Thread: Bevel Setting a Smile: Heel is dull!

Take a look at page 24 of the 1961 barber manual excerpt here, 'Honing Technique For the Advanced Student'. You don't have to follow that exactly but it'll give you the idea. IOW, work on the heel with back and forth strokes or circles but interspersed with X strokes (rolling x if necessary) to keep from putting a step in the bevel. Check with TPT and magnification as you go to keep things even as possible. Just what I would do, not necessarily the only way.

First you will most likely find that the heel was never set in the first place they rarely were... Now if you are an anal retentive idiot like me that just won't cut it, so take a look at the heel by sighting down the tang... You will probably find the the heel is warped... You are going to have to follow Jimmy's advice with the circles and target the heel specifically and use a bit of pressure to yank that heel into line...
BTW expect hours on the hone...

I did an hour of X Honing last night and it seems that the trick from the barber's manual is doing the trick.

Originally Posted by JonnyO

I did an hour of X Honing last night and it seems that the trick from the barber's manual is doing the trick.

Yeah, those old boys knew what they were talking about. Glad to hear that it is working for you.

Originally Posted by gssixgun

First you will most likely find that the heel was never set in the first place they rarely were... Now if you are an anal retentive idiot like me that just won't cut it, so take a look at the heel by sighting down the tang... You will probably find the the heel is warped... You are going to have to follow Jimmy's advice with the circles and target the heel specifically and use a bit of pressure to yank that heel into line...
BTW expect hours on the hone...

Thats really useful. All this time I thought I had problems honing heels. I've had to go back to the bevel a bunch of times because of dull heels, which is especially annoying if it takes you a long time to hone, like it does me.

Good info in the manual. I spent an hour or so last night setting the bevel on a Greaves wedge. It's nearly done but I'm interested to try what the manual recommends.

It's a good thing this thread came up as I'm working on a Wostenholm smiling wedge and having a bit of trouble withe the heel.

Upon setting the bevel do you have to continue to use the same honing method or will a rolling x work?

Originally Posted by doleeo

It's a good thing this thread came up as I'm working on a Wostenholm smiling wedge and having a bit of trouble withe the heel.

Upon setting the bevel do you have to continue to use the same honing method or will a rolling x work?

Whatever works is what you would want to use IMO. On those old Sheffield smiling blades the rolling x is often the best bet.

I do a fair number of smiling wedges, and they can be a serious PITA. I usually do rocking, heal leading circles to get things going and then a rolling, heal leading X to set the bevel and do the rest of the honing. I hold the razor in position such that the heal is leading - maybe around a 30 degree angle, but it depends on the razor and it's smile and how much I end up needing to work certain parts of the blade. Note the angle you hold the razor at, you'll want to keep that constant all the time. This is because the spine width may vary, as may the distance from the spine to the edge, so keeping the angle of the razor with respect to the hone constant is the only way to ensure you have a consistent bevel angle. If you change the angle, you will likely see multiple bevels start to form. That is bad.

So, the heal leading, rocking circle, serious metal removal technique: Start with the heal leading (razor at an angle to the hone) and tilt the razor such that the heal makes contact with the hone, just as you would with a rolling X stroke. Now, instead of making a rolling X, start to make little circles with the razor. As you are making circles, start to rock the razor towards the toe, as you would if you were doing a rolling X stroke, and keep those circles going. Also, maintain the angle of the razor to the hone. Roll out to the toe, and then roll back. Try to keep your circle rate, your rock rate, and the size of your circles constant at first. This will help to remove metal uniformly from all parts of the razor's spine and edge. I count the number of "rocks" from heal to toe back to heal (so heal, toe, heal is 1), do a few, and then flip the razor and do the other side. As you figure out which parts of the razor need more steel removed, you can focus in by rocking more slowly there, doing bigger circles there, or doing faster circles there - any one of these (or all three) results in more distance over the hone which results in more metal removed. Sometimes, I only rock over the heal, sometimes I only rock over the toe, sometimes I only rock over the middle - well, I shouldn't say only; if I'm really working the heal, I still rock all the way out to the toe now and again just so the wear at the toe doesn't form a step. A step shouldn't form, because your circles and rocking will not likely all end uniformly at the same place, but I like to be sure I'm blending the wear.

Periodically, I interrupt the rocking, rolling, circular madness, do a few rolling X strokes, and check the edge. Depending on how much work you need to do, you may be able to just look at the edge, or you may need to check by doing a arm hair, thumbnail, or thumbpad test. I do these rolling X strokes before testing because I find it easier to look and feel an edge that has a uniform scratch pattern, and the X's give me that. Once I get good results from just a few rolling X strokes, I go back and do 10 more rolling X strokes, just to make sure. Make sure of what? I don't really know. It just makes me feel better.

Once I have the bevel set, I'll do mostly just the heal leading, rolling X (same angle!) all the way up to my finisher, but sometimes I do the rocking, rolling circular madness on my second hone (would work on whatever you go to after the 1k - be it a Norton 4, Nani 3, Nani 5, Aoto, whatever) for a little followed by the rolling, heal leading X. For that first jump, the RRCM helps remove scratches quicker, but there's no need for anything but the rolling, heal leading X on the higher grits.

I hope that all makes sense, and if I'm really hopeful, I hope it helps someone. It would probably be better if I could do a video, and I would if I could, but I'm not set up to do so.

It's just what works for me, maybe it will work for you too.