Thread: A question..

Yes Jimmy, The nick was lifting the spine ever so slightly, and that is also why the edge of the hone was also becoming fouled with so much steel. It felt as though it was catching, until the X stroke would take that area of the spine off the hone.
Could such a small imperfection prevent this razor from taking a shave ready edge, or am I just overthinking this?

And, thanks once again for the help!

Have you asked how the razor was honed? Tape or not?
If tape has been used it could be that the problem was not as evident, and may be even that mislead the person that honed the razor?
If the nick is very small it could be possible to smooth it out with fine sand paper or on a lower grit stone, but very carefully, then hone it all the way. The sandpaper fix could very well change the aesthetics of the blade though.

Originally Posted by mainaman

Have you asked how the razor was honed? Tape or not?
If tape has been used it could be that the problem was not as evident, and may be even that mislead the person that honed the razor?
If the nick is very small it could be possible to smooth it out with fine sand paper or on a lower grit stone, but very carefully, then hone it all the way. The sandpaper fix could very well change the aesthetics of the blade though.

That's an interesting point, Stefan, and one that I had not thought of..
You're quite right, I imagine that a layer of tape could have made the imperfection virtually unnoticable while honing.
The spine has been lightly stoned to the flat of the tang, and the razor looks as good as it did before stoning.

Thanks for the good advice!

Originally Posted by BlacknTan

Could such a small imperfection prevent this razor from taking a shave ready edge, or am I just overthinking this?

It wouldn't do it any good. I would get rid of the protrusion. You could do it on a coarser stone with the edge off the stone and just focus on the spine anomaly. Then try the 4/8 pyramid and see what you end up with. If necessary you can always drop back and go to the bevel setters doing circles and go up from there.

The ding on the spine is smooth, Jimmy. I smoothed that out as soon as I found it. The spine is nice and flat now.
Using a 10X loupe, there seems to be microchipping (I assume?) on the edge near the heel. I suppose that would be consistent with the placement of the flaw on the spine, at the heel end directly above the radius on the edge side..

I'll rework the edge as you suggest... on Saturday when my wife goes to work. I find I need total concentration with no interruptions when I'm working with the hones..