Thread: No/uneven hone wear

Today I received a new razor. I asked for a shave ready honed razor. When I looked at the spine I noticed that on the shoulder side there is no hone wear. The size of this spot is about 8mm in length. Will this be a problem when I have to hone the razor myself? Is it easy to even out this spot? I am afraid that the edge will be honed unevenly when I try to do this. Or should I just contact the seller and ask for a replacement?

The edge is honed evenly, however I think it is probably not sharp enough. I am not very sure about that, because I haven't shaved with it.

Thanks.

Shave test it first.
Ask the seller how he honed it (it may have been taped).
It is also possible that that part of the spine simply does not touch the hone.

Did you get it from a reputable seller? On some of the newer hollow ground razors I've dealt with the grind pulls in at the spine right near the heel, so that part doesn't get hone wear at first but the edge still gets sharp since the rest of the spine on the stone still sets the angle for that part.

That spot seems to be where the grinders started. I call it a "grinder's slip" I say this because I have seen many, untouched blades with an anomaly there! Could be wrong? It has not effected any of the ones I have seen.

Originally Posted by holli4pirating

Shave test it first.
Ask the seller how he honed it (it may have been taped).
It is also possible that that part of the spine simply does not touch the hone.

I will shave test it. It is possible that part doesn't touch the hone, but when I look at it it almost seems that the razor is honed not in hone/razor angle of 90 degrees (like in the animation on this page Beginner's Guide to Honing - Straight Razor Place Wiki), but more in a 45 degrees angle. I hope that you understand what I mean.

What makes you think it could have been taped when honed? The hone wear is fairly heavy at the tip +1mm. Am I missing something?

Originally Posted by ScienceGuy

Did you get it from a reputable seller? On some of the newer hollow ground razors I've dealt with the grind pulls in at the spine right near the heel, so that part doesn't get hone wear at first but the edge still gets sharp since the rest of the spine on the stone still sets the angle for that part.

I did got it from a reputable seller. I will not name them. I don't want them to get a bad reputation, because I'm maybe just overreacting.

The whole edge seems evenly sharp, so that could be the case. However I'm not sure if this is a newer hollow ground. It could be NOS. I don't know if Alexander Coppel is still in business.

I did a test shave. It was not a very smooth shave, because it is not sharp enough. I will hone it with a C12K and a light BBW slurry to sharpen/polish it and then plain water on the C12K. I checked if the blade lays flat on the hone and I think it does.

Thanks for the info.

If you can't get the razor to shave, contact me via PM and I will get it shave ready for you...just cover the shipping. Looks to me by the pic that the razor needs some corrective honing at the heel, but pics can be misleading too.

The magic marker test would be what I would recommend for you to ensure the entire edge is getting "stoned".

Originally Posted by shooter74743

If you can't get the razor to shave, contact me via PM and I will get it shave ready for you...just cover the shipping. Looks to me by the pic that the razor needs some corrective honing at the heel, but pics can be misleading too.

The magic marker test would be what I would recommend for you to ensure the entire edge is getting "stoned".

Thanks for the offer.

The marker test is a great suggestion. I will try that when I going to hone it.

I just honed the razor with the marker test. The whole edge was honed equally. The spine was also honed except one small spot at the left side of the part that was "not" honed. So sharptonn could be right with the "grinder's slip".

The razor sharpened up nicely. It is now much sharper than when I received it. I think the next shave will be much smoother.