Thread: Uneven hone wear?

When I purchased a couple of blades with out knowing what to look for(in the beginning) I ended up with some uneven spine wear. Does anyone have a way of adjusting this issue or if not, am I able to get a shave ready blade and what techniques would one use. My main issue seems to be, on one side of the blade the middle makes contact and the other is obviously the toe and heel make contact. This leads me to believe the blade is bent or they were really pressing on the blade during the honing process. Now I didn't pay a lot of money for the blades but there is a pearl tang Boker and a Keen kutter involved. Any help woud be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

a picture is worth a thousand words. If you put on a layer of tape and then wear it down the low spots stay and the high spots are abraded and then add another, that may put you close. adding short piece where there is wear and then a long one over the top.

If you could post a few pics of the spine that would help with evaluating the problem. When heel and point don't make contact with the hone, and the blade is laying flat, a rolling X stroke is the norm. Alternatively, if you are doing circles or back and forth strokes, manipulating the blade to make the contact, slightly rocking it to and fro, is what I do.

One honemiester that used to be around here years ago suggested partailly taping the spine on the area that was worn alone. I haven't tried that personally. Some guys will use a layer or two of tape to build up the spine across the whole length. Narrow hones sometimes make it more efficient with warped blades but you can do it on a wide hone if you watch the blade and roll with the warp.

Again, photos will help ID the problem.

You could have some warpage in the blade. But nearly any shape can be made to shave, within reason. That's why we need pics.

Or maybe you have a delightful smiling blade. Usually great shavers, but not the easiest to learn to hone. Sometimes you see a wide bevel in the middle of a smile (and oh how i hate that), but it's from the blade being dragged down the stone with even pressure across the blade. you CAN'T DO THAT with curved edges/spines.

But that's completely wild spekkalations. Show us whatcha got!

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

If you could post a few pics of the spine that would help with evaluating the problem. When heel and point don't make contact with the hone, and the blade is laying flat, a rolling X stroke is the norm. Alternatively, if you are doing circles or back and forth strokes, manipulating the blade to make the contact, slightly rocking it to and fro, is what I do.

One honemiester that used to be around here years ago sugg the spine on the area that was worn alone. I haven't tried that personally. Some guys will use a layer or two of tape to build up the spine across the whole length. Narrow hones sometimes make it more efficient with warped blades but you can do it on a wide hone if you watch the blade and roll with the warp.

Again, photos will help ID the problem.

I wonder how that would work - putting tape on the affected area only would rase the blade (in the OPs case in the middle) uneavenly again, and cause what I would imagine an even bigger problem as one "see - saw" hones lol!

That said, i have a couple blades that have the same affliction, and though I have never thought of fixing them (doesn't bug me if it shaves), trying this might be fun. But its not intuitive lol.

Anyway, I like the idea of the narrow stone and rolling x! Great response!

Originally Posted by earcutter

I wonder how that would work - putting tape on the affected area only would rase the blade (in the OPs case in the middle) uneavenly again, and cause what I would imagine an even bigger problem as one "see - saw" hones lol!

That said, i have a couple blades that have the same affliction, and though I have never thought of fixing them (doesn't bug me if it shaves), trying this might be fun. But its not intuitive lol.

Anyway, I like the idea of the narrow stone and rolling x! Great response!

Yes, I thought the same and that is why I never tried it. Just eyeballing the work while honing seemed to do the trick. OTOH, nothing wrong with experimenting with a new technique if you are so inclined. Report back on results if you do.

Sorry its still hard to see the wear im talking about Ill keep trying to get a better pic for both razors.

Here's the other side of the keen kutter.

lol - took me a while to note that was pen marks lol!! At first I thought you had taken your blade to the driveway or something lol!! That was good for a laugh .

Anyway - I see it now! The pictures show it!

I have some great shaving Simmons Hardware blades. I don't see any big problem. Looks "negligible" to me, should make fine shavers.