Thread: How common are warped blades?

Hi there!
I run into serious issues every time I try to set a bevel, but maybe I have had bad luck. This is the second time after honing for a while the bevel looks wide towards the toe and heel, and narrow in the middle on one side. It's the opposite on the other side. Must be warped blade, right? On a previous one I could actually see it, looking down the blade, but not sure this time. How common is this?

Put it this way, a perfectly straight and ground blade where the bevels are straight flat and even on both sides, are rare, but the warp or twist and difference in bevels, is usually very slight.

While I have never documented or measured bevels, I notice when the bevels are even.

Yes, if one side is the opposite of the other thin and thick, it has a warp. The thin middle is the concave and thick convex. Nothing that a rolling X stroke will not easily fix. I always finish with a rolling x stroke and usually do all my single strokes with the rolling X.

Make sure you drop the heel off the stone as you hone up the stone, keep the heel on at least halfway up the stone to hone the heel. If you watch most videos of rolling x strokes, the heel falls off the stone after the first inch of travel.

Also make sure the edge is straight and not frowning, if frowning at all, bread knife then hone it. Make sure the stabilizer is not hitting the stone and keeping the heel half of the edge off the stone.

Ink is you friend and will quickly tell you where you are making contact and if you are reaching the edge.

Originally Posted by Euclid440

Put it this way, a perfectly straight and ground blade where the bevels are straight flat and even on both sides, are rare, but the warp or twist and difference in bevels, is usually very slight.

While I have never documented or measured bevels, I notice when the bevels are even.

Yes, if one side is the opposite of the other thin and thick, it has a warp. The thin middle is the concave and thick convex. Nothing that a rolling X stroke will not easily fix. I always finish with a rolling x stroke and usually do all my single strokes with the rolling X.

Make sure you drop the heel off the stone as you hone up the stone, keep the heel on at least halfway up the stone to hone the heel. If you watch most videos of rolling x strokes, the heel falls off the stone after the first inch of travel.

Also make sure the edge is straight and not frowning, if frowning at all, bread knife then hone it. Make sure the stabilizer is not hitting the stone and keeping the heel half of the edge off the stone.

Ink is you friend and will quickly tell you where you are making contact and if you are reaching the edge.

Thank you!

You might be inbterested in seeing the video that Dr Matt posted about using a "tap and wobble test" to determine whether your blade is straight.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0e3irOytXQ&t=328s

If you do have an issue with warpage, you might want to hone the blade on a very narrow stone (or the side of a larger stone) to allow you to control the pressure applied to each area of the blade.

Originally Posted by RayClem

You might be inbterested in seeing the video that Dr Matt posted about using a "tap and wobble test" to determine whether your blade is straight.

If you do have an issue with warpage, you might want to hone the blade on a very narrow stone (or the side of a larger stone) to allow you to control the pressure applied to each area of the blade.

I use lapping file to create a temporary narrow stone.

Here let me fix the title of the thread for you


How Rare are perfectly straight razors


I agree with Marty, learn to hone using the correct "Gymnastics" to account for all the small inconsistencies you WILL find in the razors.

I have actually stopped using all the made up names for strokes we all came up with over the years as they tend to pigeon hole you, use whatever stroke you find that moves the edge evenly and equally across the hone..
The Magic Marker Test is your BFF in finding what works as you learn...

Don't fall into believing you need "crutches" you do not need to grind away the spine, nor buy or cut thin hones, or convex hones, to hone a difficult razor, you simply need to find the stroke that works for that razor.
The crutches can work for you, they might even make it easier for you, but you don't NEED them.


Hone On !!

That is the right title! Nice one Glen.

Some are ground or warped just a little and its not too much work to hone them but some are crazy crooked. Those take experience in knowing how to hone to get a nice edge. Don't worry. Keep honing and learning, and in a few years it will all be second nature when you put the steel to stone. Its like the first or second pass on the stone and you know what you need to do from the feel of it. Until then, keep learning.

You can make butter knives, do gymnastics, or you can work with one vendor over the years and have them cherry pick razors for you.

Buying used, vintage you will get few wonky razors for sure.

Your best bet is to stay with modern blade makers that have their mfg process down to science and then the droped forged blades get ground by a pro, such as Ralf Aust.

Or go full custom if you have the $$$

I like the idea of honing to the razor, not making the razor fit your honing.