Originally Posted by
Neil Miller
That the spine wear and bevel wear do not match when you begin honing some of these old 'uns makes me wonder why, too. Theoretically, when placed on a dead-flat hone the wear patterns should match. It seems to me that there are a number of possibilities, or even combinations of them, such as:
1. Temper and Hardening faults
When restoring thick-spined old razors, it soon becomes evident that metal removal from the spine and tang is easier than from near the bevel, which leads me to suppose that either the physical dimensions of the razor or the way it was heat-treated have resulted in a higher hardness at the cutting edge than elsewhere. To get the same degree of hardness in the thickness of the spine and tang as in the thin ground part of the blade would have been quite a feat, and probably not do-able - the thin part would become too brittle. The way the heat treatments were carried out would play a part too - if dipped it is likely that the tang would remain softer. Presumably the harder steel (bevel) would resist the abrasiveness of the hone a bit better than the spine, giving that minor 'curved' or 'rolling' cross section through the bevel, similar to not changing tape on the spine often enough.
2. Changes in Honing Practice.
Some old manuscripts advise 'lifting' the back of the razor slightly when nearing the end of honing. I have seen a number of authors advise this, among them Stodart, and perhaps more famously Benjamin Kingsbury in his "Treatise" (1st edition 1797 and by 1821 in its 9th edition). Unlike Stodart, though, Kingsbury advocated raising the back of the razor for special applications only, such as for a beard of unusual strength and for very wide razors. Incidentally, Kingsbury also described the use of 'circles' while honing, first on one side, then on the other side of the razor - sound familiar...?! Kingsbury also advocates the practice of a cutler regrinding blades that have suffered injury to the bevel, and notes the consequent impact of the 'setting' pattern (ie honewear) along the back of the razor.
3. Use of the Pasted Strop
At one time these were advocated as all you needed to keep your razor in tip-top condition, making honing relatively redundant. Some of the more famous makers of these products and their accompanying pastes were Hamon Freres in France and Packwood in England and the USA. Some of the patented pastes were really quite abrasive, and Kingsbury notes that a distinctly rounded bevel edge could be produced by poor use - barbers at the time (pre 1800) were said to call such rounded bevels 'a fine round edge' and he argues, rightly so, that the edge should be flat. Most patented sharpening strops were in the form of thin flat (or cushioned) paddles - these could easily do the damage described above, so imagine how much more damage could be done with a longer pasted hanging strop, where the degree of 'sag' comes into play? As the edge becomes more rounded, it is necessary to allow a little more sag in the strop in order to get the tip of the bevel to contact the strop. This type of wear would not line up with hone wear. Allied with a softer temper along the spine, the spine leading on the strop and the pressure used by someone not expert in maintaining a razor could give rise to all manner of partial, rounded and secondary bevels.
4. Was The Razor Really Shaving When Put Away for Posterity
Whenever I see a razor that has evidently been put away, sometimes virtually unused, I wonder why. Could it not take and edge? Was the steel too hard or too soft? If virtually unabused, I suspect the worst. Obviously a good razor is/was a good tool, and would have been used over and over again, showing hone wear, regrinding to reflect changes in fashion and to compensate for damage and a fair amount of wear and tear that all carbon steel items exhibit. With a giant wedge-like chopper, used and abused to the point where it was no longer in fashion, could take the pasted strop no longer or was too costly to have reground, then yes, it must once have been a fine shaver. Or it would be in a more pristine condition.
I guess that there are many other things not considered here, like sleeves to protect the spine as were used with microtome razors, heat damage during careless regrinding, some complete novice attempting to perfect his own outlandish honing technique, etc, etc.
Regards,
Neil