W&B LWSW wedge troubles.

Well guys I've got this razor here that is confounding me. I actually took it out of scales and put them on something else until such time as I feel like I can attack it again. It' a little "You lather well, I'll shave well" wedge. I honed this thing for days and days and days. Then, I remembered that magic marker thing that I should have done at the beginning. Anyways, I'm getting no contact with no tape. I'm getting contact 3/4 inches from the heel with one layer of tape. I'm getting 3/4 inches of belly contact at two layers of tape. I'm getting 1/2 inch of belly contact at 3 layers of tape. The micrometer tells me the spine thickness tapers .008 inches from heel to toe. So I think that means I have a smiling wedge, with a tapering spine. Any suggestions? Rolling x wasn't successful with me at the helm. The blade is just blocky and skippy, and obstinate. lol.

with a near wedge of mine (and tape) it took a lot of belly metal removal to even get close to reset the bevel. it took a couple hours of rolling strokes on a coarse hone to get there.

any progression pics?

I didn't take any pictures of it. Thanks though. I don't have that kind of time for honing, so I'm off to the member services section. Thanks again! :)

Heel forward stroke, Gssixgun has a video on this that will make your life easy!

lol. Oh if only it were that simple epd. If I've learned anything since starting this hobby, it's to recognize when I'm in over my head. No razor is worth hours of honing IMO. If twenty bucks can make it shave again, and I can spend that time restoring a different razor, I'm a happy guy. I really enjoy that part more anyways. Thanks!

I think you just need a few more hours on the 1k :D . I don't think you're going to find anyone who will set a bevel on a wedge or near-wedge razor for $20 . If you do , let me know who they are , because I have a few that I'll send them , too .

Honestly I've never checked pricing Dave. I just threw that out off the top of my head. lol. I already took it out of scales, and am enjoying the Case brand hollow ground I put them on very, very much. The scales actually look and fit better for that blade anyways. It was just my monthly wedge honing attempt and it had to have scales for me to try. Until next month I guess.

Good luck with it , Justin . It's always nice to have a razor to work on when you feel like doing some honing . I always have at least one "work in progress" all the time .
Right now it's a Fredrick Reynolds . I hone it when the mood strikes me , and eventually it will get done . Then , I'll start on another .
I have more than enough razors to shave with , so I'm not in any hurry to get done .

A wedge grind can be a royal pain. The main problem is a "fat" grind along the edge. It is simply ground thick. When you combine that with a spine that has hone wear and is also tapered....well....that is a real challenge. Then it is time for either DMT 325 hones or a belt grinder. Send it out for honing if anyone will take up the challenge.

honing a near wedge, gave me much greater insight into honing, more so than any other blade for the most part. not that i want to do it again, but it was probably my best learning experience and I am glad to have had it, although it was time consuming..

Just my amateur thoughts;
The wedges I have, required more work of course, but after the second one, I found progress and less time spent by keeping my stones clean (built up metal after 15 to 25 strokes, removed), this kept my steel on a clean fresh cutting surface. If I pyramid, the surface is cleaned between each level. It was easier to see the progress of the cut. Wedges seem to lay out a lot of metal.

Randy, I'm glad you chimed in. Your thoughts on the matter echo my own, which makes me feel like I'm definitely headed in the right direction with blade assessment.
Dave, thanks! Same for me really. I've always got one around here that at least gets one attempt every so often. With the expectation that it's not going to be done anytime soon.

Globaldev, I agree. The very first razor I ever honed was a near wedge. I think there's a 3 page long thread around here somewhere about that little experience. lol. Learning blade assessment has been one of the important things that I didn't do enough of when starting out, and invested a lot of time in trying to hone blades blind. And I've heard of honers sending blades back to customers as "un-honeable". Some blades are just too much trouble to be worth it. I won't lose any sleep over this one. It can always sit on the shelf and look pretty anyhow. I'm thinking black horn scales, and nickel hardware. I bet it'll look grand :) And getting the scale wedge just right for a true wedge blade to sit deep in the scales will be a challenge I'm more interested in mastering. :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by regularjoe

lol. Oh if only it were that simple epd. If I've learned anything since starting this hobby, it's to recognize when I'm in over my head. No razor is worth hours of honing IMO. If twenty bucks can make it shave again, and I can spend that time restoring a different razor, I'm a happy guy. I really enjoy that part more anyways. Thanks!

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You're not over your head, Joe; you just have not solved the riddle of that particular blade. Once you do, the other wedges in your collection will cringe at the thought of a honing session with you. :D

I just got one of these....you're making me worried...lol

For enough money, I'll hone your SOCKS to shave ready.
Forget about a wedge, they are cake compared to socks!

Oh don't be worried about it GT. I would recommend making sure your spine thickness is the same on both ends before you start. As well as doing the amgic marker test prior to honing. Then making a plan of action based on whether or not the spine thickness is equal on both ends, and whether or not the entire edge is contacting the hone when the razor is laid flat. My troubles all came about because I didn't do either of those things until I'd already spent way too much time just honing away ignorantly, without evaluating the razor prior. Wedges in general, are no harder to hone than anything else(just take longer). It's just that THIS wedge is, because of it's issues. Your version of the same razor may not have the same problems, and hence, neither will you. It's not the fact that it's a wedge that is the issue. It's the spine taper, and the multifaceted smile. As opposed to a fluid smile, and a geometrically sound spine.

Magpie: I'm getting a pair of socks ready to ship out. :P

Bring em on! I have my Norton Bleach Water Stones ready and waiting!