Thread: Half smiling blade

Saw a persons collection of razor that looked like they had been honed to a half smile. At first I thought it was just a messed up blade. But noticed he had done this to all of his blades. This was honed significantly at the toe and not at the heel, so i called it a half smiling blade because the heel was not touched. My question, is there any benefit or reason for this? if so than what? It was not slightly honed but went from a 5/8 at the heel to almost a 3/8 at the toe

Probably just consistently put too much pressure on the toe of the blade when honing, IMHO.

Some old Marshes and Shepherd razors were purposely ground with an upturned toe, but I don't know what the benefit would be.

Do the spines follow the curvature of the edge?

It sounds from your description like a Mis-honed toe, if you watch this vid I will show my theory of how it happens, can't prove it but it makes sense

gssixgun Barber Hone.wmv - YouTube