Thread: Is this even worth the effort?

I’ve seen some ‘razor shaped objects’ posted here but I’ve never seen one in the wild. Someone gave this to my barber and when I came in for a haircut today he asked me if I could hone it. I took a look and told him that I didn’t think it would hold an edge. Explained that this is a nice piece to hang in the shop. He wanted me to try but I haven’t touched it yet - not sure it’s even worth breaking out the stones.

There are no markings on either side except the China stamp. What’s do you experienced honer’s say?

Adam

not worth the time

Originally Posted by aalbina

I’ve seen some ‘razor shaped objects’ posted here but I’ve never seen one in the wild. Someone gave this to my barber and when I came in for a haircut today he asked me if I could hone it. I took a look and told him that I didn’t think it would hold an edge. Explained that this is a nice piece to hang in the shop. He wanted me to try but I haven’t touched it yet - not sure it’s even worth breaking out the stones.

There are no markings on either side except the China stamp. What’s do you experienced honer’s say?

Adam

Tell your barber to use it as a letter opener. Look at the heel--You'd have to grind that down just to start--



Razor Shaped Object fer sure.

I think it is flat ground like a kitchen knife. It does not look hollow at all. If that is true, you won’t likely get a nice clean bevel even if the heat treat and temper was spot on.

Agree with the above. Like Roy, the first thing I saw was the shoulder. It will have to be ground down.

Proper heat treat and temper will be very iffy.

But, it is always fun to hone a problem blade! See how many shaves the edge lasts.

I keep coming back and looking at the scales. I see why people would buy those. Those pictures scales might be cool with a nice blade in them.

Originally Posted by RezDog

I keep coming back and looking at the scales. I see why people would buy those. Those pictures scales might be cool with a nice blade in them.

I think you’re right on the grind.



Won’t waste my time - I’ll return it to my barber and let him know.

Thanks for the replies everyone.

Adam

Yeah looks like it is probably hopeless. Pity... the scales look kinda nice. I will admit that in the past I have actually tried to hone stuff like this. First out of ignorance, and later for amusement and challenge. Not worth the trouble but one can of course try, if there are no more worthy activities on the to do list.

If you want to give it a try, which I will say again, I don't think is a good use of your time, you could first see if a file will cut into the spine or shank. If a file scratches deeply the steel is not hard enough for a razor. If it scratches not at all, just slides over it, it is hard enough but could be too hard, or have carbides that are relatively huge, or be too brittle. But too soft, eliminate it from the running from the get go.

If you are encouraged by the file test, deal with the heel. Get it completely out of the bevel plane. Most of this style of RSO has a very thin spine. You will want to measure spine thickness, and distance from the top of the spine's contact zone to the edge. Half the spine thickness divided by the second measurement will give you the sine of the half bevel angle. Double that angle for the full bevel angle. It will likely be around 12 or 13 degrees, that seems typical. So you would want to start with a couple layers of tape on the spine. Placement on a skinny full wedge is critical. The razor spine needs to be dead center in the strip of tape. So anyway, torquing the edge downward so as to make your tape last a while, set a primary bevel. It won't be a good shaving bevel but it will serve as a foundation for a final microbevel. You may have some wire edge to deal with, so deal with it now. Some guys strop vigorously on leather. <Edit: I meant linen.> You could go a dozen passes on a Jnat or coti with a mid range slurry. Or add a few pull strokes, pulling the razor sideways off the hone for about 3/4" or so, as if wiping the blade on the hone. This will often clear such an edge. Anyway run your progression on the primary bevel, then at the finish, add another layer of tape or maybe two, depending on what the included bevel angle with the two layers of tape is. You want a final bevel on steel like this to be between 17 and 18 degrees. Sometimes as high as 19 degrees. A high bevel angle can work because the bevel shoulders are very thin. Sort of like why a DE blade cuts so well. At higher bevel angles you need to use only the bare minimum of laps on the microbevel. This will maximize cutting power at those big angles. If you only need to add one additional layer of tape, you have a little more wiggle room. The edge will be VERY flexible and prone to formation of wire or fin edge. You will want to use the very lightest pressure when applying the microbevel. Soft steel or steel that is very granular does not perform well at typical skinny bevel angles.

If you are very lucky you could get a complete shave out of such an edge on one of these RSO's, but my money is on failure to take or keep an edge.

So, it depends on if you want a project. Most Chinese steel is pretty good, you will only know if you hone it and see if it chips. If you want to practice your reshaping skills, this may be a good project, worst case you mess up a $12 razor. If you go slow you won’t mess it up, and you will learn a lot.

If so, I would put a smile on it, the spine appears to have a slight smile. Here is a post on reshaping a blade to a smile. (Make me smile)

It is not as much work as it seems, just takes some time measuring and sneaking up on the final shape. Remember that once shaped it will still need to be honed, so stay on the fat side of your measurements, honing will remove a bit more material.

The heel is easily fixed by reshaping, about, five minutes on a diamond stone. It looks to be heel heavy, wider heel than the toe, that is due to honing on the stabilizer and keeping the heel half of the razor off the stone.

Take some measurements and make the width of the toe match the heel without removing any material from the middle. You also want to reshape the toe bringing the toe corner back for aesthetics, then blend the heel and toe and you will have a slight smile. Or you can trace the spine and copy to the edge at the marks, so the heel and toe are the same width and the edge matches the spine.

I have honed a few like that, China etched, and they shave well. Once you sort the heel it should hone easily. Looks to have some hollow to it and if not 2 layers of tape should get an edge on it.

Here is a post on reshaping an edge and heel. (How to correct/re-profile a heel)

Steel most likely crap anyway so why bother with shape of the blade? You could try to remove the scales and use them on a proper razor.