Thread: Razor will not get sharp

I sat for an hour trying to set a good bevel and the razor will not get sharp. The toe of the blade will shave hair off but the rest won't do anything. I marked the edge with a sharpie to see if the whole of the edge is touching the hone and it is. I'm out of ideas. Any advice on the subject will be appreciated.

As much information as you can provide will help the guys work out what's going on. Everything from the kind of razor, what hones you're using in what progression, wha tyou're using to lube/wash the stones, if you're using tape on the spine and how you're angling the blade and scales could all be related.

You could be putting extra pressure on the toe moreso than the rest of the blade or maybe the toe has started to sharpen up but the rest of the blade hasnt caught up with it yet.

The toe turns up somewhat so it isn't touching the hone at all. It was that way when I got it. I'm ensuring that the toe doesn't touch (I want the rest of the blade to catch up with it as far as being evenly worn). The hone is a DMT 1200 grit and I'm just using water on it. It feels just as sharp as the toe using the TPT but when I try to cut hair with it it's like trying to shave with stiff aluminum foil.


Edit: I could try to get a good picture of the blade if that may be of some help.

Others may disagree, but your description of stiff aluminum foil sounds like over honed edge.

Originally Posted by deighaingeal

Others may disagree, but your description of stiff aluminum foil sounds like over honed edge.

I think you may be right. I completely dulled the edge and started over. It turned out pretty well. I think it needs a little more time on the 12k but it's pretty nice at the moment.

Thank you all for the input.

Originally Posted by deighaingeal

Others may disagree, but your description of stiff aluminum foil sounds like over honed edge.

Wow, well caught.

I personally only use diamond "stones" on my knives & stones as my experience has shown micro-chipping with them when trying to use them on razors. I do use them on razors from time to time, but only when I am correcting issues with a blade like frowns & chips. I feel that they have a place with razors, just not in honing.

do you have any means to look at the bevels with magnification?
you need to make sure the bevel is set correctly on each side.

Originally Posted by mainaman

do you have any means to look at the bevels with magnification?
you need to make sure the bevel is set correctly on each side.

I have a microscope but really am not sure what I should look for.