Thread: this bevel is scaring me

Could using a stone with a non lapped surface add to this? Say, one where the edges slope and leave a crown in the center of the stone?

Originally Posted by Philadelph

.I can't say I agree with Glen's analogy. Sure, you can round off the honewear and hide it by buffing, but once you hone it without tape, the wear would come right back. Once there are thicker and thinner sections on the spine, the geometry will never be quite the same. You can hand sand/buff etc. but the problem will still be lying underneath. Only a full regrind can completely alter honewear and the resulting bevel without "assistance" from things like tape. .

Yeah that could be why I specifically laid out the instructions the way I did... but yes if you choose to not follow them, then you can expect to attain different results than what I posted...
If you follow them, and actually know how to hone, you will get a nice even small bevel.... oh yeah and no noticable hone wear...


The second part is also not quite true as you would altering the geometry again....

I understand the principle behind how the bevel is created. I get that the thickness of the spine, relative to the width of the blade is what determines the size and width of the cutting edge. I am just having a bit of a block as to how a razor with progressively more spine wear toward the toe can have a variance in bevel width, as in on the back side of the blade the bevel is wider toward the heel and on the front the bevel is wider closer to the toe. On the back, the corresponding spine section of the widest beveled area (right at the stabilizer) has almost NO wear.

So, the option you were referencing in the earlier post didn't change the thickness of the spine, just the contour? If that is the case, how do you keep from having this recurring problem? Or would resetting the bevel potentially solve the problem? I know it is hard to comment on a specific razor without seeing the exact situation. As the design of the blade DOES give you a built in honing "guide" with the spine resting on the stone during sharpening, most problems found on these razors would be due to faulty honing, correct? I assume that if you can catch them before too much damage is done, a bevel reset can sort of give you a clean slate?

What if you had a 5/8 and wanted to try a smaller razor, say a 3/16. What problems, geometrically, would you encounter by reducing the width of a blade?

Originally Posted by gssixgun

oh yeah and no noticable hone wear...

It's still noticeable in your pics to my eye... just saying.

I'll agree to disagree with you in this thread lol.

I'm with you on this one Philadelph, I've hone some big old wedges that I'd run through my greaseless progression, and although it "appeared" to have corrected uneven honewear..as soon as I honed them (without tape) the unevenness was still evident...

Really the only solution is evenly regrind, OR...the aesthetic solution of taping the spine. I still tape the spine 90% of the time I hone a razor, and some purists out there might think that this will be a decieving practice, hiding uneven honewear through restoration buffing + tape...but...as you also mentioned Philadelph, what matters is a sharp edge that shaves well.

Interesting discussion though, and I do know where glen is coming from, as I thought I had fixed a few uneven bevels & honewear myself through greaseless..but,..once I actually began honing w/o tape I realized it was just lurking beneath.

Originally Posted by blockhead

I understand the principle behind how the bevel is created. I get that the thickness of the spine, relative to the width of the blade is what determines the size and width of the cutting edge. I am just having a bit of a block as to how a razor with progressively more spine wear toward the toe can have a variance in bevel width, as in on the back side of the blade the bevel is wider toward the heel and on the front the bevel is wider closer to the toe. On the back, the corresponding spine section of the widest beveled area (right at the stabilizer) has almost NO wear.

So, the option you were referencing in the earlier post didn't change the thickness of the spine, just the contour? If that is the case, how do you keep from having this recurring problem? Or would resetting the bevel potentially solve the problem? I know it is hard to comment on a specific razor without seeing the exact situation. As the design of the blade DOES give you a built in honing "guide" with the spine resting on the stone during sharpening, most problems found on these razors would be due to faulty honing, correct? I assume that if you can catch them before too much damage is done, a bevel reset can sort of give you a clean slate?

What if you had a 5/8 and wanted to try a smaller razor, say a 3/16. What problems, geometrically, would you encounter by reducing the width of a blade?

It sounds like you are trying to simplify this...

You have soooooo many variables here it is actually more amazing that we ever get a small even bevel..

Just some things that can cause the problems you are describing

A warped spine
an un-even spine
a warped heel
a warped toe
a warped blade
an un-even grind
an un-lapped stone
an un-even stroke
un-even pressure
lifting the spine while honing
and probably a few more I am forgeting.....

All this and more can mess up the bevel/edge or spine...

Brad and Alex why in the world, would you spend all the time and effort to buff, polish, clean, and restore a razor if you are just going to mess it up all over again?????

That is what I don't understand at all, not one bit?????????????????????? I just can't wrap my brain around re-honing those ugly un-even spines back into a nicely restored razor....


edit:
sorry IMHO they are ugly

Glenn wrote

"Just some things that can cause the problems you are describing

A warped spine
an un-even spine
a warped heel
a warped toe
a warped blade
an un-even grind
an un-lapped stone
an un-even stroke
uneven pressure
lifting the spine while honing
and probably a few more I am forgeting....."

Have you been talking to my chiropractor? This pretty much describes by body and my life.

Stimpy you owe me a new keyboard

I just spit A&W rootbeer on it LMAO

Originally Posted by gssixgun

edit:
sorry IMHO they are ugly

I actually like to keep the uneven hone wear, as long as it isn't a frown. I consider it to be a part of the razor's character. It shows that it hasn't led a boring life, sitting on a shelf waiting to become a NOS razor. I also, often, like to keep some pitting as it adds character to the razor.

But I have also been described as lazy.