Thread: Sharpening My First Gold Dollar Razor

I don't mean to talk down and please don't take it that way. If you already got the concept then just take this as me over explaining. If not it may help to go back to basics of the mechanics of what a bevel actually is. Think of a cross section of the blade like you snapped it in half and are looking at the broken end. Under magnification unsharpened, unhoned it will look like one of these drawings.


For it to cut hair it must be shaped like this.


To go from one to the other you must shape it at an angle on both sides at angles x and y



When you create a bur you have made whats called a wire edge, where the grinding on angle y has rolled the one side over.


For a shavable edge you still have to do the same to the other side.

The end result will be this


The peak where those two angles meet is called the apex. Any shiny thing you see along the top of the apex are imperfections in the planes, incompleted planes that will not cut hair but they will cut you and they will grab at the hair.

Again, sorry to overexplain but if you don't have the basic concept then all this talk is just blah, blah blah.

Originally Posted by PaulFLUS

Sorry, I guess I missed this before. A couple of things here.



I actually am not either. BUT, and I think I said this at the beginning, it will get you there following that process. If it is just not happening and you are having a problem getting there or can't tell when you are there it is kind of the bigger hammer or dumb end of the stick method so that if you watch and pay attentiin along the way you can learn to recognize it.



Wait! Are you saying you are trying to create a bur repeatedly? Because that is NOT what I meant. The object, and sorry if that was not clear enough, is to 1)create a bur on one side.2) create a bur on the other. THEN get rid of the bur. The successively diminishing half x strokes after the bur on the second side is to remove the bur and stabilize the apex along the edge. The diminishing full x strokes and diminishing pressure after that is to clean up and finalize a clean and complete bevel.

From what I think you said it sounds like you are cranking on the blade getting to a bur with less strokes. If that's the case you will never get a clean bevel. you do not want a bur. Acheiving the bur is just a blind man's method to creating a pronounced plane of the hone grind along the edge then doing it again on the other side. The bur just tells you you've done that. After that has been acheived the bur is bad joojoo and must be irradicated.

As to your question about how to see the sparklys, a lighted loop is probably the best way. I have one of those nerdy looking visors with the stacked lenses. It has a light on the top and works prettywell. Plus it makes you super attractive to your hon-ney.

ohhhhh ok, yeah, that was my misunderstanding. I think I interpreted "it doesn't matter exactly how many strokes as long as you get down to 1" as meaning, roughly, "as many strokes as it takes to form a burr, the goal is to form a burr eventually in one stroke." Critical error! Thanks for clearing that up!

I did understand the bevel setting concept, though I do very much appreciate the effort you put into explaining that visually, as things like this can very easily get lost in the weeds sometimes (believe me, working in metallurgy, that is literally the default state!)

I have one followup question: At what stage of your process would you expect to see the most prominent sparklies, so that I can use that as a reference point of what "really bad sparkles" look like? Surely right after jointing is too extreme?

Apologies for making comically novice looking mistakes like that after so long. It did not make any intuitive sense for me to keep creating a new burr, I'm trying to fully embrace the advice of, "forget everything you think you know, follow instructions to the letter."

So, as you said, the shiny bits show most brightly right after the jointing. They should then look like a bright silver line but also you will see them a lot right after the bur is removed.

Maybe I can clarify a little on burr removal. When the burr is removed or shifted to the other side, it does not all just grind away cleanly. Some will bend and break, leaving a tiny divot in the edge, and immediately after seeing that no more burr remains to be seen or felt, you can look at the edge and you should see some sparklies. Sunlight is not the best, nor a brightly lit room. You want a single powerful point of light. Point the razor directly at it, with one bevel face facing straight up. Roll the razor around until you see the light reflecting strongly as a point on the bevel face. Roll the razor so as to drop the spine and raise the edge, and you should see the reflection drift across the bevel toward the edge. Keep going and when the edge is turned straight up, you should see... nothing. Except maybe you will see some sparkles of light from flaws in the edge, or some leftover burr. Tip the razor point up or down slightly, so that the point where something could reflect, travels toward or away from the heel or toe. Once you realize what you are looking for and what you are seeing, your eyes will become probably your most important tool. It's all about the reflection, and movement of the reflection with movement of the razor.

What he said. I suppose you forget what you didn't know and it seems intuitive once you do. Sometimes expressing what you know by nature isn't that easy. But we forget that it isn't by nature it's learned. You just forget learning it it and that Eureka moment Glen describes.

Originally Posted by CrescentCityRazors

Maybe I can clarify a little on burr removal. When the burr is removed or shifted to the other side, it does not all just grind away cleanly. Some will bend and break, leaving a tiny divot in the edge, and immediately after seeing that no more burr remains to be seen or felt, you can look at the edge and you should see some sparklies. Sunlight is not the best, nor a brightly lit room. You want a single powerful point of light. Point the razor directly at it, with one bevel face facing straight up. Roll the razor around until you see the light reflecting strongly as a point on the bevel face. Roll the razor so as to drop the spine and raise the edge, and you should see the reflection drift across the bevel toward the edge. Keep going and when the edge is turned straight up, you should see... nothing. Except maybe you will see some sparkles of light from flaws in the edge, or some leftover burr. Tip the razor point up or down slightly, so that the point where something could reflect, travels toward or away from the heel or toe. Once you realize what you are looking for and what you are seeing, your eyes will become probably your most important tool. It's all about the reflection, and movement of the reflection with movement of the razor.

Ahh that does make sense, if sunlight is bouncing all over the room, it would be hard to notice a little deviation in the light! I get the idea. I have some focused tripod lighting that I could use for this purpose. Is the loupe necessary to use for identifying the sparkles, or is that mostly for looking at the geometry of the edge, once you have the eye for it?

edit: Tried repeating the method again, from scratch. I think I can easily identify a burred edge by visual or feel now, and I can tell what a jointed edge as well as a removed burr look like under light, with all the sparkles and reflecting light. I felt like it was going really well, as I could feel the edge sticking to the stone really nicely as I continued the x-strokes with diminishing pressure. I couldn't see any sparkles left underneath the light with 10x. Didn't cut hair at all on one side, somewhat cut hair in a couple spots on the other side, but not well. I wonder if I failed totally to restore the edge after the jointing step, and just didn't notice the straight line reflection while looking for sparkles.

I guess I'll try it over again in a minute.