Thread: Honing nicks

Originally Posted by SRK

I just picked up an 1800s mappin & webb 4 piece set with case. Three of the blades have nicks, One SR is rather deep and it appears I am dealing with all 4/8. Any suggestions working with such short honing space of blade left? This would be my first job honing an SR.

Originally Posted by SRK

I tried uploading from my mobile it wouldnt work. The Mappin & Webb are 4/8 that need a deep nick honed out. They were the rare mabbin & webb 4 piece case set before they began making the 7 piece days of week and tennis sets.

For a first honing attempt & even if you are expert in honing other things, I would humbly suggest you practice on cheaper razors first.

Originally Posted by onimaru55

For a first honing attempt & even if you are expert in honing other things, I would humbly suggest you practice on cheaper razors first.

Sounds great, I have a cheap one just like it from the early 1900s, how shall I proceed? Circles? I have watched The DVD The Site Suggests... any advice as far as the restoration. The dvd did not go into detail on restoration for the nicks on the blade edge. It's about 2/3 mm on a 4/8 and worry about setting a new bevel on the cheapie and the Mappin?

2-3mm on a 4/8 is a sizeable chip. Circles are the fastest way once you're on the spine but freehand at 45º is a good start for large chips then gradually going from 3 layers of tape down to 1 or 0 . Is it a wedge ? Is there corrosion? Hard to advise without pics.

There are two options, either way the surrounding steel will have to be removed to straighten the edge with the bottom of the chip.

One technique is to breadknife or grind a straight edge by holding the blade 90 degrees to the stone and possibly sawing on the stone as if slicing a piece of bread from a loaf.

The other is honing at an angle by lifting the spine anywhere from 45 degrees to the spine touching the stone. Both will remove exactly the same amount of steel.

One of the problems encountered using an aggressive stone, sub 1K grit is the heavy deep stria created by the low or aggressive grit as in a diamond plate. All that stria will need to be removed to produce a straight sharp edge.

To avoid this problem when using low aggressive grit stones, do not grind the chip completely flat with the lowest grit stone or with pressure. Get close and bring the final bevels togeather with the 1k with 2 layers of tape. This will ensure that you remove the minimal amount of steel. It may take a bit longer but you cannot add steel, you can always remove more, and you may need to if the edge is bad and chipping occurs.

Once the bevels meet, hone with one layer of tape on the following stones.

Use tape to preserve the spine especially when learning to hone, where excessive amount of time and pressure will be used.

The goal is to remove as little steel as needed to form a straight shaveable edge.