Thread: Somebody please help me....

Somebody please help me before I lose my mind!!!

I bought my first restore on ebay (Sykes and Loeffer sp?), polished the blade and scales, and just last night tried to sharpen it. Long story short 3 1/2 hours later I can't even shave arm hairs with it. Here's the long version, I started out with a Norton 4k/8k and did so many laps I lost count...possibly in the 200-300 range in 30 lap increments. I did a variety of pyramids just for good measure, but got absolutely nowhere. I did the sharpie test on the edge, and it is honing evenly. All the stones are flattened and a slurry is used.

Somewhere around the 1 1/2 hour mark I got fed up with it and got the trusty stone my dad had given me years back (don't even know the grit...I'm assuming around 1k just based on roughness). I still use it today to sharpen my pocket knife followed by ceramic rods to make it shave arm hairs. This stone wouldn't even get my razor to shave arm hairs. I've tried a V stroke, light pressure, no pressure, moderate pressure, pyramids of all sorts but still nowhere close to shave sharp The only explanation I can come up with is that I'm still just setting a bevel because in the blade restoration process I sanded the edge down flat (it had a prominent frown). When I got done with that it was as sharp as a butter knife.

After all my work I can tell my edge is getting taller (growing toward spine), but I just can't believe I spent almost four hours on the thing and it won't even cut arm hair. I've taken pocket knives that were worse than this razor and had them shaving in a matter of minutes...is the steel on razor just that much harder? My plan of attack tonight is to get a decent lower grit stone 1k or lower (anybody have any suggestions for one I could pick up at a sporting goods store or Lowe's?) and go at it again and until I grind it into submission

If anyone out there has had this same problem I would love to know how you fixed it and that there is some light at the end of the tunnel!

Thanks,
Robert

Get yourself a 1k hone, not one that you "think" may be 1k. Set a bevel, this could take up to 100+ laps. In fact I haven't come across a blade that requires less than 100 on 1k, coz if you have to go to 1k, it must be in bad shape. Plus you did a restore, so yea, 1k probably is in order, do the TPT before moving up to 4k. Once you get to 4k and do a number of laps, try shaving the hair on your arms, if it don't shave your arm hair keep going on the 4k. After that move to the 8k, at which point after doing another, number of laps, you should, theoretically be able to go straight to the strop, then shave. DO NOT use a slurry, there is no point on man made hones.

BTW, I have not heard the name of your razor before, where's it made?

When you say you straightened out the frown I am assuming that you "Bread-knifed" the edge, put the edge on the stone and leveled it up with a sawing motion???

This does work and it works rather quickly, but the work comes back to haunt you when honing
You need to establish a sharp bevel, obviously, then you can get on with honing the razor....
3 layers of electrical tape on the spine, this will concentrate the work to the edge, 1000 grit (stone or sandpaper) get the bevel set...
Remove the tape (I use 1 layer after this but that is your choice)
re-establish the bevel, this just makes it a lot easier, this way....
Now you should have a nice sharp even bevel, continue to hone which ever way you feel most comfortable ie: Pyramids/progressives...

If I am assuming the wrong thing on the start then this might not work....

Hope this helps

The tang is stamped "Loeffler & Sykes, Rochester, N.Y., Made in Germany" and the opposite side is has the label "Our Drummer" with a picture of a man in a trenchcoat.

So it looks like I'm in search of a 1k hone. Any recommendations for one I could pick up locally? I'd really like to get back to this tonight instead of waiting a week for a delivery!

When you say you straightened out the frown I am assuming that you "Bread-knifed" the edge, put the edge on the stone and leveled it up with a sawing motion???

That's basically what I did, except I used a sandpaper on the counter top. Is this wrong, is there a better way?

Been there and done that. I know how frustrating it can be. Don't give up yet. If you haven't checked out Lynn's and Heavydutysquare's videos do that . As OLD_SCHOOL and gssixgun said if you don't have a bevel to start with you don't have a foundation. I start with 1K. Doing your homework by studying the sticky resources for new guys will save you time in the long run.

Using 1k 3M Wet/Dry over a 4X2 stone how many strokes should one expect to get before the sandpaper becomes less effective? I am noticing a difference after about 25-30 strokes. It took about 100 strokes for me to take a small nick out of a Morley & Sons and the bevel is tight and even (one piece of tape). I'm just wondering if I should be getting more use out of each piece of sandpaper or does 30 strokes sound about right? This is my first time using sandpaper and it seems to work rather well.

You could use 1000 or 1500 grit wet/dry sandpaper on glass or granite if you don't want to buy another stone. It works just as well and is inexpensive.

Originally Posted by rshaw

That's basically what I did, except I used a sandpaper on the counter top. Is this wrong, is there a better way?

It is not "WRONG" it evens up an edge very efficiently, but now you have a square edge as to a better way ???? face it, for chips, and frowns, you have to take away metal until the edge is smooth and even......

Wanna test how good you can hone this is a great test

The high angle I told you to use (3 layers of tape) will cut off the square edge corners very quickly. then back off that angle (take away layers) and smooth up that bevel, until you have a nice sharp sticky edge from heel to toe...
Then proceed with your normal honing routine, voilà!!!! A sharp razor!!!!