Thread: My 1K/4K challenge

Sorry if I didn't word that clearly.

There's an Excel spreadsheet that has trig formulas to calculate the honing angles with different layers of tape based on measurements of the spine, blade, and tape thickness. https://sharprazorpalace.com/advance...pers-tape.html

I don't hold to the results rigorously. With my limited experience I've found it helpful to get a starting point, then I see what the bevel looks like, and go from there. I also like the spreadsheet to keep a record of what I used for a particular razor.

There doesn't seem to be much spine wear. The green arrows are where the edge of the tape was.



Sounds like cutting the tape width down is how I need to proceed. If that doesn't work I'll drop to 2 layers and see what I get.

Thanks for the advice, I feel better now that I have direction to a solution.

Cut some tape down to 1/2" how's this look?



Was out running some other errands and it turns out Lowe's also carries 1/2" tape. $6 for 6 rolls. Thanks for the tip it'll save me a bit of time.

They also have contractor packs of 3M 700 at $1.65 per roll.

I don’t think that tape is your issue. If anything, lower tape would increase your angle and you would have a double bevel.

You would have a steeper angle and be honing on the edge, and it looks like the you are not honing to the edge on the heel half of the razor.

In order to have honed the heel as it is now, you would be honing on the tang and that will keep the heel half of edge off the stone.

Some ink on the bevel and on the tang will quickly tell you where you are making contact.

A heel correction will move the heel corner well forward of the tang and allow you to fully hone the heel and for the razor to sit flat on the stone.

That razor was much wider originally, if you extend the radius of the heel you can see how much of the razor has been honed away and how far forward the heel was originally, Blue circle.

That is a lot of metal to remove. It takes a long time to remove that much. Use the number of layers of tape from the table. In this case, less tape means more metal, a much longer time to get to a solid bevel. I feel as though old razors like this with so much width loss, although no that much spine wear, they must have been honed near death with the spine white elevated. It’s not really regular honing, it’s more part of restoration.
I agree with what Marty has said. The blade has lost a ton of metal. The heel needs to be moved forward.

The trig sheet is worthless IMO. Unless the hone wear is even in both sides.

To be short, JJ. This is a razor most of us would have passed on, with a quick look. There's just nothing left worth saving, but for a good learning tool.

Sorry...JMHO.

Yep. I had a razor with the same grind and spine. Ended up tossing.
The was no way I could get a decent bevel. Very frustating.

You guys are good!

I went ahead with the 1/2" tape and it felt much better on the stone. The honing angle had definitely decreased and I quickly realized a lot of metal would need to be removed so I went down in grit (I might be stubborn, but I'm not crazy). Yes it took some time, but I got really close to getting the bevels to meet. Just one little area on the back didn't want to cooperate. I paused to think about what was going on and noticed the back bevel was wider than the front... The position of the tape on the spine was giving me different angles on each side (tape not perfectly centered). So I shifted the tape and got the sharpie out. Yep, just moving the tape made the angles different on the front and back sides. At this point I thought it might be possible to solve this with some really careful and fiddly honing, but I wasn't up to the level required. I put it aside and decided this morning to move to a different blade for this challenge.

I hadn't considered the blade had been honed to death because of the limited wear on the spine. I thought it was just a 5/8 blade. I see what you mean and believe you are correct about how much width this has lost.

I don't feel like this was a total loss as I have learned quite a bit from this experience. I'm not quite ready to completely give up on this (did I mention I'm stubborn), but I'm going to treat it as more of a learning tool and not feel bad when I completely kill it. I'm thinking of seeing what happens with one layer. Just have this crazy wide bevel. Maybe see if I can regrind it? I'll get something out of it, even it it's just knowledge. Eventually, it will be a mock up tang or a fancy letter opener.

Thanks again for the advice. Now on to a blade worthy of this challenge.

Originally Posted by outback

Thanks ,Jerry. Ya beat me to it.
Always trim the tape on wedges so its only 1/8 inch over each side of the spine. Your only trying to recreate the original thicknesses of the spine, not the blade.

Attachment 314339

Off-Topic, but I've got to comment on those shop shoes, Mike-they look about as bad as mine lol! Honestly, I dress about like a hobo to go out to my shop-glad I'm not the only one. Excess epoxy or Tru Oil wiped on ancient holey jeans or something spilled on shoes? No problem.

Same here, I've got a drawer that just has garage shirts. Eventually they become shop rags.

Originally Posted by ScoutHikerDad

Off-Topic, but I've got to comment on those shop shoes, Mike-they look about as bad as mine lol! Honestly, I dress about like a hobo to go out to my shop-glad I'm not the only one. Excess epoxy or Tru Oil wiped on ancient holey jeans or something spilled on shoes? No problem.

Yeah, they've seen better days. But they are the most comfortable shoes I own. Their like wearing marshmallows, and relieve the pain of plantars fasciitis.
Been dealing with it for some time, but this year was the most painful. By the time I got home from work each day, I could barely walk or stand on my feet. But once I put these shoes on, I'd be fine. Come to fund out, they have built in arch supports, and after all the years I've worn them without Sox's, the insides have a perfect imprint of my feet. So....custom orthotic shoes, with ventilation, and the traction of a Mickey Thompson.