Thread: Debugging edge

Hi fellas,

I have a Boker King Cutter that I restored (de-pinned, cleaned up blade, sanded rust out of tang, polished blade, cleaned up scales and re-pinned) and then honed to a decent edge. I had trouble with it at first but I went a second go round after asking some questions about it here and got it to a decent level of sharpness for my skill level.

It shaved decently for the first few times I used it. Then I was shaving with my other Dovo razor for awhile and just this morning came back to trying the King Cutter. So, it had rested probably a week and a half since the last time it was used. The shave today was horrible. Pulling, missing tons of whiskers, just a mess.

Could a mistake stropping cause this big of a shift? I was actually thinking while stropping that I was doing a good job that time, so I don't think I did anything too bad to it. Also, when I'm finished shaving I dry my razors on a towel with a stropping motion, and then strop approximately 10 laps on my hanging strop to get moisture off the edge. I then leave it out to air dry further.

Or is it possible the edge just hasn't held up for some reason? Are there razors whose metal has gone bad for one reason or another that can seem good at first after honing but then turn bad quickly? What do you guys recommend doing to debug what has happened so I don't repeat the same mistakes?

As you can see I'm learning and trying to get to a point where I can maintain my razors on my own.

There is a lot going on. I would suggest resetting, even a light jointing prior to. Then perhaps shave with it until it dulls. Or make sure to oil before setting aside (assuming you did not previously since you didnt say.)

Get a magnifier and check the edge, You should be able to see the problem if it's acting up that badly.

Originally Posted by kevint

There is a lot going on. I would suggest resetting, even a light jointing prior to. Then perhaps shave with it until it dulls. Or make sure to oil before setting aside (assuming you did not previously since you didnt say.)

What do you mean by jointing? Do you mean what the wiki refers to as breadknifing?

I am not sure what the wiki says about bread knifing. I know it is not well thought of in recent threads.

But yeah, lightly on your finish hone

Originally Posted by kevint

I am not sure what the wiki says about bread knifing. I know it is not well thought of in recent threads.

But yeah, lightly on your finish hone

Re: breadknifing-You got that right.

Maybe after shaving with the Dovo which was proper sharp you now went to the boker which was maybe lacking and the difference was what you are experiencing.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

Re: breadknifing-You got that right.

Maybe after shaving with the Dovo which was proper sharp you now went to the boker which was maybe lacking and the difference was what you are experiencing.

Oh? I use it when I feel it is an appropriate measure. I am not doing it only to dull. providing a finish grade polished surface for the bevels to meet up can help improve smoothness and final sharpness.

When an edge has some unknown condition that just doesn't seem like it should be; this polished microflat will often make the difference- or it was simply the rehoning. Either way there is very little difference in effort, but we know exactly what the edge is now made of - the x grit hone used to reset it.

The other part of your reply is quite astute. It could be that.

Originally Posted by kevint

I am not sure what the wiki says about bread knifing. I know it is not well thought of in recent threads.

But yeah, lightly on your finish hone

A razor that's in reasonably decent condition should NEVER have the blade touching anything that the spine of the razor isn't touching first (unless you're shaving). Whether it's called jointing or breadknifing, it's a BAD IDEA unless you're looking for a quick way to re-establish geometry that has been very badly damaged. Here's another way of saying it; if there isn't a visble chunk taken out of the edge of the blade that goes well past the bevel, there's no good to be done by breadknifing the blade (or jointing if that's another word for it).

Dont breadknife it, its just unnecessary and you can hone the bad metal away with normal X strokes and circles if need be.

Something that did occur to me, if you got a good shave and then the edge went rapidly south, you may have overhoned the razor. Try doing a couple of spine leading strokes on your 8k stone (like 2 or 3 a side), then do 10 normal very light X strokes on the 8k and then onto your finisher. That should hopefully remove the wire edge if there is one.

You can look for these edges under a loupe. When you look you'll see a fine bright line or lots of glints along the very edge of the razor. This is the edge that has folded up or chipped slightly due to overhoning. The spine leading strokes remove the wire edge and then you are polishing the edge back to shave readiness with the 10 X strokes and finisher after that.

Good luck!

Originally Posted by PapaBull

A razor that's in reasonably decent condition should NEVER have the blade touching anything that the spine of the razor isn't touching first (unless you're shaving). Whether it's called jointing or breadknifing, it's a BAD IDEA unless you're looking for a quick way to re-establish geometry that has been very badly damaged. Here's another way of saying it; if there isn't a visble chunk taken out of the edge of the blade that goes well past the bevel, there's no good to be done by breadknifing the blade (or jointing if that's another word for it).

Saying only, it is a bad idea-without a quantitative metallurgical reason will not convince me Robert.

If you can only assume- or guess there is no good to be done; you must surely also admit there is no harm. For if there is; you only need point it out. "This X horrible end will surely result" I have given my reason for at least trying above.

The greatest danger I have observed is the fear that some noob may take the advice to some extreme end.