Thread: Can you hone a Single Edge Injector blade

It has been a while since my last post because I have not really had anything useful to say, whether or not this is useful, Ill leave to the masses to decide.

So I bought one of the Mk 2 Supply Single Edge Injector Razors (my only other besides str8 and DE) for myself and am enjoying it after a whole week. Unfortunately the blades are a little more expensive to get here in Australia so I had a poke around for opinions on touching up the edge yourself. Unfortunately the consensus of the majority (and rightly so) is why would you bother over a 50 cent edge? Cap in hand I got out my first shavette that had not seen light for seven years, my 1/4 slate finisher from AJ, my $0.50 blade and figured, so long as I don't damage my hone I am happy to see what transpires. Please bare in mind I use 1/4 hones bought from Whipped Dog and kept the theme going with AJ's slate because I got used to the size and find they are great for traveling.

After making sure the blade was secured without doing any damage to myself I went to it, fifty gentle strokes either side to get a feel for the angle and to see how it goes. The nick I had put in the first blade after loading it incorrectly into the Mk2 was there but I knew there was good contact. Did the hair test to see how it went and either the blade was not up to my usual test, it was not my version of shave ready or it was so sharp the test does not work (I'll leave the subjective discussion on shave ready for another post). Recalling we are talking about a throw away and not my favorite str8 I started grinding away on the finisher rather than dropping grit size. After a fair course (about 250 backwards and forwards each side on the small hone) the nick was out and I am starting to cut hairs on my arm, time to slow down a bit and be more thorough. Went for 100 soft finishers each side. HHT just to make sure it was alright and the blade is not topping but about half way up which is OK but not great, still not worried as a test might get more out of it if all works out.

I found that one side of the shavette allowed the blade a bit more give and the other did not seem to get the right angle so it was a case of grind fifty, turn over repeat then test. The nick from the incorrect insertion on the first blade (no matter cost the waste still annoyed me), had gone and the blade is now shaveable I suppose. I will finish on pasted strops if I can and then maybe take it to my strop.

If there is interest in this post I will comment on the shave, if there is not really any I'll leave it at that.

I have some vintage Sextoblade blades. I strop them a few times to keep them going for several shaves. It works well with the vintage blades but not the new ones. I suspect it is because the new ones are coated to make them sharp. I would think that honing them would require finding the correct angle.

Yeah, the angle was a bit tricky in the shavette, one side seems to sit nicely though and can be honed. Have a clean edge now and it is cutting well, a bit more on the paste and it should be good to go. Can't wait to test the difference because the normal blades seem to irritate me until they settle. I have read that irritation may also have something to do with the coating you mentioned.

Can it be done? Yes.
Is it worth the effort? Probably not, but it can be a fun way to entertain yourself while avoiding more important matters like whether your tea spoons have the correct bevel on them or not.

If the blade is coated then you first have to remove the coating. 1000 grit sand paper will remove the coating in about 10 passes. Then you can move onto a 4000 grit hone. The trick to hone them is to make a pass down the front, then make a pass down the back (like sharpening a knife). If you do one side and then the other side a burr and wire edge will form and be really uncomfortable. Repeat on an 8k stone. Repeat on a higher stone if you want to.

IIRC the bevel angles on those are around 10 degrees (or was it 8 degrees, or maybe it was 20). In the past I used double sided tape (the kind for wrapping presents) to stick the back edge of the blade to a popsicle stick and that fit the angle perfectly. The stick also made it easier to hone without getting cut.

It is possible to hone double edge blades on the inside of a glass or ceramic mug. That was a trick often used back in the Great Depression years to extend the life of blades. The curvature of the drinking vessel established a consistent honing angle.

If you have a high quality shavette like a Feather AC the design of the blade holder might allow you to hone the blade properly. I would suggest using one or more layers of tape on the "spine" of the blade to prevent hone wear. However, if you can afford a AC razor, you can probably afford the cost of the replacement blades.

I am not familiar with the Sextoblades. Since they are out of production, I can understand trying to prolong their useful life.

I touch up Exacto, single edge and utility blades all the time, especially to get through a project.

I touch them up with a few strokes on a 20k then strop on a diamond paddle strop and on Chrome Oxide or Maas metal polish.

If you don’t have dedicated pasted strops, I use these for tools and knives, paste a piece of cereal box cardboard.

While I can get them smoking sharp for cutting leather or scraping, I have never shaved with a honed razor blade. If I was going to shave with one, I would strop on CBN, .50 and .25um. CBN is both aggressive and comfortable, Metal polish is aggressive, will mirror polish, but leaves a harsh chirpy edge on a razor.

weck sextoblade uses the hair shaper blades you can get at sallys... you can get a 10 pack for less than 5 dollars. if you look around online there are packs of 12 for the for 10 but you get 2 packs so 24 blades for about 10 bucks. or in bulk it gets alot cheaper.