Thread: Tips for honing a bowed blade?

Any tips for honing a blade that has a bow? I'm thinking apply a bit of pressure to the middle on one side with the other hand and the sides while honing the other side?

thx

-Mike

Use a magic marker on the bevel and do a few strokes to see whether he stroke you are using is making contact with the hone. If you have a narrow hone it is sometimes easier to hone a warped blade but it can be done with a wider rock. Depends on how warped but the concave side is the hassle IME but even if you have to manipulate it over the edge of the hone it is doable.

You could try the swooping x stroke, as shown here, but as Jimmy mentions, the easiest way is to use a narrower hone. That way it allows the blade to maintain contact.

Originally Posted by MrMike

Any tips for honing a blade that has a bow? I'm thinking apply a bit of pressure to the middle on one side with the other hand and the sides while honing the other side?

If you do that the bevels will be uneven, like big bevels near the ends and small bevel in the middle. Using a narrow hone avoids that. I have a one-inch wide aluminum blank that I put lapping film on to hone such razors.

Originally Posted by MrMike

Any tips for honing a blade that has a bow? I'm thinking apply a bit of pressure to the middle on one side with the other hand and the sides while honing the other side?

thx

-Mike

How bad is it....?
Is is something that can be quickly corrected by
someone with of full bench of stones + hones or is it something
that must be lived with.

Others mentioned using a marker on both the edge and back
of the blade. A couple of passes may tell you what the problem
is. Multiple times, Reapply the marker and try different
strokes to see if you can get the hone to work the full edge.
You may need a slightly different stroke each direction.

Depending on your religion you can use the side of the hone
even letting it round over a little.

If the blade shaves well but does not respond at all your
big flat rocks consider some less expensive skinny hones or
make a "home made" four way skinny strop + balsa/ leather
hone stick just for this blade.

Great, just what I need, another hone!

Hmm. Kinda broke at the moment, the side of my swatty will have to do. Sadly cant use the coticule because it's half slate. What a frustrating blade to get as a first razor... I could hear a difference stropping the two sides, I figured it was my sloppy technique.

I tried honing a bowed blade flat . I gave up when I started running out of metal on the spine . I still have it . It's a Wade & Butcher Bow razor (aptly named)

I'd rather not buy a bunch of 1 inch hones. I decided to purchase a 1x1x24 piece of balsa wood, which I'm going to treat with Dovo Red, Dovo Black, Thiers '10,000' grit and then ChromeOx. If I feel really ambitious, I may even make a handle of sorts. I'll report my results!

Thank you all for your suggestions.

Originally Posted by MrMike

I'd rather not buy a bunch of 1 inch hones. I decided to purchase a 1x1x24 piece of balsa wood, which I'm going to treat with Dovo Red, Dovo Black, Thiers '10,000' grit and then ChromeOx. If I feel really ambitious, I may even make a handle of sorts. I'll report my results!

Thank you all for your suggestions.

Good idea. It should get you in a position to shave
with it and not fail if you try to correct it bit by bit.

Please do let us know how it works for you.

Well I ended up purchasing a few pieces of 1x1x24 balsa, and applied Dovo Red, Black, and Chrome Ox, leaving the fourth side untreated.

I did 20x20x20x20 and it produced good results! The only problems seem to be that the Dovo paste is very 'slippery' on balsa so its a bit hard to strop on when I'm used to leather/fabric; also the pastes seem to want to migrate around to the other sides a bit. But so far, good shave. If it keeps working out, I might make a nice handle and perhaps put a piece of leather on the plain side.