Thread: help: Honing razors with a heavy heel, edge not flat.

Hi folks,
I bought this razor off ebay which I posted about in a separate thread.
http://straightrazorpalace.com/razor...-fritisse.html

I have had some issues honing this razor and I think I could use some tips. I am working with a norton 4k/8k combo by the way. My only other razor is a dovo best quality which I have honed twice now with great succes but being brand new helped quite a bit.

When I first got it, I honed this P.Fritisse without much attention and noticed that it was most likely never honed since it had no hone wear on the spine. Its also possible that the person was using tape but I have my doubts about that because when I got it, it was not even sharp enough to dig into the skin with heavy pressure. basically completly dull...

So I shaved with it after honing and I reallized that it wasnt sharp across the whole edge. the Middle section was sharp enogh to shave. the rest was pulling.

Yesterday I took it to the hone once more and I noticed that when I lay the razor down with the spine touching flat, not the whole edge makes contact with the stone, the last cm of the tip is lifted. I can tell that as I make the stroke the water gets pushed at the center of the blade but the tip of the blade doesnt make contact with the stone. Perhaps the blade is warped. It should be noted that the razor I think is 1/4 hollow or a bit thicker even.

What is the solution here?

Also, you will notice that the heel is quite heavy. it doesnt blend nicely onto the blade as on a Dovo. What is the proper way to hone a razor with that kind of heel. I cant make full x strokes because the heel bumps into the hone and would damage it. I find the portion close to the heel is also not very sharp because of that.

thanks againall the insight.,

Samir

Heel forward strokes, and rolling x-strokes.
Use a magic market to find out what stroke works best.
Hard to see from the pic shown in your other thread, but is the bevel hitting the stabilizers?

I agree with a perm. marker on the edge test. This will provide you with valuable information on how this thing is hitting your stone and allow you to decide how to attack this. We are assuming, of course, that your stone is well lapped. I'm sure you tried already canting the angle of your razor on the hone so that the beefy heel is mainly or completely off the stone? You don't have to do rolling X strokes unless you have a smiler or a wavy old blade but this is also a good way to make sure you are evenly covering the edge.

It is a beautiful looking razor though despite the tricky geometry on the heel. I personally would not try edge honing and would send that off to be done if it was needed.

Marker test on the spine and edge will show where theres no contact with the hone. Using the Norton 4/8 might take hours. I have a dmt 325 600 and 1200 for blades that need a lot of metal removed.

+ 1 on all above and thank for a good laugh, I read it "Honing razors with a heavy eel"

Originally Posted by Lemur

+ 1 on all above and thank for a good laugh, I read it "Honing razors with a heavy eel"

I enjoyed Stefan's 'magic market' - like something out of 1001 Arabian Nights!

Regards,
Neil

thanks for the tips. I will check with a magic market tonight.

hehe while we are at it I will laugh at my: thanks againall the insight

I have other japanese water stones and lapping stones for them. I wouldnt use the 4k/8k combo for that much steel.

in the end though I will try to roll the edge and see if I can get it to shave smoothly. afterwards I would like to send it out to someone who can fix it and tell me where it went wrong. any recomendations near Ottawa Canada?

Start with just thinking you are rolling it. It can be a very subtle move.