Honing a Vintage Joseph Rodgers

[Steve56]

Gentlemen,

I honed (and shaved) with one of the razors in the Tiffany set posted elsewhere.

My concern from the outset is that these razors and tools have survived in almost pristine condition for 150 years or so, and I was darned certain that they would not be marred by a ham-handed hobbyist (me). My criteria were that I did not make a wider bevel and did not produce wear on the spine. If I could not do this I would leave them unhoned.

The bevel angle measures 16.5 degrees, and I can up that a bit if needed based on what I know about English steel of this period. The maximum that I would want would be maybe 19 degrees, so I put two layers of Scotch and one layer of Kapton on it (19 degrees), inked the bevel and gave it a few strokes on a Shapton Glass HC 8k. The stone is hitting far out on the bevel at the apex, so I repeated this procedure with one layer of Scotch and one layer of Kapton (18 degrees), then with only Kapton (17 degrees). I determined that the initial try would be with the 18 degree option and old English steel is usually good with this angle.

It worked! I have a butterknife shaving edge with bevels about the same width as the originals. I’m very happy with the result. The bevel was set on a Shapton Glass HR 3k followed by a SG HC 8k. My ‘chocolate kiita’ JNat was the finisher.