My understanding of a true wedge is that if you tried to hone it without tape, the hone would cut the entire surface of the blade. Is this correct, or are even true wedges slightly hollow?
Printable View
My understanding of a true wedge is that if you tried to hone it without tape, the hone would cut the entire surface of the blade. Is this correct, or are even true wedges slightly hollow?
I'm no expert but from what I've read, true wedge means a triangle of steel. If it's slightly hollowed that would make it a near wedge.
Assuming it was practical to hone, the entire blade face would be the bevel then, right?Quote:
Originally Posted by ANelson
Again the warning that I'm not an expert, but that is what raw logic would suggest to me, the entire blade being set at the same angle. I'm terribly interested in wedges lately, but have yet to use one at all and still send my razors out to be honed. With luck someone who IS an expert will jump in and let us both know for sure.
I've had wedges from the stub tails through to the customs made by contemporary artisans and I've yet to see one that was a 'true wedge' in the sense of a absolute triangle that would hit the hone all along the leg. The maker had to hone it and knew that the end user would too , so there is always that bit of concave between the bevel and spine.
True wedge would be impossible to hone without some clever attachment to lift the spine off the hone. I have tried a very worn out near wedge with a lot of hone wear and it sticks to the stones to the point it can't be moved on the surface.
The beginning of this thread is focused on exactly that
http://straightrazorpalace.com/advan...honed-day.html
The end I have no idea :shrug:
I have seen two real wedges, one was when I started the thread
Here is the best shot of a couple of typical Sheffield wedges from back in the day .... I estimate circa 1850s .....
Attachment 104556Attachment 104555Attachment 104554
I read that one. Good stuff.Quote:
Originally Posted by gssixgun
Awesome english blades those are.
My English razors have became my
favorite to use.
Only true wedge I've come across is a John Pitts Celebrated that sits on the hone without the edge touching it. It takes two pieces of Super 88 to get the edge to the hone.
Funny you should ask http://straightrazorpalace.com/honin...ard-wedge.html . Wrestling with a very near wedge right now.
Bob
Some months ago I bought 7 rats for 12 Euros at a local flea market. I did it because one was a John Barber in very good conditions (I have already restored and used it). Then I put the other six aside for the moments with nothing to do. Two weeks ago I discovered that one of them is a Brookes & Crookes, so I decided to clean it. It proved to be impossible so I put it on a 400 grit hone and started honing. It is becoming a true wedge. I have not it with me so I can't upload pics, but maybe tomorrow I'll be able to do it. I just want to see what happens! After all, half of the STR8S in my rotation are wedges, and I never use tape on them unless they have etching on the blade...
And here is the picture:
Attachment 104700
As you can see it has become a true wedge at the point. Here, the edge too far from the hone to get it sharp. I will have to hone down the whole blade before I can sharpen the point, without using any tape. Unfortunately the effect of pitting is so deep that the only alternative to this system would be a grinder, which I don't have.
Here's a true wedge CarrieM talked me into buying. I think she was trying to keep me in the shop and out of the local shops for a while. :) We got it cheap but if you add the shop time into the cost as well as the honing the cost went up quickly. Honing required ~ six layers of tape, and I hate honing w/ tape. Good thing I did the work myself w/ Jr. It was a good family project. Carrie and Jr designed the scales and did the finish sanding and scale finishing as well as cleanup after all the work. Here are some before and after pics. The shape looks a bit weird but it works well with the razor and it shaves great.
Joed, you've got a real nice babe here!
But I wonder: now do you need to put six layers of tape every time you hone it? Is it impossible to hone a true wedge without tape?
Yes, if I wanted to maintain a similar bevel I would need to use the same amount of tape but to get the exact thickness as original to exactly match the angle when I first set the bevel would be a good trick. The slightest bit less in thickness would require the bevel to be set again. If I used extra tape or was able to get the thickness just slightly thicker I would be creating a second bevel. Honing this baby was a chore. The other ways to hone a true wedge would be free hand similar to knife honing or to make a honing fixture similar to some knife honing tools available like the Lanski. Here is the first vid that comes up w/ a Google search. This should get some people thinking! Knife Sharpening Part 1 : Tips And Tricks With The Lansky System - YouTubeQuote:
Originally Posted by Mauri
