Thread: Smiling Razor Re-Grind

use the magic marker test and practice on your finest hone.. it will still remove the marker, and you wont wear out your blade.

if once you figure you've got the rolling stroke down but the very edge still has marker on it then likely the bevel still isnt set in those places, and you will need to go to your coarse hones. at that point you can decide whether you want to tape the spine or not.

when i'm stropping a smiling blade sometimes i do a bit of a x-stroke rolling stroke that really only uses the near side of the strop
like wise you can focus on a rolling stroke that uses the near edge of the stone if that helps, treating it like a narrow hone.
having a really narrow hone can make sure that you get contact along the whole edge, but its not necessary, and you wont really develop the skill of the rolling stroke. my narrowest hones are about 10mm wide, and they are kinda nice for warped blades.. i know folks say a warped blade on a wide hone can be just the same, but i dont want to automatically wear the toe down on one side because its always in contact with the hone. that sort of thing isnt an issue with a smilling blade. wide hones are fine, and you can do exactly the same thing with them as a narrow hone, but it requires an intentional rolling stroke.

and once you develop the rolling stroke you will probably find it makes sense to use it on all your blades, smiling or not.


(i just recalled you said you've had them professionaly honed, so the bevel shouldn't be an issue.. maybe find out if they were done with tape or not, that could be important)

I've never used the rolling stroke on smiling blades while stropping. I think I can get away without doing this because I tend to be a heavy stropper, both in pressure and number of strokes. It has been a long time since I did fewer than 100 laps and almost always more.

Originally Posted by bluegrod

Now one of the techniques I have not tried is the narrow hone and was wondering if there is any benefit to using a narrow hone. I do not use stones but rather dmt plates and aluminum oxide lapping film on glass plate and was wondering what micron alumox film would be used in order to set the bevel. In response to the above comment about using a rolling x-stroke while stropping I am curious, wouldnt that tend to allow the blade to dig into the edge of the strop. Also, there may be some confusion about my honing ability. I do real well and can hone a straight blade to a very keen edge its just these smiling blades that are giving me fits and I know everyone is saying just keep trying but I am worried about over honing the blades.

I feel using this to attempt a honing session has destroyed your bevels. I just don't think it will ever work. JMHO. I suggest getting them going again professionally and investing in a barbers hone . Just Me!

Originally Posted by ace

I've never used the rolling stroke on smiling blades while stropping. I think I can get away without doing this because I tend to be a heavy stropper, both in pressure and number of strokes. It has been a long time since I did fewer than 100 laps and almost always more.

do you use an x stroke, or does your leather flex to fit the curve of the blade?