Razor's Edge

Honemeisters, I just broke my cherry and honed a razor for the first time. I'll have to wait until tomorrow morning to see how effective I was. Question: under the microscope, most of the bevel is black in color and some is white/silver. What is this color difference indicative of????? The bevel is beautifully straight and keen otherwise.

Thanks,
Rob

On the black parts of the bevel, you honed fine, but on the white/silver parts the bevel didn't touch the hone... Time (tommorow) will tell...

Nenad

Thanks, Nenad. I'll be conscious of that from now on. It's very interesting how the bevel's coloring is such a stark contrast from the rest of the blade. Do you know why the removal of metal causes the bevel to be black in color?

-Rob

It's not black, but mirror like, illusion of black. When you strop, the hone stirations on the edge get more pronounced, or become your white /silver-is color, don't ask me how... btw, did you stropped after the honing session?

If you tilt the blade so that the bevel is perpendicular to your sight plain some of the black will dissapear and be replaced with the true appearance. Its an optical illusion like black ice...

Thanks, Alan. That makes sense. Nenad, after the Norton, I did 20 or so laps on .5 paste then approximately 20 on plain leather.

Thanks guys.

-Rob

Try looking for even bevel color right after the hone. When stroping on pastes and leather, the uniform bevel color will change. I am not sure (haven't used pasted strop) but I think paste will take the black ice effect even further.

have fun,
Nenad

The bevel should look uniform all the way down, assuming you're keeping the same viewing angle as you scan down the edge. The light silvery part you describe, is it on some areas of the very edge of the razor? If so, you may have created a bit of a burr, or a wire edge. You'll know for sure when you shave with it.

Jeff