Thread: Want to get my edges correct.

Hi guys,

Today I took a real leap of faith and set the bevel on my first and best razor, a Dovo Astrale with Ebony scales and my initials engraved on it. I did a complete progression from 1K 4k/8K Norton's and a 12K Naniwa SS. If I ruin this razor I swear I will go get a Phillips Electric.

My Dovo did not need the bevel set, in fact it didn't even need refreshing but what can i say. Nobody ever told me that intelligence was a prerequisite for being a straight razor shaver.

The razor



I added 1 layer of electrical tape and one layer of kapton.



I painted the edge with a red sharpie.



I set the bevel on 1K but notice that there is what looks like the remains of a wider edge which must have been done without tape before i bought it.

1K bevel set



4K edge



8K edge



12K Naniwa SS



I'm hoping that my honing will pass muster. I don't intend to hone anything but my own razors and don't need to have pro edges, so be gentle with me.

My Dovo tree tops stomach hair because my arms are bald now.

I am so happy that i didn't ruin my best razor.

All that matters is how it shaves.

If not to your liking come back with photos and observations.

In the bevel set pic, you can see reflecting spots along the edge. This is not a set bevel. Maybe it's the pictures? I know I wouldn't be happy with it myself if I saw one shinny spot at that point. I'd kill the edge lightly and try some more. Then when you got it right, kill the edge and do it again. JMO.

If it were me i wouldn't (and wasn't )be brave enough to tackle my best razor for the first try. Looks good as far as i can tell but a shave is the real test. let us know how it goes.

As rolodave said, when you put it o your face, you'll know exactly how it turned out. Good luck.

Steve, first make sure that your tape is on straight and tight to the spine. Any wrinkle in the tape will affect how the spine rides on the tape and will make an uneven bevel. The wrinkle will burn through quickly.

Slow down, fully set the bevel, stay on the 1k until you have fully cut a new single bevel. Compare your 1k bevel to the 1k bevel from the Second Try at Honing.

Notice the even 1k stria and most important, the straightness of the edge. It is all about the edge, you must hone the bevels to get to a straight edge.

Your 1k edge is not fully set (note the stria and edge in the upper right-hand corner), and not straight and even. If the foundation is not straight and true, the edge will not be straight and strong.

It may shave if the other stones finally set the bevel, (got them to meet fully) but it will not last after repeated stropping. Load your 12k photos into a photo editor, enlarge them and look at the edge, it is micro chipped and not straight and even. That comes from not fully setting the bevel.

Slow down, fully set the 1k bevel until there is a single bevel and that they meet in a straight chip free edge. Move to the 4k when you have a single full bevel from heel to toe and meeting in a chip free edge. Then remove all the 1k stria with the 4k and move up the progression removing the previous stria with the following stone.

If the edge chips, joint it and reset it with 20 or so laps. Make your edges look like the edges in the Second Try at Honing.

Relax you now know enough that you will not ruin the razor, make sure to change the tape at the feel of the slightest burn through. You must spend as much time on each stone as the razor needs. Fully set the bevel, then remove each grits stria fully with the next stone. Slow down.

I re taped my spine (on the razor, not me) this morning and killed the edge of my razor.

I reset the bevel again and kept going until I could shave arm hair easily, I jointed the edge lightly on the corner of the 1K and bought the edge back 5 laps at a time.

I ran the edge cross my finger nail and bought the edge back with 3 laps, I did it again and once more.

My bevel now cuts arm hair, it does not have a foil (if it looks like there is one, its probably the lights on the microscope causing it).

I spent an hour setting this bevel on a 1k on my best razor and I am seriously starting to worry about how much metal I am removing.

Please say I don't need to remove any more steel.

Originally Posted by Euclid440

Steve, first make sure that your tape is on straight and tight to the spine. Any wrinkle in the tape will affect how the spine rides on the tape and will make an uneven bevel. The wrinkle will burn through quickly.

Slow down, fully set the bevel, stay on the 1k until you have fully cut a new single bevel. Compare your 1k bevel to the 1k bevel from the Second Try at Honing.

Notice the even 1k stria and most important, the straightness of the edge. It is all about the edge, you must hone the bevels to get to a straight edge.

My edge below doesn't have the scratches all in the same direction as the one in your pic. Mine was honed toward a smile with the blade turning and swooping so the scatches are not all in the same direction.

I hope that it isn't a problem that my scratches are not all the same direction because I will remove them on the 4K anyway.

I was under the impression that simple x strokes aren't all I should do but I can if that pattern is what I need. I will lose more steel again of course.

If I need to work more on the 1K, I will start again on a razor that is a bit less important to me.

Of course it would be great if I have succeeded now.

Just removing signs of the previous bevel set at the store must have removed quite a lot of steel.

You do not need to Kill the edge, just joint it to cut off the burr, one lite stroke on the edge of the stone, TNT does not cut off the burr it tears it or just straightens it.

Big difference, the goal is to cut it off clean and get a “straight” edge. Then you just need to get the bevels to meet the already straight edge.

Once you get experience you can hone to a straight edge, but why? I joint the edge repeatedly through the honing process, the goal is to get a straight edge, is it not? You are removing microns of steel and usually just the burr.

Hair test are not definitive, look at the edge, look straight down on the edge with magnification and light, any-any shiny reflections are where the bevels are not meeting, (the bevel is not fully set), It is definitive, there are shiny spots or not.

A corner of a dull razor or burr will cut hair. You must calibrate hair test, find out what it means when you cut hair. It does not always mean you have a complete edge. It is not definitive.

“I spent an hour setting this bevel on a 1k on my best razor and I am seriously starting to worry about how much metal I am removing.”


And that is part of your problem, you can’t baby it, it needs what it needs. In surgery it is called Cutting to the Margins, cut enough to remove all the damaged tissue, and a little extra, so you do not have to go back in.

It should not take an hour, for your final “1k finish laps”, lap your stone to ensure a clean, flat aggressive cutting surface. Look at all the stria that is not going in the same direction, that is not from the X stroke, and look at the edge. It is not straight and full of chip, large chips.

Shinny bevels, even stria are by-products of proper honing, not the goal.

But super straight, smooth shaving edges generally have even stria and shinny bevels with synthetics. The goal is the edge.

“My edge below doesn't have the scratches all in the same direction as the one in your pic. Mine was honed toward a smile with the blade turning and swooping so the scatches are not all in the same direction.

I hope that it isn't a problem that my scratches are not all the same direction because I will remove them on the 4K anyway.”

Look at all the stria that is not going in the same direction. That is not from the X stroke and look at the edge. It is not straight and full of chips, large chips.

No, you will not remove them on the 4k, that is the problem, (here’s that ladder again). You must hone the bevels to get to a straight edge. It is not about a shiny bevel, it is about the edge. Look at the edge, forget about cutting hair, make the edge straight. Make the stria uniform, as perfect as you can. If you do that, the edge will be straight and meeting.

The bevel is not set.