Thread: Scuff Marks When Honing

Hello all,

I'm a long-time reader, but first-time poster here, now looking for some advice.

I have been shaving with a straight razor for about a year now, and finally decided to have a go at restoring one. I bought an old Sheffield Steel hollow-ground from eBay for £5, removed the scales and polished the blade using wet-and-dry and Peek to a nice mirror shine. I put some new Redwood scales on the blade, and it looked really good.

I then started to hone it. The bevel was out so I took it to my 1000 grit whetstone to start honing/resetting the bevel. After a few strokes it left me with huge scuff marks across the blade (I've attached a pic). Any idea what caused this? I'm assuming the blade was out of shape slightly, as the whetstone was lapped properly, so completely flat. I didn't tape the spine, as I'm not too bothered by a bit of honing wear on the spine.

I carried on anyway, and have started to get an edge on it. Will finish off tomorrow on my 3K, 5K and 8K.

Does anyone know if these marks will sand out? I don't mind sanding it again and repolishing.

Kindest regards,

Mark

IMHO. Its had enough honing. Its now a true wedge.

I would try two or three layers of tape with rolling X strokes, if you really want to save it. Even better...use it for making a wind chime. There's better blades for restoration

Welcome to SRP Mark.

As Mike said tape the spine as it's now a true wedge, use a sharpie on the bevel to ensure your honing to the edge.

Hello,

Thanks for the replies. I sort of knew this was the case anyway, but I'm determined to at least put an edge on it and shave with it, even if the blade gets scuffed up some more. There is already a lot of spine wear from the honing already.

I had a look at the profile of the blade, and I think it must have been poorly ground. The side in my picture is almost flat, like a wedge, and the other looks like a quarter or semi-hollow shape.

I wasn't expecting my first attempt at restoring to be successful, and this has been good practise for me. It's a pity, because before I started honing it, the razor looked quite nice with it's new handle (pic attached).


I have another 4 to practise on, I hoping for a better result on my next one. Lots of great tips in this forum by the way, which is why I started!


Mark

When people first start honing razors, especially the near wedges, there is a massive tendency to put pressure on the whole razor. That is where that kind of spine wear comes from. It does not take a lot of spine wear to takes a near wedge to a full wedge. Use one layer of electricians tape and you will prevent that massive wear. A little bit of hone wear is what happens when guys with a lot of experience can produce. When you learn to hone well enough that you can hone a razor without wearing out the tape, you will be at a point where tape is optional.

Let me see a front profile photo of the grind, I think your razor just maybe a Microtome.

Originally Posted by celticcrusader

Let me see a front profile photo of the grind, I think your razor just maybe a Microtome.

Originally Posted by markc1975

The side in my picture is almost flat, like a wedge, and the other looks like a quarter or semi-hollow shape.

Well spotted, sounds like a microtome. Plenty of threads how to hone them.

Originally Posted by markc1975

Hello,I had a look at the profile of the blade, and I think it must have been poorly ground. The side in my picture is almost flat, like a wedge, and the other looks like a quarter or semi-hollow shape.Mark

Does the blade profile look like the microtome profile pictured here https://shavelibrary.com/w/The_strai...ths_and_grinds

Bob

“There's better blades for restoration”

As has been said. “Restoration begins, at purchase.”

Buy the razor in the best condition you can afford. Massive spine wear as seen on the back side is an indication of an abused razor, once that much steel has been ground away the shaving geometry will be irreparably altered. Pass on razors like that, buy ones in better condition.

Also, when hand sanding try to remove as little steel from the spine as possible.

Yes, the scratches will polish out, with 600 and 1,000 wet and dry, but you will have to re-hone the edge. 2-3 layers of tape will get a bevel on it. The bevel on that side may be thinner that the other and may be microscopically asymmetrical but should shave fine. Your edge looks uneven, S shaped and will have to be straightened.

3 layers of tape gets squishy and moves, so change it often to get a straight edge.

Thanks for all the replies on this. I can confirm, from the profile pics, that it is a microtome.

I'll head to threads on honing them, however the blade is in pretty bad condition anyway, so I'm not sure how much success I'll have.

It's a good learning curve anyway. I bought a bunch of cheap, busted up razors to practise with. I've been maintaining the edge on my straight razor for a year, however it was new and shave-ready when I bought it, so only needs a little touch up on the 5K and 12K, plus some stropping to keep the edge. Never had to reset a bevel, or polish out marks and pits before.

I'll get some tape, and start again with this one.

Mark