Thread: Need advice about dealing with "frown-smile"

I recived Bengall 5/8 full hollow with frown and smile on it (they are about 1 mm in deepest point). Frown is from the heel to the middle and smile is from the middle to the toe.
So, I need advice about straightening the blade.
Will you reccomend "bread knifing" or some other technique to straightening the blade and to start setting bevel with straight blade not one as I described above?



Thx

I think this is just a frown.
Hone it out.

Precisely it's wavy blade (not seen so good on the photo).

The way to fix it is to hone it out.
For faster work you can lift the spine ~30* of the hone do circles until the blade is even then set bevel.
One thing that might be a problem is the spine, it is worn out right above the frown and might need fixing too.

Just to be subtle about it...

DO NOT BREADKNIFE THAT RAZOR!!!

Breadknifing creates a lot more work and would be drastically excessive overkill for the minor edge issue this razor has. The first step is to get a clear visual sense of how much work you have to do. This is most easily accomplished by holding the razor perpendicular to a hone and then holding the razor and hone up to a light so that you can see the gap between the blade and the hone. Now that you see what you have, you can start honing it out.

You do this by honing on a coarse hone and slightly lifting the spine. This slightly increased angle will quickly remove the lowest points on the edge. Occasionally check your progress by holding the razor and hone up to the light again. When the edge is straight, or when there is only a slight smile at the toe and/or heel, commence normal honing with the spine on the hone to quickly set the bevel.

I definitely will not do breadknifing.
As I told the gap is about 1-1,5 mm. I was thinking about adding 2-3 layers of tape and hone out the frown with tape on the spine. It's very hard to fix blade on 30 degrees or so (I know that from knife sharpening) so I was thinking about adding tape.
When I hone out the "frown" I was thinking about to leave just one layer of tape (or no one) set the bevel and finish honing with progression.

Originally Posted by mainaman

One thing that might be a problem is the spine, it is worn out right above the frown and might need fixing too.

How would you do that?

Thx

the dreaded smirk! I'd hone using whatever strokes necessary to make the best contact possible between hone and blade along the edge until a bevel began to form from heel to toe

Hiya King,

I'm very new to razors, but not so much to honing.

If it were me, i'd be inclined to hone it until it's flat, or send it off for a rough regrind you could then work with and tune up. This would no doubt make things a lot easier in the long run instead of having a "quirky" razor you have to adjust your honing technique to.

Whatever you do with it, good luck! it looks like a real quality blade.

Originally Posted by KING2011

I recived Bengall 5/8 full hollow with frown and smile on it (they are about 1 mm in deepest point). Frown is from the heel to the middle and smile is from the middle to the toe.
So, I need advice about straightening the blade.
Will you reccomend "bread knifing" or some other technique to straightening the blade and to start setting bevel with straight blade not one as I described above?

.....

Thx

Try some X strokes and use the magic marker trick.

A smile or a frown is not a bad thing... it is just a
natural shape that manufacturing and use over time can
leave on a razor.

The fact that this Bengall has this shape tells
me that someone used it for years with a narrow
hone or small barber hone.

When setting the bevel and honing this razor
go with the flow and use hone strokes that
a magic marker test indicates that the hone
works the entire edge.

This is a common "use induced" shape and
can be the indication of a great shaver. Do
not be in too big a hurry to correct it.

If you keep your hones lapped flat it will self correct
over time.

Yes, It is possible to speed up this correction...
but do not begin by bread knifing the razor.

Do a Google site search for hints on this common topic:

site:straightrazorplace.com honing a frown

The magic marker trick is your friend. Pick a
color you can see with ease.