Thread: Bevel Width

Hi Guys. I've tried to restore my old Vulcan Joseph Ellen 6/8, Sheffield straight razor. It is in good shape, spine lightly honed.

Because the bevel was veeery wide and uneven I decided to reset it completely(so now the blade is almost 5/8) and set a new one. After an hour honing on my King Iceberg 1k I got another very wide and uneven bevel that couldn't even be finished on this 1k to cut hair off my arm. I also have nice Boker King Cutter 5/8 honed by a pro. This blade is fantasticaly sharp ,bevel very very narrow , almost hardly visible.

If somebody could tell me what the width of bevel depends on and what I should do to achieve such a narrow bevel. I think that my honing technique is ok. I use almost no pressure, 1 hand honing, 1 layer of electric tape. Thanks guys

Welcome to SRP. Leaving out any variables in pressure the width of the spine in relation to the width of the blade creates the honing angle. AFAIK that will determine the width of the bevel. Some find 3 layers of tape on an old wedge helps in cutting down on the amount of metal that you will have to remove and would make for a narrower bevel.

Here is the SRP Wiki with tutorials on honing and about everything related to straight razors.

Thanks Jimmy for reply. What makes me more concerned now is the fact that I can't achieve a proper sharpness for this blade on my 1k King Iceberg. (the only 1k I have). Despite that I use no pressure there is still very tiny light reflection along the whole edge. To be honest ,I've already tried 3 layers of electric tape. I guess I am doing sth wrong in the final stage of sharpening on 1k. I m not going to go for higher grits 'cause I had heard that it pointless to do it if I didn't get a proper sharpness on 1k

Check out and try Lynn's circles followed by the x stroke in this video series here. Have you done a marker test to make sure your stroke is effective in the edge making contact with the hone for it's length ?

Some wedges or smiling blades do better with a heel leading 45 degree angle or in more extreme cases the 'rolling x'.

Be aware that a little bit of pressure is in order while setting a bevel. Hard to describe how much is too much but the weight of the blade thing comes a bit later.

If you're going to use 3 layers, or 2 or 1 stick with what you start out with to avoid changing the honing angle in midstream.

kal,

Picture this: if your razor were a full wedge, with no hollow grinding whatsoever, the bevel would extend from the spine to the edge. The more hollow grinding there is, the narrower the bevel; therefore, full hollows have the narrowest bevel. Uneven grinding of the hollow will give the bevel apparent varying widths - not necessarily a bad thing, just something that doesn't look so swell. So long as in the honing process you get the bevel all the way down to the edge, so it connects with the bevel on the other side of the blade, you'll get a sharp and shavable edge.

That's my story and I'm stickin' with it

In general the size of the bevel has nothing to do with how well it will shave. Bevel size and consistancy is more a cosmetic thing.

Originally Posted by kalwer

Because the bevel was veeery wide and uneven I decided to reset it completely(so now the blade is almost 5/8) and set a new one.

What do you mean by this? It sounds to me like you breadknifed the razor till the old bevel was gone and then reset it. Is that what you did, or am I misreading something?

Yes my friend I completely removed the old bevel to level 0 and set a new one. It was a painstainking job and took me hours. By the way please guys tell me how long does it take you to put a new bevel on 1k. As for me it was approx 3hrs!!!!!and still it is not sharp on 1k not mentioning higher grits.

3 h a little too much.
depends condition of the blade you should be done in max 30 minutes. gl

Originally Posted by kalwer

Yes my friend I completely removed the old bevel to level 0 and set a new one. It was a painstainking job and took me hours. By the way please guys tell me how long does it take you to put a new bevel on 1k. As for me it was approx 3hrs!!!!!and still it is not sharp on 1k not mentioning higher grits.

Not sure it was required to remove the entire bevel in your case. Butterknifing like you did is only required if the blade is cracked or broken or has an extreme frown.

Anyway, it will take you a long time on the 1000. The amount of time it takes depends on how much pressure you apply and how good you are on the hone. Perhaps another 3 hours?? A 220 grit is much more effective for building an entirely new bevel.