Thread: Smiling W&B

So I've been working on sharpening up a smiling w&b quarter hollow (marked "The Celebrated - Hollow Ground". I've been doing a rolling, sweeping x stroke, but the bevel is not establishing itself on the toe and heel. The centre of the blade will pass the hht off of my japanese 1k, but the toe and heel are lagging behind to the point where the bevel is twice as wide at the centre. on the tnt, 3/8 of an inch at either end lacks the bite that the middle shows. does anybody have any tips for re-establishing an even bevel on a smiling blade?

if you do have experience i would say go head try this. if not then will better learn in other old blades then move to a good blades.
at first you have to tape your wedge blade.
how many layer's it depends.
if you do have uneven hone wear on the back of the blade you can try this trick.
try tape location where is largest bevel. and hone until you will end up even bevel level. from the tip to the heel
hope this helps.
Remember always marker test will guide you but don't use any other strokes then straight strokes while you do the marker test.
GL

It sounds like your rolling stroke isn't hitting the entire edge on the "end curves"; it might need a little more roll on the start and end of the stroke. I'm with Sham on using marker to see where your stroke is hitting the edge.

Originally Posted by Sticky

It sounds like your rolling stroke isn't hitting the entire edge on the "end curves"; it might need a little more roll on the start and end of the stroke. I'm with Sham on using marker to see where your stroke is hitting the edge.

+1 with Sham and Steven. You might take a look at the barber manual excerpt from the SRP Wiki here.

On page 24 where they show the blade profile illustration they describe a method for getting the heel and the point up to speed without overdoing the midsection of the blade. They do qualify this method as 'for the advanced student' so take that into consideration.

I started exaggerating the roll in my stroke, and its doing better. The toe, however is a little more stubborn than the heel, although its coming along. Thanks for the help.

Using the great advice found on SRP, I just reconditioned an old W&B with a very slight smile. Rotted scales removed and replaced with white micarta, the Wade and Butcher took a fantastic edge when honed according to the advice above. After some disastrous early attempts to hone before I delved into the information on SRP, I was amazed and relieved by a beautiful shave from a "good as new" razor!

My wife, a surgeon, watched while I shaved and offered to lend a hand. With her fine touch, she indulged me with a gentle shave and complimented the sharpness of the blade. Since she is using the standard of a scalpel as a comparison, I was pleased.

It was a sweet and tender moment. Now I have to figure out how to get her to do that every day at 5am...

Originally Posted by boshave

My wife, a surgeon, watched while I shaved and offered to lend a hand.

Congrats on your honing success. A friend of mine was an avid skydiver. He once told me that his wife, who was also into the skydiving, packed his parachute most of the time. I was very impressed with the trust and confidence. Your allowing your spouse to shave you brought that to mind.

Packing a parachute, Yikes! That is trust indeed.