Thread: Can this razor be saved?

Originally Posted by John Crowley

I think part of the problem is you guys are looking at the bevel as being the honed shiny area above the cutting edge of the razor and not thinking of the bevel as an angle. A bevel on a knife is a totally different animal from a bevel on a razor but if you thicken the spine eventually you will have a pocket knife. (acute = sharp and obtuse = dull)

Webster definition of a bevel when used as a noun:
the angle that one surface or line makes with another when they are not at right angles b : the slant of such a surface or line

Obtuse when used as an adjective: not sharp, acute, or pointed; blunt in form.

Acute when used as an adjective: sharp at the end; ending in a point.

If you tape the spine sure it will not polish as much of the blade going down to the cutting edge but it makes the bevel angle less acute, (more obtuse), and trends towards making a duller cutting edge.

I apologize for getting testy but this argument keeps going on and on month after month and I still think it is dumb. It all boils down to whatever floats your boat! If you guys have it in your mind that taping the spine in some way gives you a better shave - have at it. You are the ones who have to shave with your razors and you are the ones you have to make happy.

I was wondering if this is what you meant. Thanks

Originally Posted by John Crowley

I think part of the problem is you guys are looking at the bevel as being the honed shiny area above the cutting edge of the razor and not thinking of the bevel as an angle. A bevel on a knife is a totally different animal from a bevel on a razor but if you thicken the spine eventually you will have a pocket knife. (acute = sharp and obtuse = dull)


If you tape the spine sure it will not polish as much of the blade going down to the cutting edge but it makes the bevel angle less acute, (more obtuse), and trends towards making a duller cutting edge.

Now i think i see what you were saying... and I agree that it's all about angles, but it has to be the correct angle, too acute and you'll have problems too. If it is about angles it would seem to make sense that if years of neglectful or overzealous honing left a spine so thin that the angle of the bevel became shallower than the "ideal", using something to thicken up the spine would allow you to get the correct angle back.

I would at least try that before sending it for a regrind... couldn't hurt