Thread: What's your honing "failure" rate?

Originally Posted by regularjoe

I've sharpened one razor to a shaving sharp edge. Which makes my failure rate zero percent. I know..I'm awesome.

hahaha same here, ive only just plucked up the courage to hone a razor, and whilst it might not be anywhere near as sharp as some can get them, it shaves great for me now.

im due to hone a second one (once i get some more info on getting a nick out of the blade), hopefully i can get a 2 for 2 success rate at that point

Originally Posted by Bruno

The blue tint is a sure sign it has lost its temper
In that case, there is nothing a mortal man can do to put a good edge on the blade.

Retemper the blade.

Originally Posted by LameBMX

Retemper the blade.

You would have to re heat treat it, and that cannot be done. If a razor has lost its temper, than you can use it as a letter opener, but not for shaving.

Originally Posted by jeness

You would have to re heat treat it, and that cannot be done. If a razor has lost its temper, than you can use it as a letter opener, but not for shaving.

I will admit that most people will not have the facilities to accomplish that. But that does not mean it cannot be done. I made the post because I do not know the original poster, nor his friends and family. If the poster, a friend or family member has either the facilities, or access to them, it can be done. disclaimer: If you happen to have a deferentially heat treated razor, its not worth the effort and probably is impossible for one blade.

The problem is that a thinly ground razor will snap or potato chip in the process. Everyone would HT their blades after finish grinding if it could be done without a problem. Annealed steel is much better to work with than hardened steel.

Originally Posted by jeness

The problem is that a thinly ground razor will snap or potato chip in the process. Everyone would HT their blades after finish grinding if it could be done without a problem. Annealed steel is much better to work with than hardened steel.

Neither of my 2 razors are trapped in the martensite stage. In the thiers ibbaud (sp) production video I saw, they just treated the blade in molten lead, about 600c, well shy of the temps needed to form martensite. Annealing at that level would also not destroy any formed martensite incase they did not mention a point where they hardened the steel. also, while i have neither polished nor etched the blade, i visually see (with my barely trained eyes) no signs that martensite has formed (edit) at the edge of the blade.(end edit) summary: no change in crystalline structure means no drastic change in density of the metal. if the razor is to "potato chip" on the process the heating and or cooling would have been too fast for the structure of the blade.

How this discussion pertains to the OP: My opinion is if the poster has the means to re-temper the blade, i say give it a shot. jeness appears to believe it cant be done. if you do, post back the results if that helps either way.

Have you made any knife or razor blades with a thin cutting edge, or heat treated one? There is a reason you have to leave the cutting edge about 1mm thick. If the razor isn't ruined yet, than it will be after an attempt at HT-ing it

Originally Posted by jeness

Have you made any knife or razor blades with a thin cutting edge, or heat treated one? There is a reason you have to leave the cutting edge about 1mm thick. If the razor isn't ruined yet, than it will be after an attempt at HT-ing it

You sir are absolutely right. I do not know where my brain was, and my apologies to the poster.

Originally Posted by LameBMX

You sir are absolutely right. I do not know where my brain was, and my apologies to the poster.

We all have moments like that . The important thing is being able to own up to it .

have horned 5 Wade n Butchers from bevel set. All came out great. But could not get this Picard Granatie's bevel set. Did almost 280-300 x patters on 4K Norton. Finally traded it for a No. 86 Bartman. Hence my failure rate would be 1:5 =/