Gentleman,

As they say on the radio, long time reader, first time poster. With that I would like to say why I am now posting. I purchased a few razors after falling in love with wet shaving when given an antique 1920s DE razor. After getting good, I decided to move to the next level with a straight razor. I have in my possession, a Morley & Sons full hollow, Fredrick Reynolds wedge, a W & B Wedge. All Pictured Below. ( I gotta say 2 of which came from SRP classifieds, both purchases good experiences;-)
So why I'm posting---> Last night I successfully brought all 3 back to pass the hanging hair test. (HOORAAAH!). (FYI I have read many of the Wiki’s, watched vids by Lynn & GSSixGun & many others. Despite the below, I have yet to complete a full STR RZR shave.)

So here is my progression:
1. 1,200 grit stone – Splex ?? (I think)
2. 4,000 grit stone - (King Whetstone)
3. Honing Stone – Grit unknown; but MUCH finer than my 4k.
a. I borrowed this stone from my father. He has owned it for YEARS (read: all information lost /forgotten). He has used it to bring his jointer blades to a mirror finish (if that helps with the grit).
b. (I use 2 pieces of tape.)

So here are my questions; when honing, I noticed a few things:

1. After getting what looked to be a keen edge on the honing stone (I progress linearly through the stones), I tried the hanging hair test to no avail. Not getting discouraged, I went on to the strop (An uncle heard of my new fascination and gifted me my grandfather’s nearly unused Certifyd Strop (HOOORAAAHHH!)). After about say 50-60 passes tried again, BINGO. Got it. Cut a loose hair. Is it normal for a razor to not pass the hanging hair test before being stropped after coming from a honing stone? Or is the hone stone closer to say an 8k than say a 12k and wasn’t fine enough & the strop took it the rest of the way to a keen edge?
2. After further inspection I noticed that the edge wasn’t perfect in a few spots. (A dull razor when held edge to a light source will have flat (dull) spots that reflect light back.) The imperfections that I am speaking of are similar spots but just slight degree differences between themselves and the bevel (the main mirror finish that will grab a bead of light and reflect it seamlessly from toe to heal.) Is it normal to have slight variations on the cutting surface that (to me) say there is a slight variation in the bevel angle (read: I see this as being not perfect and needs to be corrected. Could it be the stone’s age or need to be flattened?)? Even if it isn’t perfect, if it passes the hair test do these questions matter?
3. Between the wedges – slight smiles- and the Full hollow –straight spine-, the straight is much easier to hone (although the wedges are more fun). However on all the blades, I noticed that the bevel surface is smaller near the heal. Is this normal or am I doing something wrong?
4. As I am sure that you noticed from the pic, the W & B has no scales. I plan to rescale it (maybe buff a few light stains out) after finals are over (I’m in grad school).

So here is the fun question. Post a pic of your favorite W&B meat cleaver! Mine is included below as well; I need some inspiration to work towards for my first project. The dual pins, dark horn, & slight point near the double pinned end are all awesome, amazing for a restore. What is your favorite?
My Razors:
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Taken Shamelessly From Madaspen.com
But a design i really like. Show me your favorite & maybe i will be inspired to recreate it.
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Great to meet everybody! and thanks for any info ahead of time.

Joseph.