Thread: Regrinding Blues

Tom,
You know, it shaves a lot like my other razors, it is just way heavier and I payed for not recognizing this fact on the first shave. And you don't have to wipe the lather on the sponge (my style) nearly as often as with my narrower razors. Other than those two observations it is kind of fun, and feels great in the hand. Counterintuitively feels like a precision instrument.

Originally Posted by WW243

I honed it up with many layers of tape, so many that it actually did not feel like honing at all, felt like something different.

I know your feeling, I have a wedge I honed with 5 layers didn't feel right honing it,
it does shave ok but the angles feel off when I shave with it, so now I have it back in the honing line up & going to take it back to my standard 1 layer of tape, so no more small bevel for sure on it then.

Yeah. 5 layers is too much, IMO. After 3, things get iffy!

2 layers is perfectly acceptable and going to 1 may take a year on the hone :<0) I start with 3 sometimes on big wedges but no more. If your that thin at the spine and thick at the bevel maybe start thinking regrind. I tried taking one to a true wedge once. That was the dumbest idea I ever had.

Originally Posted by Substance

I know your feeling, I have a wedge I honed with 5 layers didn't feel right honing it,
it does shave ok but the angles feel off when I save with it, so now I have it back in the honing line up & going to take it back to my standard 1 layer of tape, so no more small bevel for sure on it then.

Here's big one that was reground a long time ago. 7/8 plus a bit.

Pretty close to a modern full hollow now. Shaves very nicely.

Just a question to all,
how can you tell if a blade has been reground especially old blades
I have an old W&B 8/8 thats probably half hollow that looks like a factory grind to me


and a very thin belly ground hollow 6/8 W&B the most Hollow ground W&B I have seen but all looks the same


fair enough bad grinding that doesn't look factory can be spotted but if it is all even & matches the tang grind lines,
how would you tell if this is original or reground 100 years ago ???

IMHO, the central reason the old Barber's razors were huge was so they could be reground when the spine wear got excessive. Regrinding was a fact of life in the heyday of the straight.

As for how you can tell, that's hard to pass on easily.

There's a whole constellation of things to look for, and some of it is just knowing what any given style of blade looked like.

There's also the fact that the grinding wheel was used in a lot of different ways over time. Initially, it was mostly to clean off rust and remove the hone-wear race track down the blade. Later it was used to turn old wedges into more modern hollows.

In general though, get a powerful magnifying glass and look at the blade. Really examine it. You're looking for regular scratches that go from spine to edge. If it's a shoulderless grind, check all along it to see if the character of the grind marks changes. Some razors were given a crocus polish (mirror), others a glaze, which has visible scratch marks that look almost indistinguishable from after-market grinding.

It's also worth noting that at least some of the old Sheffield companies would take back their razors and regrind them for a small fee and the return postage, and I'd bet money you'd be hard pressed to ever tell the difference between that and an original finish.

The last little bit of uncertainty is that these were hand-made items, made by people who often worked three jobs to make sure their families didn't starve. They were polished by children. They were almost never perfect out of the factory.

Originally Posted by Maximilian

I personally don't like any excessive hone or edge wear, patina, pitting or devil's spit on any razor, no matter the history or age. If you're going to use the razor and actually shave with it on a daily basis I would have done the exact same thing. In the end it's all personal preference. I just happen to be in the 'perfect condition' cult.

+1.

You can romanticize about it all that you want, at the end of the day a badly worn razor is a badly worn razor. If you buy an old-timer car, noone is going to be lyrical about it if it is falling apart from rust and one of the cilinders ain't firing. And noone is going to say they felt it should remain looking like crap instead of being professionally restored.

The final result is stunning. Enjoy it and stop talking yourself into the gotta have it original. Cause you know what? Its getting harder and harder to find those NOS farm finds. Every year that goes by, makes it harder.

Affirmative Amigo, not only are the farms disappearing but my discretionary income is tanking like a mofo.

Originally Posted by Tarkus

The final result is stunning. Enjoy it and stop talking yourself into the gotta have it original. Cause you know what? Its getting harder and harder to find those NOS farm finds. Every year that goes by, makes it harder.