Thread: Is the blade even ? how to tell ?

How can you tell if a blade is even across the blade ?

Meaning from heal to toe....

I have a blade that looks uneven to the naked eye but how can i check it for sure? When I say it "looks" uneven I dont mean it goes from a 6/8 at heal to 5/8 at toe... it just looks like it may not be even across the edge.

Thanks

You can lay it on a hone (or anything you know to be flat). Gently putting it edge down will tell you about smiles/frowns, and laying it across (as in honing) on one side than the other will tell you about warping or uneven wear (or you could do flat strokes with magic marker on the bevel). I suppose you could also look/measure for uneven wear on the spine and/or bevel, but that would assume that the spine/bevel was even before it was put to a hone (which may or may not be the case).

Originally Posted by holli4pirating

You can lay it on a hone (or anything you know to be flat). Gently putting it edge down will tell you about smiles/frowns, and laying it across (as in honing) on one side than the other will tell you about warping or uneven wear (or you could do flat strokes with magic marker on the bevel). I suppose you could also look/measure for uneven wear on the spine and/or bevel, but that would assume that the spine/bevel was even before it was put to a hone (which may or may not be the case).

Thanks ...
I dont have a hone so would the backside of a mirror work ?

Originally Posted by Earthdawn

How can you tell if a blade is even across the blade ?

Meaning from heal to toe....

I have a blade that looks uneven to the naked eye but how can i check it for sure? When I say it "looks" uneven I dont mean it goes from a 6/8 at heal to 5/8 at toe... it just looks like it may not be even across the edge.

Thanks

If you can't see a fault without an electron microscope and it is a good shaver does it really matter?

Mirrors tend to be flat, so that should work.

While it is not really a true indication, I typically assume a mirror is flat if it provides a "true" reflection. This is not really the case, because that only means that the reflective portion (which is usually covered with a layer of glass) is flat.

I also find that if you fold the razor to it's shaving position, I can look along the blade from heal to toe (shaving edge up) and spot significant warps. Keep in mind that "flat" is a relative term, and the likelihood that a razor's edge really is flat is extremely slim to none.

Draw a straight line on a piece of paper with a ruler or other straight edge. lay the paper down with the line visible and put the edge to the line. Check for deviation of the edge from the line. Put the razor on the other side of the line and check again. This is to see if the line is curved. If the edge is as straight as the line from both sides of the line there is nothing to be concerned with for shaving as long as the line is reasonably straight. If there is a deviation of the edge from the line, the same direction/place/amount the line is straight and the edge is not. Is it a frown or a smile? Smiles are good. Frowns will show a hollow in the middle of the edge length. If the edge deviates from the line in different places and directions yo need to draw a straighter line.

Note: All you are doing is comparing two items for straight and checking one of them (the line) for accuracy. It is not meant to be a precision test or precise measurement.