Thread: Stabilizer correction

Originally Posted by STF

Hello again,

I read the content about honing on your site and your advice in this thread.

I drew round a coin and ground to the line on a 400 diamond plate (it came today).

As I was correcting the stabilizer I seem to have made two marks on the heel end of the edge, they look like chips but are probably small grind marks.

Anyway, I started with a Norton 220 and worked it to lose enough steel to remove the two grind marks I had made in the edge.

I thought they were now small enough that the rest of the bevel set progression would take care of them.
I worked one side of the 220 until I had a good burr and then worked the other side.
I removed the burr with pull strokes and short x strokes. All was looking OK but the scratch pattern was frightening.
I moved to 600 wet n dry and worked it with slight rolling x strokes until the 220 stria was gone, it took a while. I then got rid of the fin edge as before.
I went to a 400 diamond plate with washing up liquid and worked it with rolling x until the 600 were gone.

I went to 1K Norton, now I was back in my comfort zone if there is such a thing for me yet.
I did rolling x until the 400 were gone, now it is going to be set well and sharp.

NO! I have spent a whole morning on this thing, it is about as sharp as a broken window and still has two chips.

I don't understand it, I haven't even progressed past 1K. The way I see it I have a couple of options, start all over again or bin it or sell all my stones and buy a Phillishave. Whatever I do I have decided never to do more than refresh my razors because they shave right now and I would like to keep it that way.

I have the right hump with myself.

I just don't get why I can't set the bevel , it's not rocket science for christsakes!

I don't expect to create Outback or Gssixgun edges for a long time yet but surely I should at least set a bevel!

It shaved yesterday so I should have probably left it alone, that'll learn me.

Can you post a pic?

Originally Posted by Gasman

The picture with the edge red looks like you did nothing to the heal.

Gotta agree with Jerry here. Looks like you tried to thin the stabiliser & heel area rather than cut a new radius to the heel ?
If it's indeed ground too thickly I'd suggest moving the heel much further forward .
Pics below may explain better.

I have to apologize for my post yesterday, I was on the point of blowing a fuse with this Titan.

Titan aren't problem razors as far as I know, they're not the best but I do know of someone here that is very happy with his.

It seems that they use different steel depending on the cost of the razor. The guy here likes his but he got an expensive one and after a quick touch up had a great shave.
I on the other hand got the cheapest because i wanted to see what they are like before thowing money away. I suppose I got what I paid for.

Anyway, I had another try at setting the bevel on it this morning and I'm not happy still. I can set a bevel without any difficulty on my other razors including the 4 that PaulFLUS sent me to practice on and my best razor that some of you might remember me taking a chance with.

The problem setting a bevel on this Titan I am absolutely sure is 90% me so rather than throwing my toys out of the pram again I am putting it away for a while until I get a bit more experience.

My other 14 razors are great shavers and I will touch them up as needed, maybe one or two on my TransArk so I can compare the synth and Arkie edges (assuming I do it right on the Ark of course). I can go the whole hog with the practice razors I have.

Here are a couple of pics of yesterdays nightmare, you will also see one of the two chips. I don't know how i did it but the more I think about it the more I wonder if I caused chips with either the 220 Norton or the 400 Diamond Plate.

I did mark and try to correct the stabilizer again so hopefully that at least is correct now.

Steve, boy do I know how you feel. Sometimes I have hyper-focus working on things and when something goes south the bad attitude avalanche starts. I'm glad you decided to take a breather. It's important to do that sometimes. I remember once working on a transmission swap by myself (which was my first mistake) I was having trouble with some part of it, I don't even honestly remember what part, but after what seemed like an eternity and after night fell I had a small conniption and got out the hacksaw. Fortunately I did a self check and decided it was time to call it a night. The next morning I realized I had been going about it all wrong and finished without trouble. Since then I try to remember to step away and take a deep breath before going off the rails...and try not to get discouraged or go berserker and burn down the whole village.
I can't see where the chip/chips are exactly but you could make a more rounded curve out of the heel and give it a smiling tail rather than grinding down the entire edge if they are close enough to the stabilizer. It isn't too deep so that might work and give the heel.a more pleasing look.

Originally Posted by STF

I have to apologize for my post yesterday, I was on the point of blowing a fuse with this Titan.

Titan aren't problem razors as far as I know, they're not the best but I do know of someone here that is very happy with his.

