Thread: Honing a saber / weird grind?

I have a vintage Elliot that I thought was a wedge. Well, took it to the hone tonight and it turns out the toe does not rest on the hone on both sides. Weird thing is, the middle section of the edge does rest on the hone on both sides. Blade does not seem warped or anything.

So how to hone this? Mid section is popping HHTs but the toe is not even close... no big surprise, it doesn't touch the hone in both directions...

Cheers

I'm not sure about it concerning your description, but it may be that you need to use teh Rolling Hone method. This is where you begon the honing stroke with the heel in contact with the hone and gradually , gently and evenly roll the edges contact with the hone up to the tip throughout the stroke until the tip is in full, but gentle contact with the hone at the end of the stroke.

Does that make sense?

X

Yes, X - this is what I did after I posted the q, actually. However, this is kinda hard for someone like me (with little honing experience) I mean, the move is not hard and makes sense but getting the edge shave ready with it is hard

btw, turned out this is not the only razor like this that I have

Thanks
Ivo

It just seems like a bad grind, which is quite possible with wedges. I'd just remove tons of metal with even pressure (1k sandpaper) until the whole length of the blade rested flat on the hone before honing. Actually a variable speed belt grinder would do quite well for this application. However, I'd wait for Bill/Lynn/Joe/Randy to chime in before following this advice lol.

I think he's got a real saber grind -- Bill Ellis has one on his store here.

Presumably Bill knows how to hone them since he's got one shave-ready, so I'd PM him.

My guess is that this is just begging for a pasted slack strop. I've got saber-ground knives, and that's how I sharpen them.

Originally Posted by izlat

Yes, X - this is what I did after I posted the q, actually. However, this is kinda hard for someone like me (with little honing experience) I mean, the move is not hard and makes sense but getting the edge shave ready with it is hard

btw, turned out this is not the only razor like this that I have

Thanks
Ivo

Continue honing with the rolling X pattern and learn what it takes to hone razors with a smile. I try to use a narrow hone when honing a razor with a smile shaped edge. It works for me.

Just my two cents,

I don't think it's the smile that's messing him up -- he's honed other smiling edges. It sounds like the blade is convex from spine to edge, at least at the toe.

Izlat, if it's only at the toe and it isn't too convex, then you can probably correct it by taping the rest of the blade (edge and spine) and grinding it down on sandpaper. It sounds like some PO was lifting the spine as he got to the toe.