Thread: Toe needs a little more

Guys,

I did a search about this but maybe I was using the wrong words.

I honed this razor last night and I think I did a decent job. It shaved great this morning. The only issue I have is that the toe is not as sharp as the rest of the blade. My question is how should I approach just sharpening the toe? I used Naniwa Superstones the whole way, 1000, 5000, 8000, 12,000. Do I take it back to the 8 or just back to the 12? I used GSSixguns smiling blade method (no tape though) after I got the bevel set which gave me a hard time.

Also please critique where you see fit. The wear marks in the pictures will probably tell you guys more than it tells me.

Thanks!

Congratulations on getting this wedge honed, enjoy the shaves.

In your first photo you can see how much wider the bevel near the toe is, and how round the toe is. I would consider it a round point or extremely muted, and not expect the first 1/4" of the toe to ever get sharp with out lifting the spine, tail, or changing the profile. I would just leave it where you have gotten it.

Jonathan

Hard to say anything about the wear without seeing it before you honed it. One thing I know is, if you want a narrower bevel use tape on the spine. Changes the angle and decreases the size of the bevel. More cosmetic than functional on a heavy wedge I guess.

I've taken the point only, maybe 1/2" of the blade and done some round trips on the hone in cases where the point lags behind. Then full X strokes to ''catch up' the rest of the blade. This has worked for me on a number of razors. YMMV.

The width of the bevel did concern me. Here is a pic prior to honing.

It appeared that it had been sharp before.

Looks to me like you did fine. It was wide before you started. Looks pretty even too. When they are uneven , spine wear and bevel wear, it is possibly because of the geometry of the razor, or from uneven pressure when honing. Yours looks like it was originally ground evenly and honed correctly. IMHO.

I have a few that due to the honing techniques used prior will not sharpen evenly without coaxing.
Two choices
1. Continue to coax
2. If it shaves well run with it and it will eventually be closer to in line.

I personally choose #2 unless it is for someone else, then it is their call.

Wedges are always a little tougher to hone than hollows, a wedge with a smile is even tougher.

Rolling x-strokes, make sure the water is being undercut at the very tip at the end of your stroke.

Taped the spine and that helped a lot. It is popping hairs all the way down the blade now. HHT works on all but the far ends. I will test shave tomorrow and report my findings. Thanks to JimmyHAD for the suggestion. I had said when I first decided to try honing that I would not use tape but I guess it has its uses.