Thread: Hello from Manchester UK And the restoration of a straight razor.

Someone gave me his father’s Handsworth razor many years ago and not understanding thestructure of the razor I decided I would strop it Iall I achieved was to completely round off the beveland render it useless..
I made several attempts to strop it over the years and the edge was absolutely useless.. By thelooks of the bevels I did not connect properly with the spine . I think I tried to sharpen it with acarpenters oilstone which was not flat.I started sharpening knives using a guided rod system andtried to sharpen the razor once againI failed. The next attempt was the dawn of my freehandsharpening using a mousepad and various grits of paper the finest been 3000 there was a slightimprovement it now sported a rather chipped bevel. Last year I tried again having watched a videoon You Tube of someone sharpening a razor there was a slight improvement but still poor.
I have now been freehand sharpening for about a year and a half now and iI try to sharpensomething everyday I have recently found the control to do V bevels and I have built up experiencewith both European knoives & Japanese knives so yesterday I pulled the razor out & decided itwas time to fix it once & for all.The bevels were not even for starters & there was a slight curve inthe blade so having read the article on restoring a razor .
First course of action was the bread knife manoeuvre using a Nubutama 150 to remove the bevel& the slight frown. In retrospect I need to to move up what I would call the bolster which will makefuture works more easy. Once flattened I started to work on a new bevel I decided that I would notwork the bevel to the apex with the Nubatama since I decided that there would be a real danger ofputting micro chips into the bevel. The next stone was a Naniwa Chosera 600 grit which I workedalmost to the apex . The next was a Shapton Glass 1k which I cut through to the apex but thebevels were not that even so I worked as necessary until the bevels were more or less even ( Iconclude that at some time I must have made the spine uneven anyhow with a bit of work I madethe bevels even. I then worked up through Shapton Glass 4k -8k then Naiwa 10k finishing with a16k Shapton Glass and the I put some 0.25 micron CBN spray on the 16K Shapton for the lasthoning .
I then gently stropped with red rouge on a leather tensioned strop and finally stropped it on balsa.So the end result although not perfect since I still have some scratches left over from theNubatama on the mid to top part of the bevel I should have spent more time with the 600 & the 1Kto remove all the scratches.
The razor will shave now although my facial hair is not strong so I favour an electric razor but it isnow fairly close to how it should be.
I will raise the bolster as is done on a European Chef knives and round off & polish the bottom ofthe bevel. I will go back to 1k stone and work until the scratches are gone.
I intend to get some diamond films at some stage so that I can improve the finish and also work ongetting more out of ceramic knives.
I will post some picture both of how it is now and the finished razor with a close up of the bevelusing my USB microscope.
I now feel in control of straight razors and feel it will be as it should be soon thanks to some hintsfrom the forum.

As said I found the articles most helpful and I am happy that I am on my way to mastering anothersharpening discipline.

Hi and welcome. The honing forum will have lots of information that may be of help and I suggest watching the vids by Gssixgun on YouTube as he covers most razor issues and lots of different methods. Good luck and if you need any help or advice just ask

Welcome to SRP!

Hi and welcome, just keep asking and you'll get any answers you need

Welcome to SRP!
As mentioned above, look for the gssixgun videos and the Lynn Abrams honing videos.

That handsworth will probably bevel set without problems on 1k stone.

Hi & welcome to SRP. You will love it here & there is plenty to learn as there is a wealth of information on here! Here is the first bit of information for you to know:
Straight Razor Place - Beginners Tips: December 2014
You will want to buy you a nice straight razor to begin with whether used or new. Beware of used ones not that they are bad but know what to look for like a lot of hone wear on the spine & edge or chips in the blade. Stay away from razors with rust on the cutting edge as that will only result in it chipping more metal off as it is honed. Here is also a list of straights to stay away from:
http://straightrazorpalace.com/srpwik...azors_to_Avoid
Here is a list of good brands of razors you will want to own plus there are more than just these out there which you will find out from other members here:
http://straightrazorpalace.com/srpwik...t_Razor_Brands
If buying a new razor, I suggest you buy one from Straight Razor Designs - Gifts for Men | Straight Razors or SRD. The owner & founder of this forum is Lynn & he is also part owner of SRD. When you buy a straight razor from him, he will personally hone that razor before you get it plus you will get a certificate for another free honing for when that razor needs it which should be a few months. There will be vendors who will sell you a straight razor that is supposed to be shave ready but really won't be. You will most importantly need to know how to strop & you can learn in the Library or here:
http://straightrazorpalace.com/srpwik...azor_stropping
You will need to strop your razor before & after you shave. If you buy one from Lynn, chances are you won’t have to strop it before you use it the first time.
You will also need a shaving brush, a shaving mug & some shaving soap. Later it will also do you good to get a second straight razor so that when you send the first one out to be honed, you will have a backup to shave with.
Here is a link to the Library where you will find stropping in there & everything else you will need to know including how to hone:
http://straightrazorpalace.com/srpwik..._Place_Library
Also here is Lynns bevel setting video & some of gssixguns honing video's:
https://www.youtube.com/user/gssixgun/videos
http://straightrazorpalace.com/honin...nn-abrams.html
Here is another good link to know:
Welcome to the Workshop: How do I / Where do I / What do I / answers are here
Should you have any questions, there are a lot of knowledgable members on here that will be more than happy to help you out. If you want to find someone in your area, you can look here:
http://straightrazorpalace.com/srpwik...php/Local_Help
And if you can't find anyone near you, just ask and someone that lives in your are & hopefully they will let you know how to meet up & you can get some one on one mentoring. There is a lot to do on here, just search everywhere on the forum & in the Library. You will spend hours on here & have fun doing it, so there you go, have at it!
Good luck & have fun!
Steve