Need advice for a "refresh"

Hello guys,

A colleague of mine just brought me his Dovo Bismark for a "refresh" after about 6 months of use. A couple weeks ago, he said it wasn't sharp enough anymore...
I was only expecting to have to do a quick refresh on the 12k or, at worst, go back to the 8k... Joke's on me I guess...

Yes, that is a nasty looking edge/bevel. There's also quite a bit of rust spots around the blade and at the pivot.

I don't plan on doing any kind of rust removal on the blade as I am far from having that kind of skills. I'll tell him to just send it out to a pro to get the whole thing cleaned up.
In the mean time, my plan was to try a simple bevel reset on the 1k, which should take care of the rust on that part of the blade, and go up to 12k (my set is Naniwa 1/3/8/12), but then, while writing this, I just noticed the edge as a slight smile... that might be too much for my current level of honing skills, I'm still at the grasshopper rank.

Any advice other than to yell at him for not taking proper care of his razor?

Cheers.

The blade looks like it has a frown to me. Probably due to previous improper honing. As we say out out west, " it's been rode hard and put up wet".
My advise is to recommend to your friend to send it out to a pro to fix it up. You might also help him out with a little info on razor care. Your friend is fortunate to have you looking out for him

John

Holy toot Rocky, no wonder the blade is dull with all that rust on the bevel. Yea, I'd yell at him about proper care of a straight. As far as attempting a bevel reset goes I would not do it if I thought it was out of my comfort zone particularly since it is someone else's razor. I'm at the grasshopper level too and would not do it. Besides if it is going to cost him to have honed it might drive the point home on proper blade care.

Bob

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jmac123

The blade looks like it has a frown to me.

John

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That would be the picture's angle. It's definitely a smile.

My guess is that he just left the razor in the bathroom's humidity or stored it back in it's coffin without drying it properly.

Thanks!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BobH

Holy toot Rocky, no wonder the blade is dull with all that rust on the bevel. Yea, I'd yell at him about proper care of a straight. As far as attempting a bevel reset goes I would not do it if I thought it was out of my comfort zone particularly since it is someone else's razor. I'm at the grasshopper level too and would not do it. Besides if it is going to cost him to have honed it might drive the point home on proper blade care.

Bob

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My thoughts exactly...

Thanks.

No, that looks like he did a little touch up and did not rinse and dry the bevel properly. The soap and wet skin rested on the bevel and attack it. The last thing I do is rinse under hot running water and dry with a microfiber towel, twice especially if you drew blood.

The smile, if it exist is very slight, hard to tell from the photo. But as said if you don’t feel comfortable, pass. Honing a smile is not that big a deal, especially one that slight. There are threads and videos to coach you along.

The bigger issue is how deep are the pits and how affected is the steel.

Quick Questions!

How are your edges? Are you happy with them? How do they compare to other more experienced Honers?

If you are happy with how your razor/razors shave and if they compare to other’s edges just have a go at it!

I find your honing plan sound. For one thing, you can’t mess the edge up anymore than your friend did!!

Now as far as corrosion on the blade elsewhere you can you a metal polish/Mothers/Mass etc, however if you do, stay away from the gold wash as it will take it right off!!

As far as a ‘smile’ I don’t see it! As was previously posted, if there is one, it’s a very slight one! If you’re not getting good results at the toe try using a little ‘swoop’ at the end of your x strokes. By this I mean turn the edge just a little toward you when the blade is coming toward you and then just a little when the razor is going away from you.

Glen explains/shows it here:

gssixgun honing for JaNorton 2012 1.wmv - YouTube

Jump ahead to 5 minutes. While the video is about a different way to hone, he is using a razor with a little smile to it so you can see how he treats the stroke right at the end!

Personally, I tend to hone every razor as if it were smiling. I like the little
‘swoop’ at the end as it seems to keep the toe really nice! Maybe it even helps keep the frowns away! :shrug:

A simple touch up on the 12k or even 8k would have been easy enough and would have given a decent edge to shave with, although nowhere near any pro-honed edge I've experienced so far. Going further down in grit however is a work in progress. For the past couple months, I've been working on learning bevel setting on the 1k with cheap vintage blades from the classifieds, including one that has a comparable light smile. The only difference is that this vintage I'm working on seems to have some kind of arc from front to back (only the center of the edge touches the hone on the front side and only the heel & toe are touching on the back side...); it took me a while to figure out that there was an arc and how to work with it (at a rate of about 30-45 minutes per week, it's a slow process...), but I'm now on my way to completing the bevel. With this said, Euclid makes a good point, the possible depth of the pitting is now my biggest concern and might be a lot of work for my skill level.

Anyways, I insisted that he send it to a pro while I get better.

Thanks!

For future reference, the 1K would have handled it. Simply reset the bevel, creating an even bevel and sharp edge. With magnification ensure the edge is not chipping from the pitting. You may have to remove a bit of steel with the 1K to get a solid bevel and chip free edge.

You most probably could have handled it, but I understand your apprehension, not being your razor. Any other rust on the tip or other places can simply be cut off with a single edge razor blade then polished with metal polish, I like using the end of a bamboo chopstick with polish for spot cleaning.

I don’t understand what you mean by arc on the blade, some photos would help. Learning to hone with ebay or antique store razors can be problematic because many need repair in addition to honing. It’s like learning to drive in a car you have to fix first.

If you buy one of these blades make sure the spine and edge are not warped. A better solution is buying a decent razor in the 40-60 dollar range, that are in good condition, there are a few in the classifieds here now.

You can dull the blade and practice re-honing, once you have a good edge you will have another nice blade for your rotation.

I agree, I'm sure I could have done it with some care and time, but for now, like you said, I prefer to continue learning on cheaper blades than to mess with someone else's.

As for the vintage blades, I did get the three of them from well known sellers on the classifieds here and were all in good shape when i got them. It's just this one blade... I spent some time doing circles, x-strokes and rolling x-strokes and I wasn't seeing much progress/difference at 30x. All I saw was a regular oblique scratch pattern, but couldn't tell if it was mine or from the previous owner/honer, so I started doing straight strokes with a bit more pressure, which created a straight scratch pattern that was easier to discern from the oblique one. That's when it hit me, first, I definitely needed more slurry and more pressure to actually do some steel removal; second the arc or warp or uneven thickness... I don't know. All I know is that on the front side of the blade, the new/fresh bevel grew from the center of the blade and then spread towards the heel and toe, and on the back side it was the opposite, the new/fresh bevel grew from the heel&toe towards the center.

Thanks.

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Originally Posted by Pi3

All I know is that on the front side of the blade, the new/fresh bevel grew from the center of the blade and then spread towards the heel and toe, and on the back side it was the opposite, the new/fresh bevel grew from the heel&toe towards the center.

Thanks.

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When you encounter a warped blade like that, you can turn your stones up on edge giving you a narrower surface to hone on. This works best for the practiced hand. Give it a try just for the experience. Good luck.

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Originally Posted by mrsell63

When you encounter a warped blade like that, you can turn your stones up on edge giving you a narrower surface to hone on. This works best for the practiced hand. Give it a try just for the experience. Good luck.

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Do you mean using the side of the stone? I can't really do that since I have the Naniwa stones with stand. I could however try it with the BBW...

Cheers,

BBW would be fine. This is good practice and will help improve your honing technique.