Thread: Breadknifing While Honing

How often do you breadknife your razor while honing, and under what circumstances do you breadknife?

When honing on 1K, the edge often feels raspy, and under the microscope the jagged, wiry edge is evident. So, I lightly breadknife and rehone on the 1K. (I breadknife in 3 angles: vertically, and then from both sides with the blade held at 45 degrees.) If it still doesn't feel and look right, I might breadknife again and rehone.

Breadknifing and rehoning takes about 5 minutes. (I breadknife very gently.)

After this, I usually have a sound edge that persists throughout the rest of the honing process. I don't always breadknife. But, it is an important technique for me in establishing the good 1K level edge.

So, now I have bared my honing soul. Tell me about breadknifing in your procedure.

I've done it with large chips and also with serious frowns. Having done a few I decide to follow the advice of some more experienced honers and I doubt I will ever do it again. If it is simply micro chipping or even chips or a frown that can be seen with the naked eye I have found it creates more work than flat honing using circles or perhaps even lifting the spine a bit until the condition calling for it is corrected. YMMV, just IME.

Who ever started this thing about breadknifing should be shot.

Breadknifing is not a normal honing method and probably isn't any honing method. What it really is can be considered the nuclear option when you have a blade whose edge is in such bad shape that if you were to rescue it you would have to spend a massive amount of time because you would have to remove so much metal for a variety of reasons. It's like coming into a city and doing urban renewal by bulldozing everything. That's exactly what you are doing. Your bulldozing the edge and starting again.

As far as I'm concerned if there is any normal way to save an edge you would not breadknife. It certainly isn't some routine operation to be made a part of any normal razor maint. If I was going to do breadknifing the question I would ask myself is "do I breadknife or just throw the blade away"?

I never breadknife.

Maybe I haven't described the procedure I use enough, or possibly I should have avoided the word breadknife. I am not talking about something to correct a frown. More like what JimmyHAD referred to when he said...

...lifting the spine a bit until the condition calling for it is corrected.

Very, very light touch. Just barely touching the blade to the hone, just a whisper across the hone at a raised angle.

Shoot me now!

Yikes !!!!

The "breadknife" your talking about Larry is not what they are talking about, Bart then Harlan from Shapton brought up what you are doing, a while back.
Sometimes referred to as "Jointing" it does exactly what you are trying to do it starts the edge of as neutral... I use this technique after the razor comes off a buffing wheel myself because the edge is UGLY after that, very ragged...

"Breadknifing" is a Restore technique very, very, rarely used for chips and frowns, to give you an idea of how rarely it is used I have honed over 3500 razors a majority of them restores, I think I have actually breadknifed maybe 30 razors and they were very bad... Most of the time you can get there an easier way, but sometimes you can't....

Originally Posted by gssixgun

The "breadknife" your talking about Larry is not what they are talking about, Bart then Harlan from Shapton brought up what you are doing, a while back. Sometimes referred to as "Jointing" it does exactly what you are trying to do it starts the edge of as neutral... I use this technique after the razor comes off a buffing wheel myself for because the edge is UGLY after that very ragged...

Much appreciated! When there was such a vigorous reaction, I suspected my terminology was misleading.

So, when and how is "jointing" used?

Can you replay in a sentence or two what "Harlan from Shapton" said?

Just found a thread that directly discusses this topic...

http://straightrazorpalace.com/honin...ing-razor.html

My apologies for not finding this thread and reading it before sending this new query.

Here's the conversation GSSixGun referred to, I believe...

http://straightrazorpalace.com/advan...ng-method.html

It is in fact not unnecessary to do breadknifing.
you can use that method until 6k level( i believe "v' forms in 6k level)
After this to do breadnkifing is nonsense to me.
Basically what it does , Takes wire edge out. doesn't change any thickness of the edge. if you are not experienced honer you could have bevel so straight that under the microscope will look like similar to 8k but will not cut darn hair.
If you anyone breadnifing after 8k i should say that person just wasting his /her time.
about doing breadknifing in large chip blade. Jimmy and Glen is right you can do so it will work .
Problem is in somewhere else.
(you would say i have some mental problem)
Actual problem comes out in chipped blade is not the edge. You do see the chip in the edge but to fix that problem you need to REMOVE the metal from the BACK OF THE BLADE to match that angle which edge will function properly.
if you don't then your edge will be crappy edge.
At the end you do breadknifing or not- you end up removing equal amount of metal from spine(back) of the blade.(to make your blade configuration proper spine/edge angle)
It is kinda a circle doesn't matter what you do you end up doing exact same .
hope this helps.