Thread: Toe trouble

I've used Bart's One Coticule honing method on my french point quarter hollow-- I've got a *great* edge... up to about the last 1/4" to the toe, which barely shaves. My pressure on the bevel set probably wasn't even, and I neglected to check the tip for arm-hair shaving before moving to taping and refining the edge. Looking for advice on improving the toe at this point. Any hope on just continuing with tape + coticle with water with a bit of pressure bias to the toe, or do I need to reset the bevel from scratch?

Thanks,
-Chief

reset the bevel.

Chief, just curious, did you use the marker on the edge to see if laying the blade flat on the hone removed the marker in a couple of strokes ? It could be that you need a rolling x for that blade.

Nothing but good advice here.
The bevel comes first.
If there's a slight smile in the blade, you might need "rolling" strokes.
If part of the blade is not responding while setting a bevel, the magic marker test is always helpful to find out what's going on.
In the majority of cases, it just takes patience.
Try watching the wave of fluid in front of the edge. Set your mind to making the fluid running up the blade during the stroke. You possibly need to shift your focus from heel, over the middle, to toe while you perform the stroke.
The muscles in your hand and arm will almost automatically make little adjustments to guide your stroke in the right way.
Never cease bevel work till you are absolutely positive that the entire edge has a completely developed bevel. Wishful thinking has never honed a razor. Don't even bother to ask me how I know that.
Ok, I'll tell you. I have a scar just above my right cheek bone to remind me that shaving with a dull toe can be dangerous. About a half year ago, I was honing a razor by the brand Colibri, that had a severe warp at 1/4 of the toe. It took ages to get a good bevel on it, and I got pretty bored. I fooled myself in believing that is was good enough, while I pretty damn' well knew that it was not. I took the razor through the rest of the progression and ended up with an extremely sharp blade, with a much less sharp toe. I still was in self-luring mode, in denial of all signs that the toe wasn't ready. During the test shave, the toe part of the edge hung up on a whisker. As a result, the direction of the razor suddenly changed from a shaving into a slicing motion and I witnessed the blade sinking in deep into my skin. I immediately grasped the difference between a "nick" and a "cut". Unfortunately, I was already late for going to the movies with my wife and a befriended couple, so I kept rubbing it with the styptic pen, till the cut was plastered up. The next day the thing was heavily inflamed. It still shows today. Let's hope some summer sun will wipe it out.

Sorry for the long post.

Bart.

Thanks for the advice, I suspected this to be the case. Note, I did use the marker test initially, there isn't a smile on the blade-- I'm pretty sure I just had uneven honing pressure.

Regarding resetting the bevel at this point-- I have a double bevel on the blade now, since tape was introduced at finishing stage. As I reset the bevel, do I need to reset it *completely*, removing the double bevel (so start by dulling the full edge on glass), or do I just need to "touch up" the planes on the first bevel (in that case I would try to preserve the edge on the rest of the blade).

-Chief

If it was mine I would reset the bevel completely checking under magnification that I had it completed before I went with the second bevel. Personally I wouldn't do the second bevel but that is just a personal prejudice.

Originally Posted by BHChieftain

Regarding resetting the bevel at this point-- I have a double bevel on the blade now, since tape was introduced at finishing stage. As I reset the bevel, do I need to reset it *completely*, removing the double bevel (so start by dulling the full edge on glass), or do I just need to "touch up" the planes on the first bevel (in that case I would try to preserve the edge on the rest of the blade).

-Chief

Since you never had the good bevel entirely along the edge, I must advice you to completely reset the bevel. It won't take as long as you might thing; because you only have to undo one layer of tape and a rather narrow secondary bevel.
If you were asking the same question for doing the 4th or 5th touch-up on a correct edge, I would say to only do enough honing without tape to reduce the width of the secondary bevel a bit.

But since we're not talking about a real touch-up, you have no other option than to redo the bevel work. It's penitence time for not getting it right when you had the chance.

Good luck,
Bart.

Well, I'm pretty sure if I just stare at the toe and concentrate hard enough, it will sharpen up on its own. I'll post my progress to the forum.

-Chief

Originally Posted by BHChieftain

Well, I'm pretty sure if I just stare at the toe and concentrate hard enough, it will sharpen up on its own. I'll post my progress to the forum.

-Chief

Quite right. If you convince your razor and yourself that it is sharp, it'll shave like dream. There are plenty testimonies on the forums about that. You might be waking up with heavy razor burn, though.

Bart.

Originally Posted by BHChieftain

Well, I'm pretty sure if I just stare at the toe and concentrate hard enough, it will sharpen up on its own. I'll post my progress to the forum.

-Chief

Spent a week staring at it... nothing... I think that newly installed cell-phone tower down the street must be blocking my powers...

So with much sorrow, I dragged my razor's edge across the glass... such a shame since 90% of the blade was a dream.

I reset the bevel with the standard x stroke, but was still not getting a response from the toe. Employed rolling x pattern, and that worked (I did not need to lift the edge, but I did need to move the pressue point around). Also used more of a 45degree stroke. Finished up with the tape for a double bevel, and she shaves great.

Thanks for the advice, and the fantastic wiki site. The pictures on the wiki explaining the rolling x stroke were really helpful.

-Chief