Thread: W&B B--tard wedge

Near wedge photos





Hard to tell by eyeball.

Bob

They are out there Jimmy, and one big PITA to hone as well, you have to remove material across the entire width of the blade. No easy honing here.

Originally Posted by northpaw

Seems like a tiny binder clip might be convenient. Anybody ever tried one? I'm looking at one of the 3/4" (small) clips from Office Max, and it looks a smidge too big, but I know I've seen smaller ones before.

Talking about these, for anyone who might know them by a different name.

Attachment 104563

I tried these once, they make an awful screetching noise on the hones and dont stay put very well! I do like the copper idea, 6 layers of tape is crazy even if necessary

Originally Posted by smalltank

here are a few pics of my true wedge..

As wedgy as that looks, you can see the shiny parts on the spine and bevel. IOW, a true wedge has concavity. It has to or a person couldn't hone it properly. I've got a Wosty pipe and a W&B lather well etc that are wedges like that.

Call them true or whatever ..... there is enough concave that the spine and bevel lay on the hone but not the blade in between. If someone has one in which the belly of the blade.... between the edge and spine .... also hits the hone, either it was improperly honed in the past, or made incorrectly to begin with.

I have a near wedge Wade & Butcher, 7/8, that I recently purchased from ebay. It was not shave ready, especially after spending quite a bit of time sanding and polishing the blade and scales. I set the bevel on a Norton 4k side of a 4/8, then put it through a pyramid progression after it was popping hairs on my arm, then finished it on a Naniwa 12k. It took just as long as it's taken me to do the same thing with any other of the razors I have. One is a quarter hollow, the rest are hollows, extra hollows, and a singing hollow. The only "difficult" part of honing the near wedge was that it gave no feedback on the hone as far as feel and sound. I just trusted in form and execution, and whadayknow, it gives an excellent shave. Used this blade early this morning and my chin still feels BBS. I barely feel stubble on my sideburns where I went ATG. Am I missing something? Is it the lack of feedback that makes a near wedge difficult to hone, or is a Sheffield W&B just a gem to hone?

You couldn't tell by me, my W&B Sheffield near wedge was a bugger to hone and the reason for this thread. Never had that difficulty with the other razors I have. It could easily be extreme uneven hone wear as the culprit but the I have full hollows with buggered up uneven hone wear and they were not as bad to do. Seems more people find near wedges more of a challenge than other grinds. I find little difference between doing the full hollows and a couple of heavier grinds. However you manage to do it they all will shave decently.

Bob

I must have lucked out.

The thicker the grind the more steel to get down to that apex at the bevel. That is why guys recommend one or even more layers of tape to ease the process. Uneven hone wear can certainly make it more difficult. Quoting Lynn Abrams, "The real problem with wedges is that once the shoulders are honed down and the edge expands, it gets tricky on the number of strokes and to make sure you get or keep the edge even." Lynn recommended a 45 degree angle with X strokes for that situation. There is more on it in the SRP library in the honing razors section. "Lynn Abrams On Honing."

Originally Posted by IamSt8ght

I have a near wedge Wade & Butcher, 7/8, that I recently purchased from ebay. It was not shave ready, especially after spending quite a bit of time sanding and polishing the blade and scales. I set the bevel on a Norton 4k side of a 4/8, then put it through a pyramid progression after it was popping hairs on my arm, then finished it on a Naniwa 12k. It took just as long as it's taken me to do the same thing with any other of the razors I have. One is a quarter hollow, the rest are hollows, extra hollows, and a singing hollow. The only "difficult" part of honing the near wedge was that it gave no feedback on the hone as far as feel and sound. I just trusted in form and execution, and whadayknow, it gives an excellent shave. Used this blade early this morning and my chin still feels BBS. I barely feel stubble on my sideburns where I went ATG. Am I missing something? Is it the lack of feedback that makes a near wedge difficult to hone, or is a Sheffield W&B just a gem to hone?

It is all in the spine wear, read the old thread and note Randy's post about the hardness of the spine,, Many of us have always thought that the spine on these older Sheffielders are soft.. Geometry is at work here and the spine wearing fast and haevy sets that off.. So No yer not missing anything in fact just the opposite your spine has steel

We can't add steel back to the spines so either Regrind, tape or deal with large bevels, if I owned a NOS or really nice older Sheffield it would never touch the hones without tape..

Jimmy

Yea, Lynn had that right for sure about honed down shoulders. Had to use circles in an X manner followed by swooping X strokes to make headway.

Bob