Thread: SOS Need some help.

Hey guys so been trying to hone a Parker 510 and have been having a heck of a time getting it to where I like it and if I get close the edge would chip out. Well after "showing the razor who's boss", it has showed me that, I am in fact not the boss. After a quick ebay search I noticed these aren't as common as they were a couple years ago. So I'm thinking I may have trashed the blade, but that's what this forums for. I was honing with a Chosera 1k, Shapton 5k,8k. and 12k. I also have a small Thuri, and a Jnat that I use to finish sometimes. However been focusing on syths lately. To much inconsistency from the naturals (with me honing). So the chipping was coming between the 8k and 12k. Ok now the pictures.

This is not happy blade, in fact its definitely frowning.


Tried my best to show the hone wear it's heavier on one side near the toe (1st Pic.) .




Also after inking the bevel I noticed that I was making great contact on the none face side, but on the face side I wasn't hitting the last 1/4" or so of the toe. The bevel also gets really tiny there, and is like double the size (in that same section) on the other side. At one point all of my razors (with my edges) gave me great shaves, but due to life happening and not being able to hone everyday, my honing and overall shaves have dipped in comfort and consistency. So my honing skills are still green however not totally green, maybe a light green. Do I send this razor out. Do I roll up the sleeves and give a go trying to fix it. Do I send it out to be honed/fixed by a pro.

These are the stones that I'm working with.

I think the hammer is going to be next in the progression if I don't figure this freaking blade out lol. Thanks in advance for all your help dudes.

Tape it and use X strokes. Straight strokes cause frowns. You should always hone towards a small.

If it looks like the blade has been restored, maybe they messed up the steel temper cleaning the blade. I have had one razor before that could take a nice 8-10k ish edge but anything higher would cause the edge to chip. Although if the bevel angle is to thin adding a layer of tape can fix the problem.

The blade was restored by me, but nothing other than relatively light hand sanding with w/d don't think I went below 600 grit on the blade, followed up through the grits to about 2000 then hand polished with mothers. I'm honestly ready to stick it in a drawer and forget about it. Idk things are getting better but it sure is hard steel so the going is slow. I'm not using any pressure as I think that is what caused this issue. But the frown is improving, will show finished results if I ever get there.

Hmmmmwhere to start.

First let me compliment you on your humor. It made for a fun read.

I suspect that the frown is contributing to some of your problems. That would be what I would address first. Often a frown can kind of be built into the grind, which from your description, it sounds to me to be the case. I would concentrate on the toe and heel at least until the frown is gone or even into a slight smile and then work with x strokes to keep the frown from reappearing. If it is in the grind there will be a tendency for it to reappear. Straight strokes on a flat stone can result in a frown on a wonky grind.

Look down the edge and spine, I’d $20 on it being warped. Find another blade that doesn’t have a big an issue and come back to that one later.

I'm not trying to blame the tools, but am beginning to think that the razor is warped. I checked all my other razors to see if there was something I was doing and most all of them have even spine wear and straight to slight smiling edges. Its my cheapest flattish razor I own and want to practice on this one, trying to get back into the swing of honing before I go after the herd. Also I looked down the blade and to my eye it looks fairly straight but that's not really saying much.

The parkers I have seen have slight smiles usually. A frown develops for a few reasons, one being a warped edge or convexed hones. Unfortunately you need to at least get the edge back to straight, you’ll lose a lot of steel in doing so. Learning techniques to combat a seriously warped blade is best done under the supervision of a mentor, you can also greatly speed up the process of getting proficient with your setup, which is very nice by the way. It would be worth while to pay attention to people’s avatars and where they’re located and if they’re a mentor, find someone near to you and send them a pm.

Do you have other razors, in need of honing, that you don’t mind possibly screwing up? If so find one that’s pretty straight. Start using tape on the spine too, until you get your strokes figured out it will help keeping you from introducing more problems by unevenly grinding away at the spine.

I learned to hone about a year and half ago with only the Jnat and Thuri, before adding a very used 1k (thanks Glenn), and then most recently the shaptons. At one point I was proficient enough with honing to shave with my edges daily with no irritation or alum burn. Fast forward to present, I have a new job that takes almost all my free time, so I kinda coasted on my 6 honed razors for probably the past year. It was around my birthday (Nov. 2018) I noticed that my edges all sucked compared to a Henckels 72 1/2 from an SRP member that I keep as a control. Well, it wasn't long on the hones until I realized honing isn't something you can just jump back into, least for straight razors. Also whilst showing the razor "who's boss", lots of pressure and half strokes were used. No more pressure and no more half strokes for this guy, I don't care if it takes me an hour to set a bevel lol.

Oh, it’s warped, but not impossible to hone.

Honing a warped razor with straight strokes will produce a frown, especially if you use too much pressure or low grit stone.

Measure from the top of the spine to the lowest spot in the middle. With a sharpie mark the heel and toe to the same measurement and lay a piece of tape hitting the marks at the heel and toe and just above the middle. Now you have a straight mark to shoot for that will be parallel to the spine.

It does look like the spine has a slight curve, so you can try to match the edge to the spine smile. Mark a line with a colored sharpie on the edge and remove the tape.

On a diamond plate or 320 wet and dry on a piece of glass or marble tile straighten the edge with high angle strokes, close to 90 degrees until you are touching the edge of your marks and the middle is the same height as the heel and toe.

The metal is thin and will go quickly. You can pick up an inexpensive pair of Plastic Calipers, General has a nice pair available from Lowes or Home Depot. It will make measuring much easier, measure often.

Once you get the edge sorted, tape the spine with 2 layers of tape and hone with a rolling X stroke. Here is an old post on correcting an edge for a smile, but the work and tools are the same for a straight edge. Make Me Smile

In the future, doing the same thing over and over, and expecting different results…