Thread: Soviet rasors NOS - Impossible to take a beve,l or it is just me?

Are they stainless? The Norton guys could say how they work with SS.
Are they warped ?
Both could be a challenge.

I only have one Soviet razor which easily took a good edge using a Naniwa progression to 12K. Couldn't tell you the name of the model though. Never really heard much bad said about the blades or the steel.

Bob

Originally Posted by onimaru55

Are they stainless? The Norton guys could say how they work with SS.
Are they warped ?
Both could be a challenge.

No, they are not stainless and they are not warped.

Hard steel maybe ?
It's possible a bevel was never set on them. They could be straight off the grinding wheel.

I'm not familiar with Russian razors, but I'm wondering if they might simply be RSO's. They look quite similar to a Pakistani razor I found, years ago.

Originally Posted by outback

I'm not familiar with Russian razors, but I'm wondering if they might simply be RSO's. They look quite similar to a Pakistani razor I found, years ago.

Could be.

Originally Posted by onimaru55

Hard steel maybe ?
It's possible a bevel was never set on them. They could be straight off the grinding wheel.

This was my impression as well. That's why I had to go down to 220grit stone. 1000 was not able to give them a bevel.
I will insist honing them until I completely destroy them or make them actually sharp.

I think Russian straight razors are real straight razors and not anything like the Pakistani RSOs I have read about.

All I used to set the bevel on mine was a 1K Naniwa. I have also read that the steel in Russian razors can be hard so I wonder if using a 220k hone is a good idea re chipping. Maybe lighten up on the pressure and take more time setting the bevel on a 1K stone?

Bob

If the razor has a double bevel, it is not necessary to eliminate the second bevel. If the steel is quite hard, the manufacturer may have used a second bevel to make sure they were honing all the way to the apex without removing so much steel. So rather than using a 220 grit stone trying to remove a lot of metal to produce a single bevel, you might consider using the Sharpie test to mark the bevel(s) and then try to use one or more layers of tape to insure that you are honing the bevel closest to the apex.

I have honed old razors on 220 grit before, but always regret doing so as removal of the large scratch marks takes a lot of work, especially if your next stone up is the 1K. It helps to have intermediate stones such as 400 and 800 grit to eliminate the scratches.

First use 2 layers of tape, It looks like you have lost a lot of the spine width.

I would reshape the heels on both. Use a small coin as a guide and bring the heel corner forward an 1/8 th to ¼ of an inch You are riding on the tang on both. Hard to tell from the photo if the white engraved one has a stabilizer. Honing on a stabilizer or the tang could give you a double bevel on the heel half of the blade.

You can also try a heel forward stroke if you do not want to reshape the heel. Ink will help you see your progress easier.

Yes, skip the 220 and re-set the bevel on the 1k. Use ink to check your progress and do not use too much pressure. Always use tape to set the bevel on problem razors. Once the bevel is set, then decide if you want to continue to use tape, but really there is not a good reason not to.

You have lost a lot of spine width needlessly and now may have to use tape to get a solid bevel.

I remember when I first started out honing I has a soviet razor and a TI my bevel setter was a norton 1k, I could not get a bevel set and I stopped trying to hone, (they are both very hard steel!!!) I then read a bit more on here and decided to give it one more try (but I bought a Chosera 1k) and that made a massive difference for me, granted the norton 1k is just athirst monster imho, if our house ever floods I will just throw that in the room and shut the door return in 2 mins and all will be dry.
Granted the Chosera 1k is not cheap but its been my best investment for sure, I do try other stones from time to time but never in the 1k department.