Thread: Heel and toe are sharp, cant get belly

Originally Posted by mainaman

smile is a feature not defect.

This bears repetition

"smile is a feature not defect."

Frowns & warps on the other hand are defects & there is some info here dealing with them as well as other honing aspects.
Honing: Troubleshooting Guide - Straight Razor Place Wiki

Well I shaved with it tonight!

I honed it 4k then 8k until It was taking off arm hair, then ran if through a full pyramid of 25-25 20-20... and finished with some really light 8k X's. I also tried out a new strop I made with some scrap muslin that I had spread toothpaste on as a polishing compound. I'm not sure if it helped much or not, but the blade did shave nicely!

It felt a lot different on my skin though, and I think it has something to do with how wide the bevel is on the razor. My wedge and Dovo full hollow (almost new) have a very narrow V for their edge, and the bevel can only be seen as a thin white reflection in a bright light. On this razor the bevel is at least an eighth of an inch wide in all areas and the slope of the V is much longer. I assume having a more gradual taper and longer V to the bevel will mean a more fragile edge prone to rolling and dulling, but owning my own hones, it isnt a huge problem for a 10 dollar razor!

Originally Posted by nalbonen4

I assume having a more gradual taper and longer V to the bevel will mean a more fragile edge prone to rolling and dulling, but owning my own hones, it isnt a huge problem for a 10 dollar razor!

No worries. Full hollow razors have a narrow bevel because the steel adjecent to the bevel is very thin. Your wide bevei is thicker than most of the blade of a hollow ground razor.

+1

The only need I see for breadknifing a razor is if it has a big chip in it. You would need to know how to do a bread knifing first of all, because if you've never done it before you can do more damage than good. You can crack the blade itself which means your razor is now trashed. Whenever you buy a dull razor just hone it on 1K level until you set a bevel, it make take 20 minutes as long as the temper is good and your stroke is practiced well.

Originally Posted by nun2sharp

You breadknifed it, first mistake, I have yet to see anything that NEEDS to be breadknifed. Your honing stroke should match the outline/smile of the edge.

Its a good thing you find this relaxing, you have some work to do. Have fun!

I cant seem to get my belly sharp and well defined either. Matter of fact it seems to be getting bigger and more round as I get older.