Thread: Restoration help

I did a couple swipes on the norton 1k so it would be a little easier to see the wear on the blade now. What would be the best method to go about honing this razor up?

Also thanks everyone for all the great information! so far its only been asking questions, but the more I learn about the straight razor side of this, the more I will be able to contribute on the other end. Thanks again

What stones/grit do you have at hand?

Ive got 220/1000, 4000/8000, yellow coticule, chinese 12k and a king 1000/4000

and some barber hones and pasted strops

Check the bevel, if needed bevel it on the 1k
Then 1k king 4k norton 8k norton or 4k king.


Now you can go to barber, go to coti with water, go to china 12k, go to pasted strop... whatever you feel like.

you can add several layers of tape on the spine, this will save you some time with the bevel. The bevel will be much narrower and the angle will be bigger but it will not affect the shaving.

How many layers of tape would you add? Which would be the correct way of honing this if I plan on passing it along when I'm done? Tape or no tape? Thanks again

On an old wedge like that I would start with 4 layers and watch the bevel, if it starts to grow larger than it should dont be afraid to use more. Take the tape from the tip of the spine, along the spine to just shy of the heel(equidistant), not the entire length of the spine. Then start at 1k , then 4k, 8k, then finisher stone. Try Lynns pyramid technique, it looks crazy, but it will work.

I don't see why would you want to tape this razor, let alone more than a single layer of tape.
I think you should just hone the razor without tape using an x-pattern, the heel leading at 45 degrees and towards the end of the stroke rotate the razor slightly so that it ends up perpendicular to the hone, perhaps even the tip leading a bit.
You should do this on the 1000 grit until the razor is sharp to shave armhair without any effort, and has no microchipping on the edge, then you switch the hones to 4000 then to 8000, the same type of stroke.

Originally Posted by gugi

I don't see why would you want to tape this razor, let alone more than a single layer of tape.
I think you should just hone the razor without tape using an x-pattern, the heel leading at 45 degrees and towards the end of the stroke rotate the razor slightly so that it ends up perpendicular to the hone, perhaps even the tip leading a bit.
You should do this on the 1000 grit until the razor is sharp to shave armhair without any effort, and has no microchipping on the edge, then you switch the hones to 4000 then to 8000, the same type of stroke.

+1 It looks like the bevel is set even with the ware on the spine I would add no tape just step through a normal honing process like gugi said.

Sounds good thanks! How do I know when the bevel gets too large? This is almost at about an 1/8 of an inch, maybe a tad more. It doesn't bother me I just want to do it right. Thanks again