Thread: Microchipping

There is one possible explanation that has not been mentioned. If this is a vintage razor,and your first time honing it, then maybe you have not removed enough of the old, weak,oxidized steel from the edge. The weak steel will only show microchips at the higher grits, 8K or finer. If the finer stones or slurry approach don't work then try this option.
One other question...what is the blade width and spine thickness?

So after having bashed my head against the wall a couple of times with this same wedge, I talked to Basil who lives in Toronto. He and I met up, and he brought one of his Coti's with him. Really nice guy too.

Anyway, I went onto Coticule.be, and followed some instructions there. I set a secondary bevel with a thick slurry on the Coti, and did about 80 laps past the bevel set with a milky slurry. Washed the stone and the razor. Fifty laps, clear water on the Coti, and then 30 light laps on my Naniwa 12k. Strop and Shave.

Now I'm beginning to understand why some people like wedges. This was actually an incredibly gentle shave, and very smooth. I think it may be time to join the Coti club. Over the course of the last week, I've used Basil's hone to sharpen about 6 razors, and they are all smooth as silk right now.

I've beaten my first wedge. It won lots of the battles, but I just won the war, and in the process learned an incredible amount about honing in general.

Thanks for all the help and tips.

Maxi.