Thread: wedge

I have made a startling discovery ,that large English wedges that have a slight smile are an absolute nightmare to hone. I have been at this one for most of the day,got real close once then stuffed it ,had to start again.
this is the first time I have tried to do one of these and have found the hardest thing is to maintain a consistent rocking motion to keep an even bevel and cutting edge
Any advice ,tips or tricks of the trade from the professionals to help me with this one would be greatly appreciated.with all the work I have put into it I certainly don't wish to bugger it now
Kind regards Peter

I can only think of one way: get a perfectly straight edge 1st & then start sharpening. Start with a coarse hone and then move on to an ever finer one.
You will lose probably 1/8" or more.
I once had a very rusty Dovo and did the same. I straightened the edge with a scythe sharpener, just making sawing movements on the surface of the sharpener till the edge was straight. I worked but it did pain me.

thanks for that but I wish to retain the origional shape
Kind regards Peter

I know in a conversation with Joe Chandler, he mentioned that he loves wedges but HATES honing them...says they are really a pain in the ass.

I think xman is a big fan of the smiley blade. Might want to give him a yell. He was very helpful with some honing issues I had a while back.

I think Lynn recently addressed a post about wedges in which he said he uses a very sharp heel leading motion.

Originally Posted by JLStorm

I know in a conversation with Joe Chandler, he mentioned that he loves wedges but HATES honing them...says they are really a pain in the ass.

The big upside is that if you ever get them sharp, they tend to stay that way for a very long time.

I've tried Randy's solution, using the side of the big 3" Norton to hone with. It's weird feeling at first, but it works. Use an exaggerated "sweeping" motion. Put the blade on the hone at around 45 ( [ / ] )degrees. Pull down, curving the blade as you do so. At the end of the stroke, the blade will be almost perpendicular to the hone. This usually works well for me, honing both wedges, and those with a smile. Please note that my 45 degrees will be backward for you, as I'm left handed.

thanks one and all for the sound advice,unfortunately I have a combination norton,However I tryed that method on a different hone and it seemed to work ok,
With a combination of all the methods described I have managed to get the razor just below the h/h test,even managed to cut a couple ,so I will carry on using that combination. I have been working on it for two days now ,I reckon another one should just about have it .
Thank you all once again
Kind regards Peter
PS Good to be a member ,isn`t it

Originally Posted by Joe Chandler

Use an exaggerated "sweeping" motion. Put the blade on the hone at around 45 ( [ / ] )degrees. Pull down, curving the blade as you do so. At the end of the stroke, the blade will be almost perpendicular to the hone. This usually works well for me, honing both wedges, and those with a smile.

That's kind of what I do, but I find that if I don't use higher pressure at the start of the stroke, the smile is crooked. That is, it's shallow a the heel and curvature increases toward the toe.

Originally Posted by bg42

I have made a startling discovery ,that large English wedges that have a slight smile are an absolute nightmare to hone. I have been at this one for most of the day,got real close once then stuffed it ,had to start again.
this is the first time I have tried to do one of these and have found the hardest thing is to maintain a consistent rocking motion to keep an even bevel and cutting edge
Any advice ,tips or tricks of the trade from the professionals to help me with this one would be greatly appreciated.with all the work I have put into it I certainly don't wish to bugger it now
Kind regards Peter

THis is the typical problem with a wedge, because you are taking down the entire side of the blade. That's why most wedges are slightly hollow ground. The tru wedges have flat sides and present the greatest problem.

In my opinion, a razor should be honed with a smile if that was intended. You can usually tell because they have a spine that curves into a smile. But there are somee with straight spines. The amount of smile required on a blade can be cut on a stone with any motion and without requiring scything or rocking or anything like that. If you use anything but a straight motion you will need to be very careful to get an even bevel and even spine bands.

If you're honing a razor with a smiling spine. Honing it flat on a wide stone will allow you to maintain even pressure and will give you a perfect smile that matches the spine.