Thread: Help with grit choice

Hello, I have a razor that has 2 tiny little chips on the shaving edge of my blade both around a cm in from the nose and heel. The one at the bottom formed a bit of wiring aswell which are driving me crazy. The chips are hard to see but in good light stand out a bit. I'm curious which grit to use to hone the edge straight again. I tried the norton 4k and it made the one in the top smaller... but it came back. Now the chip at the top looks like a white spot and the one at the bottom just looks like a chip. This is a new razor and I'm nervous I might put too much hone ware on it since I've read that after a razor has been honed to a certain extent the feel changes etc. it's a 7/8 that has only seen polishing and finishing stones. Any help is greatly appreciated.

If you are not familiar and comfortable with honing, just sent it out to your favorite pro.

If you are familiar and comfortable with honing, you can get this done. A 4k to 1k hone will do the job. Since the chips are small, I would use one layer of tape on the spine and take it to your bevel setting hone. Much like touching up a razor keep the spine in contact with the hone. Check with a strong light/loop/scope/TNT every 20 strokes. Once the repair honing/bevel setting is done either keep using tape or take the tape off and reset the bevel with no tape then work on up the grits.

The above instructions are just an outline but should give you confidence in how to go about the repair.

A couple of things that concern me.

What did you mean by wiring? "The one at the bottom formed a bit of wiring aswell"

About "the one in the top smaller... but it came back" What tests made you think that it was gone and what made you think it came back?

Jonathan

if you are new to this and are not sure what you are doing stop. Taking chips out is not a beginners task. Send it out.

From you're description it sound like you are doing something wrong maybe pressure or stroke, I don't know.

Taking chips out means removing steel all along the edge and doing it perfectly even. The minimum I'd use is the 4K and for me probably the 1K depending on the depth of the chips.

Pic ????

That would really help

Wait a minute, what happened to that nice edge your new Nani 12K gave you http://straightrazorpalace.com/hones...y-nss-12k.html ? I think I would follow TBS's advice and send it out to be taken care of.

Bob

If you don't want to send it out, I'd first practice with some 'hone 'er uppers' from eBay. That way you'll have some experience before you go to work on your good blade.

The edge was really nice, had hairs flying all over from HHT and the shave i got was closest so far. After my shave I checked the edge and noticed the chip at the top which was so tiny after stropping that i decided to just leave, got bigger and the chip at the bottom which was never their to begin with had appeared and showed signs of wiring when reflecting light. I took a pin to the edge and indeed it is wired.

I will try to hone it out with the norton 4k since their so small, using no pressure and see how far that gets me. I don't have a magnifying glass or anything to get a closer look at the edge, but I do have good eyes... so hopefully that helps :P.

And i will never send a razor out for honing. First razor I received was from whipped dog and so far I've been easily able to match it in sharpness, if not exceed it so I believe I'm doing just fine hone-wise.

As for pictures, I'm sol. My Iphone can't catch them. they just look like white specs when lights been reflected off them since their so small. tried quite a few times =/.

Bottom chips gone... top one doesn't seem to be moving...but its strange... it was visible on both sides prior to honing, now only visible on one... and the side still showing doesn't seem to be changing whatsoever with or w/o pressure.

Looks good now, wirings gone, edge looks uniform, chips have disappeared except the one that won't budge but the edge along it is now straight so I can't be bothered by it anymore. Blade seems even sharper than last time too lol, and this little honing excursion has shown me a indentation at the top of my strop which caused my edge to roll over requiring me to go back to the 8k to hone out lol. But I'm satisfied now and can't wait till my next shave.

Thanks and happy shaving folks.