An Angry Half-Inch

So, I have recently gotten two of my four razors into shaving shape so that leaves just one non-shaver: A Double Arrow. I would like to be able to shave with this one, just to justify having it, and it was pretty close to shave ready from the TPT I gave it, so I gave it a few passes on the Coticule with water, stropped and shaved. I got an ok shave with it, not as smooth as the Wapi or even the Kropp, but I had a lot of trouble with the tip. So I took a look at the edge under magnification and it is smooth and even all the way out to the last half inch of the toe--which looks like a train wreck.

Without magnification, there is just a bit of sparkle visible but under 100x there is a ton of micro-chipping. Under further investigation, it appears that this part of the blade is slightly warped--just enough to catch the scales when laid down on the wrong side. So that's the cause of the problem, I imagine--the warp and the crappy flexible scales. So, how do I fix it?

The size of the chips is pretty small--maybe about 1/8 the width of the bevel, but there is a TON of chipping. And, with the warp, honing is complicated.

My hone setup is a BBW/Cot combo and a Shapton 12k. WHere should I start to hone out these chips? Cot w/ slurry? BBW w/ slurry? And should I use pressure to deal with the warp, or a VERY slight raising of the spine?

Any advice would be appreciated!
Thanks,
Jim

BBW w/ slurryuntil the chips are gone and then move on to the yellow w/ slurry,yellow with water and then finish up w/ the 12 k.

Thanks...I'll let you know how it turns out this week.
Any advice on the warp?

On the warp use whats called the rocking X stroke, which will give the entire blade equal time on the stone. Keep in touch, let us know how it goes.

I agree with the above. The rolling X stroke is about the only effective way to hone a razor with a warp. Be sure to use a heel leading stroke with the toe of the blade angled back 30-45 degrees. Watch the water flow in front of the edge as you hone,. That will tell you where the point of contact is on the edge. The water should flow from heel to toe.

You cannot hone out the warp. It is permanent.
Scales....either replace them with a set that has more space in between and/or be very careful when closing the razor.

Hope this helps,:)

Do you particularly care for the round point? If it is a recurring problem and can't seem to figure it out, you could just grind it off.

I'm not sure if this was intentional or not, but the title
of this post brings back horrible memories from the film
"Hedwig and the Angry Inch"...

- Scott

Thanks for all the advice guys. I'm considering my options regarding the warp--I think first thing is, get them out of those crappy DA scales. I was planning to anyway, so this just strengthens my resolve.

That means either getting new scales (Thanks VERY much for the generous offer, O_S) or...using it as a scaleless razor. I'm going to finish up the sheath type thing I've been working up in my spare time, and see how that goes.

As for grinding down the tip...Honestly, I would love a razor with a Spanish point or barber's notch, but I have very little confidence in my grinding skills...of course, a DA is not all that great a loss if it goes south.

And Sebell, of COURSE it was intentional. I quite enjoyed Hedwig and the Angry Inch...Some catchy tunes in there. :)

OK, so I finally got some time to do some work with this blade. I haven't gotten the blade rescaled yet--I got Old_School's scales (THANK YOU!), but I haven't taken the time to set up the right tools. I figured I'd at least try to get the balde fixed and try out my un-scaled razor before I rescaled, anyway.

Well, I took the old scales off which was way too easy--I just slipped a knife blade under the cheapo brass DA washer, and PING, off it popped. I finished up my sheath (a different post entirely) so the blade should be protected now. And today, I got out the hones.

I started with the BBW and slurry. I checked the blade under the scope top set the image of the pits in my head, so I could compare as I went, and went to town. I checked the nicks every ten laps at first. For the first 70 or so rounds, there was no visible change. So I went anyother 50 laps with no checking, and then, under the scope--no change.

I did another 50. No change. I did another HUNDRED. No change.

That's 270 laps on the BBW with slurry with NO EFFECT on the nicks. I was trying the rolling X to make sure the toe made contact where it warped, but...even if I was messing that up, the stroke on the other side, where the warp guarantees contact, should have caused SOME change, shouldn't there?

What could I be doing wrong? Should I be using more pressure? Backhoning? I'm at an utter loss...I could understand not getting the razor sharp, but causing NO change whatsoever? I mean, the razor still passes the HHT and TPT no problem, so it's not like I made the razor a butterknife...

I'm so confused.

It sounds like your not making contact with that last 1/2".
270 laps should have made some difference.
Use the magic marker test and the rolling X stroke for 10 laps then check to see if your making contact on that portion. Correct your stroke if necessary. The DA's are not very hard steel. They hone up easily but you still need to apply a bit of pressure when removing nicks.
May I suggest using 1000 grit sandpaper? It is very effective at removing nicks. If you want more info on how to use it just let me know.

Hope this helps,:)

I agree with Randy; sounds like poor or no contact. Try the magic marker test to be sure (color the bevel with a marker and see if it gets honed off on the entire blade).

I would also suggest you use either your coticule with slurry or a coarser stone. The BBW may be more coarse than the coticule, but the coticule with slurry will still cut faster than the BBW with slurry. If that doesn't work, try something a little lower, like a 4k.

Thanks for the advice, guys. I'll give some thought to stones--I don't have any coarser stones, though...

The Blue is way too slow to do that kind of work.
I suggest you raise a milky slurry on the Coticule and try with that. Any Coticule with some cutting power will be much faster than the Blue. The slurry should start to show grayish discoloration from steel entering the mix, within 10 to 20 laps.

If the warp is severe, you may want to use pretty outspoken X's. On another note: all DA's I have ever seen, all had a smiling edge, which calls for the rolling X-stroke. I also second Randy's tip about watching the wave of slurry in front of the edge / running up the edge.

Good luck,
Bart.

OK guys, I FINALLY got back to this one. I tried the marker test, ans dure enough I wasn't quite hitting on that toe. So I went back to the blue, but after twenty laps it still wasn't doing what I was hoping. So, taking a page from Bart's book, I went to the slurry+coticule.

Holy MOLY! That was fast. About 100 laps and I am down to one last nick, the deepest of the lot. He'll take at least another hundred, I think, but...yeah, that was awesome, watching the edge smooth out under the microscope.

Thanks for all the help--now it's just a matter of patience, and finishing up.

I'll be back!