Thread: Bevel Help Needed

Okay so I am attempting my first restoration. The razor is a Beau Brummel 4/8. Not sure about the steel type. It says "wedge" on the tang, but I think I looks more like a 1/4 hollow. I didnt take the scales off because they were beautiful and I didn't want to ruin them. The blade was in pretty good shape. I did a few hours of hand sanding and am very satisfied with the results. Then the problems set in. I tried to set the bevel on a 1k King stone with water. I was getting pretty close using a rolling x because it has a slight smile. There was an area about an inch long that I could not get to pass the TNT for the life of me. After closer inspection I noticed that that area was slightly concave. I guess you could call it a slight frown in the middle of a slight smile? So I breadknifed it on the back side of the hone and started again. I have probably put easily 100 laps on this thing on the 1k after bread knifing and cannot get it even close to passing the TNT. I didn't tape the spine and I'm kinda regretting it now cause I'm putting some hone wear on it. At least it's even. So what am I doing wrong. Did I breadknife too much? Or do I just need to be patient and keep honing? My stone choices are King 1k and 6k and the norton 4k/8k. All freshly lapped. Im about to get a naniwa 10k or 12k for polishing too. Sorry This was such a long post. I tried to incorporate the whole scenario.

I've got one of those too and had a similar problem. Took a long time to get that bevel set on mine too. I don't remember how long but it was a tough job. I would go ahead and tape the spine now if you're concerned about the hone wear. If a 45 degree angle to the hone will have the edge contacting the hone across the length circles will be quicker.

In the Wiki is a whole article about how to re-establish a bread-knifed edge...

Make sure to link back the the original thread I did, as many questions are asked and answered there...

Bread-knifing is serious restoration and requires you to reset a pre-bevel first, then you start sharpening a real bevel... It is a ton of work especially on a wedge style You are right BTW that is a 1/4 wedge there is a slight hollow cut out those BB"S are cousins to Dubl Ducks you know??

I hope i am not discouraging you .if you don't have enough experience with sharpening will better start sharpening hallow ground ,trouble blades before moving to sharpen nice wedges.
I have done exact same as you do. i did it 4 years ago and set was 7 day set. Until to day i regret why i have done so.
GL

I would give it to the professionals to hone. Their experience and tools will come into play here and I am sure they can advise you so you feel more sure about setting the bevel on the next go around.

Pabster

if you bread knif a razor, thats pretty much making a flat where the edge was. !k stone will take a long time to get the bevel set. I would go lower, say 500-700 grit range.
I had to bread knife an e-bay junker and I did not know about the techniques involved to do it right but I reestablished the bevel really fast with my Bester 500.

First off, thanks so much for your help. Based on the advice in this post and the wiki here is what I did. I taped the spine with just one layer of tape since my electical tape is 7.5 mil. Then I placed 600 grit 3M wet/dry sandpaper on my 1k hone and set a rough bevel that passed the TNT. I then did 100 or so laps on the 1k king stone to refine the bevel. Then I did a pyramid on the norton 4k/8k starting at 25 laps. Then I shave tested. It was pretty rough and not passable at all. I went back to the norton and did another pyramid. After the 10 lap set I did 5 back hone laps on the 8k to make sure I am not putting a wire on it, then I finished the pyramid and shave tested again. Granted my beard prep in the shave tests was not normal as I was at the fire station and didn't want to take a shower (gettin a call with soap in your nethers isn't fun). I just washed my face then splashed it with hot water several times. I used TOBS cream and then shaved. It was decent. It pulled alot, but I was pretty damn proud that it even cut hair at all considering it is my first attempt at honing. So the next question is what do I do now? Another pyramid? Or does it sound like I need to do some more bevel work? I should have a Chinese 12k coming in any day now, so I can finish it on that next time.

Originally Posted by TTfireman

So the next question is what do I do now? Another pyramid? Or does it sound like I need to do some more bevel work? I should have a Chinese 12k coming in any day now, so I can finish it on that next time.

I would check out how it cuts hair on my forearm or calf and how it feels with the TPT. If it 'pops' hair off of the forearm to me that is an indication that I am there or nearly there.

With the thumb pad test I got familiar with it by following Randydance's suggestion to do it with a new DE or SE blade to feel the 'sticky' feeling that you want on your edge. So if it is 'sticky' and pops hair for the length of the blade easily I would either strop and shave of maybe go to the 12k you spoke of.

If it won't pop the hair and doesn't feel sticky to the TPT another pyramid might be in order. If you have an eye loupe or one of those Radio Shack hand held 60 x microscopes it is handy to see the bevel condition.

IOW, if the bevel is well set then more pyramid and if it is not then you need to continue on that before going back to the pyramid. I'll do them until it is sharp and shaves comfortably off of the 4/8 myself. Another thing I learned from Randy. No point in polishing with a 12k or whatever if it won't shave well off of a 4/8.

BTW, especially in shaving without the shower I wash my face twice vigorously. Get mad at those whiskers and do it twice to soften them up. I don't know how long you've been at it but the preperation, blade angle and especially stretching techniques have a lot to do with a smooth, close and comfortable shave.

i would do the marker test on the edge just take the marker and mark the bevel then do 5 strokes on the stone then look and see if their is any left on the bevel this will show you if the bevel is set. this is the most important stage on any razor without the bevel set it will have dull spots on the edge.

Originally Posted by ronnie brown

i would do the marker test on the edge just take the marker and mark the bevel then do 5 strokes on the stone then look and see if their is any left on the bevel this will show you if the bevel is set. this is the most important stage on any razor without the bevel set it will have dull spots on the edge.

And then you may try the rocking X, or the circles that Jimmy mentioned. Good call Ronnie!