Otto Fromm 72R, Revisited

Hi Folks,

For quite a while I had been puzzled by the apparent difficulty in getting and maintaining a decent edge on my Otto Fromm model 72R razor. It's been a fun and educational puzzle, though, and I'd like to share what worked for me.

The problems:
1. Spine slightly uneven.

2. Edge has a slight bow along it's length.

3. The factory bevel is more obtuse than that formed by the edge-to-spine planes.

4. . Edge not durable when sharpened to the more acute, spine-determined angle.

The solutions:
1, 3 & 4. Hone at a greater angle. Tape the spine with 2 or 3 layers, or like I do hone with the spine just barely above the hone. (Please don't be scandalized; this works very well.) At the greater angle the edge hones up to a sharp, durable edge.

2. Use a narrow hone (I use a well broken in Model M Eze-Lap) or sharpen along the hone's edge with the toe raised slightly. A soft pasted leather, wood, cardboard, etc. hone makes things easier for final polishing and periodic touch-ups. (I use a piece of cardboard pasted with Flitz polish.)

The Fromm is a good razor. It performs well for me now that I treat it like the working knife that it is, without clinging to my previous notions of the "correct" way to hone a razor.

Jeff