Thread: How to correct uneven bevel on Wade and Butcher

I have recently acquired an old Wade and butcher Straight razor relatively cheap off eBay. After sanding and polishing I took the blade to the hones, after a short time I noticed that i was not getting an even bevel. It seems that the hone was making contact mainly in the centre of the blade and avoiding the heal and toe.

I tried various techniques such as applying more pressure in areas not making contact without success, eventually i took the tape off the spine of the blade, and continued to hone on the 1k to get an idea of how the spine was wearing relative to the blade.


I am relatively new to this hobby and would appreciate some feedback on possible causes for this wear, and the best path to follow in order to correct the issue.

Thank you all in advance.

welcome to SRP, there's a lot of great folks here and I can't help you but someone with honing experience should be along to help you out soon
Enjoy and have fun

Lay the blade on a flat surface and see if it is straight. some times they can be warped. also make sure your stones are lapped flat. if all checks out okay mark the edge with a permanent marker to see if you are putting uneven pressure on the blade as you hone. could require a different stroke. or just send it out to be honed and pick a easier one to learn on.

I don't have time to say much yet, but as a beginner, please hone with tape at least on the 1k hone. Otherwise, you may do more harm than good.

I have a number of other razors that i hone regulary and haven't had similar issues, so I don't believe it is my technique as such. Also all my hones are lapped using a dmt 325. I have layed the blade flat and i can't see any warping. I'm thinking it could be an issue with the spine being uneven?

Will be watching. Cant help but i would like to know what you find. Good luck.

Hi, and welcome to the forum! You mentioned sanding and polishing the blade. One possible reason for an uneven bevel was that the sanding and polishing was done unevenly leaving some parts near the edge slightly thinner than other parts. This can happen when people concentrate on removing pits in one area and not taking off the same amount of steel over the entire blade face. This effect then becomes apparent in an uneven bevel, and maybe a wavy reflection in the blade face itself.

Not saying that this is what you did, just that this can happen and might be a possible cause. I've got some old wedges that seem to want to have an uneven bevel no matter what. Sometimes, if it's shaving good I just live with it.

This razor looks overbuffed and rounded all over the place. It is hard to tell if the issue is from the buffing or from the original grinding or from the following honing by its previous owners. To me the way to go is to sent it out to someone that is adept at regrinds and ask for their opinions. I can't say 100% from the pics, but that looks like a heavy grind so there could be enough steel to remove to correct the issue.

With honing only, you probably will not get the issue corrected.

Time for some honing gymnastics.
Rolling x strokes "might" help out.

I would say send it out and save yourself the trouble.

That being said I was hard headed and waited until I learned more and did it myself. It is not an easy task to fix a funky bevel.

Well from my point of view, if it touches in the middle but not the heel and toe then hone it as though it had a smile, and then it will, both hone and develop a smile.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEtb9k3APYM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DStkiyHB9PU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DStkiyHB9PU

P.S.
You will likely get your best results with two layers of tape.