Honing Heels Part II: Do You Bother?

For those of you who work on eBay specials a lot, how much of the heel do you try to get sharp? Some razors seem like they are designed to be sharpened all the way to the heel, but I wonder about others.

A couple of razors I'm working on right now look like the last 1/4 inch or so was never sharpened--it's almost squared off, like that portion was ground at a 90-degree angle.

On other razors, the stabilizers meet the sharpened portion of the blade in such a way that the edge seems to be impossible to sharpen.

Ideally, I'd like to get all my blades HHT sharp along every millimeter. But it doesn't seem possible on some razors. How much of the heel needs to be sharpened for a blade to be acceptable?

Josh

Josh,

For me, I like it sharp on the entire edge. But, this is mainly because I've got little fiddly bits around my 'tash and flayva sayva that I sometimes need to back into with the heel. And this is merely a personal preference because I could just swap hands and use the tip for the same job.

But I know what you mean re the stabilisers. Whoever owned (some of) my old razors before me clearly wanted the entire edge sharp, to the point where they honed down the stabilisers to achieve an edge at the heel.


James.

All of it.

X

For me, the heel needs to be just as sharp as the tip - I use it the same way as the tip to get into certain nooks and crannies.

I use the heel to shave my chin, so it needs to be sharp. The only exceptions are a couple of old razors with a narrow heel either by design or overhoning, for those I generally forgive the heel. I don't hone for other people though so I can get away with it.

Sounds like I'm on the right track with trying to get the entire blade sharp. Let me describe two problems that I see from time to time on some blades.

On some full hollows, the stabilizers run right into the edge. I'm not sure if this is by design or if the edge has just seen significant wear. So there's a lot of steel at the heel, and I'm basically trying to sharpen the stabilizer. This means extra work on the hone to get it as sharp as the rest of the edge. But since the thick steel is right next to thin steel, the thin steel wears faster. I end up with a tiny frown right on the heel. :rant:

The other problem seems more common with heavier grinds. I was working on a razor recently where the straight edge rounds off abruptly at the heel, almost like the toe of a round point. With these razors, the heel doesn't actually touch the stone during a normal honing stroke.

I'd have to lift the toe of the razor off the stone to get the heel to make contact, and then I'd be using just the edge of the stone. The only other alternative is to remove a LOT of steel from the whole edge. The razors I have in mind look like they came this way from the factory--light hone wear, and the edge is ground flat starting where it lifts off the hone. I end up with about 1/4 inch that just won't sharpen, even though it kinda looks like part of the blade...

Anybody overcome either of these problems?

Josh

Quote:

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Originally Posted by JoshEarl

On some full hollows, the stabilizers run right into the edge. I'm not sure if this is by design or if the edge has just seen significant wear. So there's a lot of steel at the heel, and I'm basically trying to sharpen the stabilizer. This means extra work on the hone to get it as sharp as the rest of the edge. But since the thick steel is right next to thin steel, the thin steel wears faster. I end up with a tiny frown right on the heel. :rant:

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Most razors I've seen this on have been honed into that condition, though I've seen a few that were apparently made that way. Don't have a solution for you, I don't hone the stabilizer myself. I'm also not a fan of stabilizers (I prefer the simpler 4/4 hollow grind), but they do seem to be needed on the more flexible extra hollow grinds.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by JoshEarl

The other problem seems more common with heavier grinds. I was working on a razor recently where the straight edge rounds off abruptly at the heel, almost like the toe of a round point. With these razors, the heel doesn't actually touch the stone during a normal honing stroke.

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Like Crowley's NOS Friodurs? This was common practice until the manufacturers started making the extra-hollow ground razors. I've got several old 4/4 hollow razors without stabilizers that I love, this is probably my favorite grind. Just hone until you get to the curve at the heel - you shouldn't hone around the curve at all unless you like slicing your fingers when you shave. Just hone with your normal stroke (or your normal rocking stroke if its a smiler) and this should hone the parts of the blade that need to be honed.