Thread: Razors that don't sit flat on hone

Sorry old thread but, I would love an explanation of how to correct this issue. How can we true up the razor to the hone? you do you grind it so that you only grind the high spots, and not the low spots making the razor sit flatter?
Also Lynn always speaks of uniform bevels... out of the last 3 brand new razors from dovo I bought, the bevels never look uniform. Not sure its possible to get one uniform in width across the whole blade. I hone up my razors without much thought, and they have me close without uniform bevels or sitting flat... but I sure would like to see the results with those errors corrected.

My guess is that a uniform narrow bevel would shave about as well as uneven wavy one so long as the bevel is set.

Bob

The whole uniform bevel, grind the razor flat has been promoted by a few guys on line recently. But as you can see it is nothing new.

You can grind the spine so the razor sits flat on the stone, but then you have grind marks on the spine and an uneven spine.

Most razors are not straight because of heat treatment, Vintage razors because of excess wear. Until recently, the 1990, synthetic stone honing and bevel set lapping obsession did not exist. Occasionally you see vintage, well used razors with very little wear, they were maintained on high grit stones and strops.

So the choice is to grind the spine or grind the bevel, an uneven bevel will shave just fine. The even bevel is a product of knife honing jigs. With the advent of these jigs that can produce near perfect, shiny bevels on knives, many that transition over to razors want the same perfect bevel on their razors. But with razors we have the spine to contend with, and excessive and wonky hone wear, that dictates the bevel size and shape.

Tape, a variety of honing strokes and pressure are the answers for most and some, an uneven bevel is something we have to live with.

If you decide to grind the spine of a hundred year old, classic razor, just remember, you can never put it back.

If the spine were merely warped, it would not sit flat on either side.

Measure the spine thickness in three places. Toe, middle and heel. That should tell the tale.

In my opinion, because you can't add steel back on a razor, the uniformity is really all about the bevel being evenly flat on both sides to form a perfect edge.

Have fun

For all the reasons stated above, I would not correct it. Unless the uneven spine was the source of a wear issue, or there was a part of the blade that simply would not touch the stone I wouldn't go out of my way to try and fix the way the razor lays on the hone. If I can't get an area with a rolling X stroke, then I might consider reworking the spine. Otherwise, if it can create a shaving edge I'm happy.

alright thanks guys. I'll stop worrying about it I guess. shave on!

When dealing with really irregular blades (hone wear, hand forged, etc.) a narrow hone will often work where a wider one won't.

I have tons of different edgepro stones, perhaps I should try that. I have a huge array of glass stones in that size.

Originally Posted by glytch5

I have tons of different edgepro stones, perhaps I should try that. I have a huge array of glass stones in that size.

It's not that wide stones don't work it's that people don't know how to work them.

http://straightrazorpalace.com/honin...tml#post748129