittently using a Dovo Bismarck that I bought new some many years ago and honed it about 6-7 times (in about 5 years) on Naniwa SS progression 1k, 5k, 8k and 12k.

    I recently reflamed this hobby and started using it regularly (every 3-4 days shave) and while inspecting it, I noticed a somewhat uneven spine wear close to the heel area on both sides. I don't recall if this is how the factory sent it to me or if I have put uneven wear on the spine due to wrongly applied pressure/honing technique, but I want to try to fix it if possible. The edge shaves nicely and it pops arm hair midway along the entire length. It also passed hanging hair test with and against the hair root along entire edge length.

    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

    I have created a hi res album on imgur that can be accessed following below link:
    https://imgur.com/a/NurUMQX

    My honing technique is circles on 1k (as Lynn shows in his videos) to set the bevel, and laps going further on higher grit stones.

    So, what do you think? Is this an issue or I am obsessing over it without a real reason? How can the spine wear be fixed/evened out? I was thinking to hone it on 1k applying pressure on the spine area where the low spot is and/or apply some tape on the edge while doing this to avoid unnecessary edge wear.

    Let me know your thoughts.
    Last edited by newber; 01-03-2019 at 09:58 AM.

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    Senior Member blabbermouth
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    Not an expert at honing so for what it is worth. My guess is that the spine width varies a bit due to slightly uneven grinding at the factory resulting in a little uneven hone wear. I doubt there is much you can do about it except to have the blade reground.

    It is shaving well, so I'd just tape the spine when honing to prevent further spine wear and live with if you can. I'm sure others with more knowledge will be along shortly with a better answer.

    Bob
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    Senior Member blabbermouth tintin's Avatar
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    I don't think it looks that bad. It could be from an unevenness in the grind or some uneven pressure. I wouldn't try and fix it as it would just cause unnecessary hone wear. If your concerned about it getting worse just use tape from now on. It's just cosmetic.JMHO

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    what these guys said, I wouldn't worry about it. I don't think any razor is going to have perfect honewear. I personally wouldn't use tape because I am lazy/would just get new razor if it ever impacted your shaves. Although tape is perfectly fine to use and will keep the spine from changing anymore. If you do use tape though just know that your bevel will be a tad bit smaller but that is fine as well
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    Forgot to mention I did not use tape on this blade.

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    Senior Member blabbermouth
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    The uneven wear is no that bad. I have seen much worse. Before I start I check both sides with a straight edge. If not bad I use one layer of tape to avoid more hone wear. If excessive I fill in low spots with tape and cover entire spine with one layer so edges don't catch on hone.


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    Senior Member blabbermouth
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    Quote Originally Posted by newber View Post
    Forgot to mention I did not use tape on this blade.
    No need to have mentioned it as the hone wear makes it self evident. That said, by using tape now when honing it will not allow any additional wear to occur.

    Bob
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    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?

    Quote Originally Posted by bouschie View Post
    ... Before I start I check both sides with a straight edge. If not bad I use one layer of tape to avoid more hone wear.
    Not very clear on this part, can you elaborate please?

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    Uneven hone wear generally occurs when you are setting the bevel on a blade that is not perfectly ground in the first place. Bevel setting is done using lower grit hones that have metal removal capability. However, unless the blade is damaged, you usually only have to set the bevel one time. Subsequent honings should not require the use of lower grit hones, so very little metal is removed.

    I refresh my edges frequently, but try to do so using finishing hones 12K grit and higher. Such hones do more polishing than they do sharpening. If that does not restore the edge of my blade, I might drop back to an 5K-8K hone, but I would never go back to 1K unless the blade is in really bad condition.

    If you are only honing your blades once a year, unless you are going back and setting the bevel each time, they should last a very long time without excessive hone wear. However, if you are concerned about such wear, use a single layer of tape on the blade.

    In talking with a couple of guys that forge custom razors, they indicated that using tape is a good idea due to the difference in hardness of the edge vs the spine of the razor. During the tempering process, the entire blade is heated to a uniform temper, but during the quenching process, the edge of the blade cools much quicker than the spine causing the edge to be harder. Thus, when honing without tape, you will remove more metal from the spine than the edge due to the difference in hardness.

    Bouche has restored many vintage razors, so he is an expert in hone wear. He always uses tape when honing the blades, sometime using multiple layers of tape, especially on wedge and near wedge blades.

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    Skeptical Member Gasman's Avatar
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    Great answers gents!
    If you use tape then yes, you will need to use tape from that point forward if you want to keep the perfect edge. Tape is a good thing. I use it on my collection and thats over 100 razors. I also keep a log on all the info of my razors so i know what to do when i need to go back to the stones.

    As was said, unless you damage the edge by hitting the counter of fauset, you should never need to go back to a 1k stone. Honing can be fun but you can over do it. Thd more time on a rough stone will cause a short life for your razor. Spine wear or uneven bevels are not important. Only looks bad and you are the only one who will notice it. If it shaves well then live with it. DO NOT try to grind the spine so the wear is the same across the entire spine and will give an even bevel! That is a fix only hacks do and it messes up the geometry of a razor.
    It's just Sharpening, right?
    Jerry...

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