Thread: bevel setting problem: uneven bevel width?

Two thoughts:

1. If a razor has been ground with constant blade width (that is, an even 6/8"), but some parts of the blade are thicker at the edge than others (a manufacturing flaw), and the spine is of constant thickness, the bevel will be wider where the grind is thicker. That doesn't affect the "shavability" of the razor _at all_; you can ignore it. In fact, you _must_ ignore it, because you cannot hone such a razor so that it has a constant-width bevel.

2. A symptom of a warped blade is:

. . . on one side, the bevel is narrow at the center, and wide at the heel and toe, and
. . . on the other side, the bevel is narrow at the heel and toe, and wide at the center.

If you're worried, or unskilled, and the blade is warped, send it to somebody who can handle it. They can be really tough.

Charles

Thanks for the help Charles.

I want to learn honing and sending it to someone who can handle it is not an option (I do that for razors that I actually care about!! )

Thanks for letting me know that the uneven bevel will not interfere with shavability because I was under the impression that if I have not managed to make an even bevel, the bevel is not set properly.

Regards
Dan

I suspect you would do much better if you set your bevel on something grittier like the DMT 325. Could be wrong, since I don't have the razor in hand.

It is not that you can't set the bevel on the 1K. But, from your comments, you have a lot of metal to remove. With the 1K, I suspect, you can reset the bevel, but only after hours of honing. And, you will likely grow frustrated and use too much pressure. This will likely result in you deforming the blade during honing, which will not then hone off the high spots to give you a correct bevel setting. And, you will get just what you described: all portions of the blade being honed down.

The one thing to remember is that you really are not going to get an even looking bevel with the wear you are describing. The real key is to try to get the razor to lay as flat on the hone as possible which is where the circles come in. The top part of the bevel will always reflect the wear on the spine. But, so long as you can get the edge flat on the stone or as flat as possible on it, you will be good and the important part of the bevel will be right. If you can't get the edge totally flat on the stone, the rolling X should take care of it and get you all the way there. In most cases unless you really have some damage, a 1K will work very well and would be all you need.

Have fun.

Thank you very much Lynn and Larry,

Lynn, I am not having this problem with only one razor. different razors have different uneven bevels. I will try to keep it as flat as possible and do circles.

by the way is slurrying up the Norton 1k with DMT 120 a good idea to increase speed?

Thanks
Dan

Originally Posted by danielghofrani

I will try to keep it as flat as possible and do circles.

Dan, "you" don't keep it flat. It either lays flat on the stone or it does not. If it does that is swell but if not you manipulate the blade , such as the rolling x or a variation thereof, to contact the edge with the stone, keeping the contact between stone, edge and spine parallel throughout the stroke. If that makes any sense.

Thank you JimmyHAD,
I understand what you mean but the last sentence was alittle too advanced for me! what do you mean by parallel?

Thanks

I had what sounds like the same problem on a De Pews I bought, a warped blade and several bevels. I only had a Norton 4/8 and Shapton 16k. In the end I used some 1200 wet and dry sandpaper wrapped around the Norton to speed things up a little. I found with the warp (which resulted in what you describe; a bevel that represented a twisted ribbon if you get what I mean) I needed to use a stroke where I'd start with the heel on the hone and finish with the toe on the stone for one side. On the other side, though, I used a 'normal' stroke. As I guessed for a normal stroke the whole (almost) length of the edge is being worn by the (almost) whole length of the hone, but for the modified (rolling x stroke?) stroke I described, each part of the edge was getting LESS wearing on each pass on the hone, I would do three on one side to one on the other. In the end, though I didn't end up with an even bevel, I did end up with a nice shaving edge; and a bevel that at least went right to the edge if you know what I mean.

The guys that have responded to your question know a LOT more about this than I, but I thought maybe my questions and the answers I received (here) might assist you.

Oh, BTW, the comment by ominaru55 in the thread I posted about the heel on the third page of the thread was really important. I took the heel off on the side of my Norton lapping stone. I did end up with a wide bevel, but that doesn't bother me.