Thread: Another "When is it worn out" question

I've cruised the search thing but didn't quite find the answer I was looking for.

Not referring to a wedge, if a blade has adequate steel remaining but the spine is slap worn down next to nothing, is it shot? Or is tape always the/an answer to recovering a good bevel and final edge? And, if a couple of layers of tape are needed to rebevel, will the blade still have good enough geometery to meet the strop?

Wild guess, if you use the app I do to calculate how many layers of tape you need on a wedge to get an 18 degree angle on the bevel my guess it would also work with a worn down spine on a full hollow. It takes into account how wide the spine is and what size the blade is to get you into the ballpark of an 18 degree bevel which is , from what I have been able to gather, is the bevel angle spec for a brand new razor with the proper geometry.

Bob

I'm gonna throw this out there, and say this. "When it is no longer serviceable". That can vary by user to a fair degree, what I consider to be serviceable and what you consider worn out may be greatly different. I think that would be a point that the time or effort to obtain a quality shave has become unreasonable when in the hands of a skilled man.

Pics

Jeff

Originally Posted by MisterMoo

I've cruised the search thing but didn't quite find the answer I was looking for.

Not referring to a wedge, if a blade has adequate steel remaining but the spine is slap worn down next to nothing, is it shot? Or is tape always the/an answer to recovering a good bevel and final edge? And, if a couple of layers of tape are needed to rebevel, will the blade still have good enough geometery to meet the strop?

Someone must have honed with a crazy amount of pressure on the spine to wear it out but it's still hard to visualise that adequate steel could remain at the edge.
I'd say you're in no-man's land with 2 layers for stropping . One is no problem, 3, I would strop taped, 2 dunno, I'd probably tape it but guys that can work a slack strop may disagree.

If I amy throw a wrench into this discussion. I have been curious. Tape is used for honing today. But before tape it was honing with bare steel I assume? Given that and given the fact that many of those old razors which lived full lives and are again being used today are still functioning beautifully in a lot of cases I might add. Well,...what I am trying to get at is. Just how damaging is it really to hone without tape. Since your using light pressure,how long in terms of months or years would one imagine it would take before the razor was un honeable ?? I say this because I hone without tape. Is this more of a purist thing or will my razor be unuseable in a few years ? I have often been perplexed by this whole tape thing which is why I ask ?

Originally Posted by Nightblade

If I amy throw a wrench into this discussion. I have been curious. Tape is used for honing today. But before tape it was honing with bare steel I assume? Given that and given the fact that many of those old razors which lived full lives and are again being used today are still functioning beautifully in a lot of cases I might add. Well,...what I am trying to get at is. Just how damaging is it really to hone without tape. Since your using light pressure,how long in terms of months or years would one imagine it would take before the razor was un honeable ?? I say this because I hone without tape. Is this more of a purist thing or will my razor be unuseable in a few years ? I have often been perplexed by this whole tape thing which is why I ask ?

There was a thread or 2 about this in the past.
It makes little difference to longevity Steph as long as you know how to hone & direct the hone to the edge more than the spine. i.e. the talk the torque.
Taping a spine is generally about cosmetics but can be used to compensate for established spine wear.

Originally Posted by onimaru55

There was a thread or 2 about this in the past.
It makes little difference to longevity Steph as long as you know how to hone & direct the hone to the edge more than the spine. i.e. the talk the torque.
Taping a spine is generally about cosmetics but can be used to compensate for established spine wear.

I thank you for that straightforward and immensely helpful reply Oz. Seriously ,thank you.

Originally Posted by BobH

Wild guess, if you use the app I do to calculate how many layers of tape you need on a wedge to get an 18 degree angle on the bevel my guess it would also work with a worn down spine on a full hollow. It takes into account how wide the spine is and what size the blade is to get you into the ballpark of an 18 degree bevel which is , from what I have been able to gather, is the bevel angle spec for a brand new razor with the proper geometry.

Bob

What is this app you speak of? You certainly have my interest piqued...

Originally Posted by crouton976

What is this app you speak of? You certainly have my interest piqued...

I guess the general theory is that if you hone with no tape the spine wears the same as the blade, spine width shrinks and so does blade size so the geometry should remain the same. If the spine wears more over time you might wind up with a wide bevel. To compensate for excessive spine wear and to get a narrow bevel back layers of tape are used to get the geometry back and a narrow bevel of about 18 degrees. This is just my guess not having had too much to do with full hollows with excessive spine wear. I am thinking that using the Excel app here http://www.coticule.be/wedges.html you might be able to get that narrow bevel back. Like I say this is just a guess. It seems to work on wedges to keep you from shaving excessive amounts off the side of the blade and an excessively worn spine compared to blade size on a full hollow may start to mimic what happens to a wedge/near wedge honed without layers of tape. I hope I am not being clear as mud about what I am just supposing.

Bob

Amazes me that people even want to attempt a restore on a razor that is just plain done from many years of use and razors that were mediocre to begin with.If just for fun or to practice,thats great,but sometimes it is just not worth it.
I have what was once a fantastic Juan Volmmer palmera,fully etched blade,4+ mm of spineware the biggest frown you have ever seen and a bent tang.
Lord I would have loved to see her when she was born,she was very well loved during her tenure,But she is now dead,R.I.P.