Thread: george wolstenholm and sons

Will it shave arm hair from the 1k?

not even close

That's why I don't bread knife for chips. just keep working it on the 1k till it comes around. Can you take a pic that shows the grind on that blade?

Correction. So it will shave arm hair, but not comfortably at all. I was a bit surprised. I think the razor either has a slight warp, or I applied a bit too much pressure when honing this razor. You can see the bevel grind is a bit uneven in the 2nd pic.

Try wiping the razor off, use that sharpie I see and apply it to the edge. Then us 3 layers of electrical tape and go back to the 1K. Use 'some' pressure but not a lot.

The tape will help you concentrate on the 'Edge' more. After 20 or so passes, take a good look and see where you are. I do hope you have a loupe or some form of magnification to check on the progress of the edge as the naked eye can't always see enough.

You will need to replace the tape Often! If you don't before you know it, you'll be seeing shiny metal on the spine

Keep the pics coming.

As you are finding out #1 as Glen warned bread knifing can make it next to impossible to get the razor back to shaving. #2 heavier grinds are a whole different matter compared to hollow grinds.

Looks to me that you chose a difficult razor for a newbie honer. However, now that you've started you might as well carry on and just keep going away at the 1K until you have a proper bevel set along the whole length. You may need to use a couple of layers of tape and be prepared to replace it at intervals when you see it wearing away. If you don't already have one, invest in a loupe - this will help you see where the bevel scratches are going. You could also try the sharpie test to establish if the whole bevel is hitting the stones.

Ideally you should use a rolling honing action to maintain the smile - this may also help avoid getting a wide bevel in places but it looks to me that you are not going to do a lot about keeping the bevel a constant width.

A couple of points - one already pointed out - if the scales are horn they will not be giving off gas (that Celluloid) therefore you can continue to use them. My second point is in reference to the potential for creating a hook at the heel - this happens with razors that have stabilizers - yours doesn't, therefore it's not an issue.

Edit - looks like Cudarunner beat me to some points - however we seem to agree on a few things.

Ok. I'll do exactly as stated. Use 3 layers of tape, 20 or so passes with 1k using some pressure and check the bevel. Yes, I do have a loupe

Question though about using 3 layers of tape. Is there any pointe at which I should revert to only 1 layer of tape? Or if I finally do set a bevel with 3 layers, continue to use 3 layers on my 4k and 8k stones?

I opted not to use Glen's method of bread knifing. Instead I followed the instructions showed in this video: It seemed to me to be easier and might remove less metal.

Thanks for your assistance!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnocPdAvfzg

[QUOTE=UKRob;1589019]Looks to me that you chose a difficult razor for a newbie honer. However, now that you've started you might as well carry on and just keep going away at the 1K until you have a proper bevel set along the whole length.

Definitely a newbie here. To date I've put a comfortable shaving edge on about 10 razors that I've purchased. All of which had hollow grinds, and were much easier to hone. I picked this one up on the cheap, and found another just like it for about $10.00 which I have yet to attempt to hone. My plan was to use this one as a learning experience, hope to get it to where it will shave, then take what I've learned and apply that to the other "Pipe" razor I purchased. The 2nd one is in much better condition with no chips in the shaving edge. Just needs a good polishing.

You may or may not be able to drop down on the amount of tape. With that said I 'think' that you'll be using no less than 2 layers and YES once you start up in grits you'll need to maintain the same amount of layers of tape and Keep Changing Tape!

Post pics as you go!

In my experience the King 1k cuts much quicker with slurry. Once the bevel comes together, dilute down to plain water and refine the edge until it shaves arm hair easily. On a near wedge with damage, expect to use dozens of laps at each stage - sometimes many dozens. You are working with much wider bevels than on a hollow ground and much remove correspondingly more steel - and that Victorian-era Sheffield steel is normally very hard.