Thread: What should I expect ?

Hi all, so I did it, I won a razor off ebay and am looking forward to getting it in good shape. This is the second one I've won and to be honest, I haven't had the best luckwith the first. Both have been Wade & Butcher (not sure if that's going to make a difference) and I feel like I've had to do 50 or 60 passes on the Norton 4K/8K to get the first one even cloose to sharp and to be honest, I don' think there's any question it's still not ready to shave with.

So, here's the new one.

"Up for auction is a wonderful old vintage antique 5 7/8 inch closed Wade & Butcher Flat Ground Straight Razor. The dish point blade is 13/16 inches wide and marked on two lines WADE & BUTCHER – SHEFFIELD over their classic W in a circle-ARROW-CROSS Logo on the tang which is c1819-1918. The heavy blade has been very lightly sharpened, has its original mirror finish and appears to be in excellent condition. The handles are very pretty Smooth Dark Brown and Black Horn or Celluloid, in very nice condition with no cracks and a few very tiny edge chips."

I'd say that although it's in great shape, it's not sharp at all. I haven't tried it, but I have no doubt that i could run it across my hand without cutting it. So, my question is, what should I expect for what it will take to sharpen. Right now I only have the 4K/8K but think I'm going to get a 1K to have in my arsenal. I'm just worried about over sharpening and was worried that I took the first one too far which is why it's still not sharp. Not sure what to do or expect for this one. Thanks for the help! Also, any suggestions on the first one welcome too! :-)

-Matt

Hi Matt,

Looks like you have a wedge razor, not the easiest to hone. Your best bet is sending it to a honemeister or learn to hone on a cheap and cheerful razor before you mess this one up.
Wedges are more difficult to hone and take more time than hollow grounds.

Thanks Kees. I think my other one is a wedge too which is why it's been so difficult. Makes me a little happier at least cause now I know it's not me. :-) Anyway, if I were to try to hone it myself, can you tell me what I should expect? I have a norton 4K/8K and just bought a 220/1000.

Should I just give up or can I try?

Thanks!

I'd send one out and keep one to work on. You should expect a few months learning curve, a lot of worry about why its not getting sharp, several moments when you question if your ruining the blade, a sudden interest in buying more hones, a long thread about "Why do I need to use an X pattern when the stone is so wide", a few questions about the TNT and the TPT, Lynn replying that you should use a 45 degree angle, a newbie asking in the same thread if that means to lift the spine, and by late May or early June, you'll be concluding that its getting sharp enough to shave with, but not as sharp as the one you sent out.

This happens about every 4 months on here.

Nice razor. I'm hunting for one like that myself.

If it is as dull as you think it is, you 'll need to do a lot of work on your 4K Norton before you can even think of jumping to the 8K side. My opinion, it would be better to use a coarser hone to set a proper bevel on that razor. Even that would probably take a considerable amount of passes. I have very good experience with a DMT-E (1200 grit) continuous diamond hone, for such honing tasks.
The idea is to set the cutting bevel first, and then polish that bevel to shavereadiness on a finer hone, such as the 8K Norton, or the Coticule or still other ultra fine hones.
Setting a bevel means: creating two flat panes on either side of the cutting edge of the razor and make those panes meet each other in a perfect sharp angle. There are two great ways of testing for that: the "magic marker test" and the "Thumb Nail Test". They are both well documented in various threads on this forum.
After you get that bevel right, you can hone to shavereadiness with pyramids on a Norton or with a progression of increasingly finer hones. Whatever method you like best.
I may take several hundred laps to get that bevel up to par. With a wedge, you can use a bit more pressure to speed things up in the beginning, without the risk that you flex the blade (and alter honing angle by doing so). It's always best ending with light strokes.

Have fun,

Bart.

Originally Posted by Bart

Nice razor. I'm hunting for one like that myself.

If it is as dull as you think it is, you 'll need to do a lot of work on your 4K Norton before you can even think of jumping to the 8K side. My opinion, it would be better to use a coarser hone to set a proper bevel on that razor. Even that would probably take a considerable amount of passes. I have very good experience with a DMT-E (1200 grit) continuous diamond hone, for such honing tasks.
The idea is to set the cutting bevel first, and then polish that bevel to shavereadiness on a finer hone, such as the 8K Norton, or the Coticule or still other ultra fine hones.
Setting a bevel means: creating two flat panes on either side of the cutting edge of the razor and make those panes meet each other in a perfect sharp angle. There are two great ways of testing for that: the "magic marker test" and the "Thumb Nail Test". They are both well documented in various threads on this forum.
After you get that bevel right, you can hone to shavereadiness with pyramids on a Norton or with a progression of increasingly finer hones. Whatever method you like best.
I may take several hundred laps to get that bevel up to par. With a wedge, you can use a bit more pressure to speed things up in the beginning, without the risk that you flex the blade (and alter honing angle by doing so). It's always best ending with light strokes.

Have fun,

Bart.

+1

You should expect a lot of work with a wedge, if it is anything less than you can be pleasantly surprised.