Grinding down a blade

[Gimli]

G'day,

I tried the search engine but couldn't find what I was looking for. This W&B blade width differs. Would this be from poor honing over the years or like this from factory?

I'm interested in restoring it as much as I can and I'm unsure whether or not to grind it to the same width all the way along or keep as is? (I do have a few nicely restored razors with blades that get wider towards the toe)



Thanks

[BobH]

My guess is that it was made that way. If it was from poor honing there would be heavy hone wear on the spine at the heel. It appears to have pretty even hone wear along the length of the spine from the photo. The razor looks to be in very good condition and should restore nicely.

Bob

[Gimli]

My guess is that it was made that way. If it was from poor honing there would be heavy hone wear on the spine at the heel. It appears to have pretty even hone wear along the length of the spine from the photo. The razor looks to be in very good condition and should restore nicely.

Bob

I presumed that nearly all razors had an even blade width with from spine to edge and that only ones which have a differing width are from peoples personal preference when doing restoration and/or fixing previous honing

Thanks

[Gimli]

Would it be frowned upon to straighten it?

Undecided if I like it how it is or not

[BobH]

Would it be frowned upon to straighten it?

Undecided if I like it how it is or not

Basically it is your razor to with what you want. All I know is that I have seen blades that taper in either direction and people do shave with them. Is there a reason for you indecision?

Bob

Blades were factory made with tapers that went in either direction.

[BobH]

Just another thought to consider. If you modify the blade from it's factory taper then you are no longer restoring a razor as you've now changed the factory form.

Bob

[bouschie]

I looked on strazors.com at both W&B and G Wostenholm. There were razors produced wider at tip than at heel. I would leave it.

[RezDog]

If it were mine, I would go with a light cleaning on the blade and a deep clean with some minor repairs on the scales, hone it and be happy. The nice even grey on the steel comes from a century of care, I would be careful to preserve that, it’s not easy to create.

[jfk742]

Just do a light restore, if you don’t like the way it feels or shaves trade it or sell it for one you like the geometry better on. Making it straight will most likely screw up the geometry as well as the value taking a large hit. If your razor was in poor shape my opinion might differ but yours looks to be in fairly solid condition.

[Euclid440]

Post a pic of the other side.

Judging by the excessive spine wear at the heel, it may be that the edge was straight at one time and excessive pressure or low git stone, may have caused the profile. A look at the other side may tell the story.

You could easily make the edge smile, matching the toe and heel width, if that was the case, There is not that much difference in width between the heel and toe, so very little steel would be removed.