Thread: help with honing

I am having trouble with honing a new razor I picked up. On one side it hones great, but on the other the bevel is uneven and more honed in the middle than on the heel and tip.




How do I correct this? Is the blade supposed to have a smile or no? Does anyone know anything about this particular brand/model? Its a waterville cuttlery "Diadem"

Here is another pic

Its hard to tell from the pics but it looks like its straight edge with a slight curve @ the toe.
It also looks like it has a slight frown but it might be due to the light bouncing off the bevel.
How do you hone the razor, what strokes do you use?
Try circles, 40 on one side 40 on the other, then 10 x-strokes. Repeat untill the bevel is set, then move on to the next grit.

sorry about the pics. The bevel on the non-engraved side has a bigger bevel in the center than on the outsides. Especially at the heel. When I hone it it doesn't set flat on the hone across the whole blade at the heel, but does on the first half of the blade from the tip. There is also a lot of spine ground out on that back side above the heel.

Watervilles are supposed to be great shavers. I've not actually used one myself, but people I trust really love them.

As for uneven hone wear; it's really just cosmetic so long as you can put an edge on the razor and there is no frown. If there is a frown, you'll want to hone that out before focusing on setting the bevel (chances are you won't be able to set the bevel on a frowning hone, unless you're pretty good at honing and try to leave the frown).

maybe I should just send it in to get honed. I am a beginner in honing and don't want to trash this one.

Originally Posted by mrmaroon

maybe I should just send it in to get honed. I am a beginner in honing and don't want to trash this one.

great idea.if you like to learn honing buy old bay blades and train.gl

Originally Posted by mrmaroon

I am having trouble with honing a new razor I picked up. On one side it hones great, but on the other the bevel is uneven and more honed in the middle than on the heel and tip.
How do I correct this? Is the blade supposed to have a smile or no?

From your description it may be warpage giving you grief rather than a slight smile at the toe. Is it possible you are somehow honing unevenly ?

If you are unsure of how to proceed send it out. Not all razors have an evenly shaped bevel. Chances are you end up with a great shaver.

The razor look's like it has a slight smile. I would hone this with a slight rolling x. For a beginer, it's not the easiest blade to start with . You would be best to send it out.

Get your self a double arrow to practice on, if you want to learn how to hone. There very cheap, also make nice shaver's