Thread: Varying sharpness along the edge

OK lets get a really good discussion going here....
My 2 pennies worth again go back to the initial bevel, if the bevel is set correctly first then all of this would be a moot point....
JMHO

Originally Posted by gssixgun

OK lets get a really good discussion going here....
My 2 pennies worth again go back to the initial bevel, if the bevel is set correctly first then all of this would be a moot point....
JMHO

I agree that it makes no sense moving up to a higher grit when a good bevel is not established. But I think that's the whole issue here. If the toe of the razor is not making contact properly, than the bevel can't improve on that part of the blade.

Originally Posted by Bart

I agree that it makes no sense moving up to a higher grit when a good bevel is not established. But I think that's the whole issue here. If the toe of the razor is not making contact properly, than the bevel can't improve on that part of the blade.

That is exactly my point, the bevel was never set on the toe of the blade.
Either of 2 things had to happen at the bevel setting stage, one the bevel had to be set with using a perfect X pattern, or the warp needed to be honed out (which would show up on the spine as uneven wear) If he had chosen the easier of these two paths then the bevel would have been established using the X pattern, and he would have continued honing either progressively, or with a pyramid system, to a shaving sharp complete edge...
Again this is just for the sake of discussion I am by no means asserting that my opinion is the end all be all of honing skills....

I kind of think that there is a slight bit more "honing" involved at the toe to make up for the pressure difference between the heel and toe. Just by nature of how you hold the razor, assuming you are using one hand, is that there is going to be more pressure at the heel than at the toe. An extra inch or so on the toe would correct this. Does that make any sense?

Originally Posted by gssixgun

That is exactly my point, the bevel was never set on the toe of the blade.
Either of 2 things had to happen at the bevel setting stage, one the bevel had to be set with using a perfect X pattern, or the warp needed to be honed out (which would show up on the spine as uneven wear) If he had chosen the easier of these two paths then the bevel would have been established using the X pattern, and he would have continued honing either progressively, or with a pyramid system, to a shaving sharp complete edge...
Again this is just for the sake of discussion I am by no means asserting that my opinion is the end all be all of honing skills....

I seems that we are in total agreement then...
With a slight remark that successful honing till the spine wears down enough to even out the warp, depends on how severe the warp is and whether it is equally warped on the spine and edge. I've dealt with a blade that had more of a twist along a diagonal axis as opposed to the minor sidelong arch that I saw on some others.
I 've achieved better results on warped blades (either way) by fumbling with my honing angle just a bit. To do so, I drop the angle a fraction of a degree at the point where I drag the "stubborn" part of the edge over the side of the hone during the standard X-stroke. So far, that gave me better results than honing till I've ground the edge and spine to straightness again.
This is all based on limited experience, though.