It seems that they use different steel depending on the cost of the razor. The guy here likes his but he got an expensive one and after a quick touch up had a great shave.
I on the other hand got the cheapest because i wanted to see what they are like before thowing money away. I suppose I got what I paid for.

Anyway, I had another try at setting the bevel on it this morning and I'm not happy still. I can set a bevel without any difficulty on my other razors including the 4 that PaulFLUS sent me to practice on and my best razor that some of you might remember me taking a chance with.

The problem setting a bevel on this Titan I am absolutely sure is 90% me so rather than throwing my toys out of the pram again I am putting it away for a while until I get a bit more experience.

My other 14 razors are great shavers and I will touch them up as needed, maybe one or two on my TransArk so I can compare the synth and Arkie edges (assuming I do it right on the Ark of course). I can go the whole hog with the practice razors I have.

Here are a couple of pics of yesterdays nightmare, you will also see one of the two chips. I don't know how i did it but the more I think about it the more I wonder if I caused chips with either the 220 Norton or the 400 Diamond Plate.

I did mark and try to correct the stabilizer again so hopefully that at least is correct now.

Yeah that's what it looks like. Diamond plates, especially coarse ones, will do that sometimes when they haven't been broken in. There will often be a few diamond particles standing proud of the surface and they will do just like what you got there. I always sharpen a stainless steel chef knife to knock the proud diamonds down before I use it on a razor. Anyway, looks good apart from the chip. Do you have maybe a 320 grit Kuromaku or Suehiro similar? That chip will hone out without too much trouble. Even a 600 will do. Your diamond plate will play the same trick on you again if you try it.

Even the "cheap" alloy that Titan uses is not bad. At least that is the report I get from rbscebu. You might check with him and see if he has had similar experiences. He's got like 5 or 6 seven day sets of the darn things.

Originally Posted by STF

Titan aren't problem razors as far as I know, they're not the best but I do know of someone here that is very happy with his.

Sorry, I misunderstood. Once it got compared to gold dollar I figured it was another brand that people bought just to play with and figure out if they could get it to work.

Glad you got over the frustration, though.

Steve, That Stria in the pic with the chip is ugly! Whatever caused that stria could have caused a chip. But I'd say more like it was a weak piece of steel and it plucked it out of the edge. You are dealing with a razor that some would call an RSO. I have never had one of those in my hands but... I've had other razors (not counting gold dollars as those are junk IMO!) that would not hold an edge through a full shave. It would just lose its cutting ability. And not be chipped. Some razors are just junk and being a bit new to this, in my opinion, you should not be playing with them. They will cause heartache and make you wonder about your ability.

So put it aside. Or put it in the trash. You didn't pay much for it. Get some more vintage razors and play with them. Remember that is you buy vintage for 20 bucks and get a nice edge on it. Shave a couple of times, there is nothing wrong with killing the edge and rehoning for practice. Or change the bevel angle and try again. It's all practice and you will be doing this for years to come. It doesn't come overnight or in a few months. You get lucky sometimes after a few months but you really only got lucky. For me, it didn't come for a couple of years as I spend so much time in the truck I could put as much time into practicing. I thought I knew how to hone after a couple of months but I really didn't.
Even to this day, some near wedge razors will kick my backside. I will have to set them down and go at them a few times before I finally get them right. But I know when to stop is the thing.

Keep at it or trash it. It's your choice. But remember that vintage will be much better for you when learning to hone. Vintage USA razors are best for learning in my opinion.

On a side note... I still have my Gold Dollar. I won it so it didn't cost me anything. Not even 6 bucks as they sell for. But I customized it so it's cool looking. It still won't hold an edge but for a few shaves! I don't recommend them for anything. But that's my opinion.

Not sure what the magnification is on that pic. That chip may look bigger than it is because I can't spot it in the other pic.I think you could either hone it out or, if it is too big for that bread knife the heel a little to give it a little smile . CCR is probably a better judge than I so I would cede to his advice. I still think you should round down that heel some though.
still think that putting it away is a good idea but if you just can't leave it alone then keep in mind it's a challenge and maybe a fools errand. If it's an exercise then just keep telling yourself that it's a challenge for most anyone and don't let it bring you down. You've come so far Steve. I don't want to see you get discouraged.

Originally Posted by PaulFLUS

Not sure what the magnification is on that pic. That chip may look bigger than it is because I can't spot it in the other pic.

It's about 3/8ths in from the toe.

I see it now. Sorry, I misunderstood. I thought you said it was near the heel.