Thread: Straightening a wavy bevel

I just got an Ebay special for not too much. It's in pretty good shape, no rusting, just some water marks. I plan on this being my learning razor for restoring and honing.

My question is this, how does one straighten a bevel? In the case of this razor when it is set perpendicular to a flat surface the edge does not make contact in all places. It's not a smile or a frown per se, more of an un-even wave look.

Would you run the edge perpendicular to the stone untill it's flush and then lay it down and set the bevel?

All advice appreciated.

I will post pictures if needed as soon as I figure out how to post them.

Uneven bevels annoy the hell outta me. The problem is that you end up with a choice to make

1) Deal with it, as in leave as is.

or

2) Sacrafice some metal and hone/grind it out.

I'm guessing you don't have a grinder so you can use your hones to correct it. The grinder is just faster.

Start with circular motions on the stones and keep checking the bevel every 10 rotations and flip. Go very light an this should start the process.

If the bevel is real bad you're gonna need to use varying pressure on the edge. I only recommend doing this if your adept at honing. Then go back to the circles and follow up with x pattern through to strop as normal.

Good luck on your quest - I have great empathy for you.

This may be my complete lack of honing experience talking but I feel like simply honing will just set the bevel along the uneven edge. Though if I am understanding correctly the honing alone will eventually work the edge back down to a straight line? But if it's really bad I may need to apply more pressure to the areas where the edge needs to be ground off more?

Trying to hone the same bevel will produce the same results... To change that bevel, and the problem, you have to destroy the previous problem...
One way that works, is a complete restore starting with 220 grit sandpaper, if you fold the paper around the spine and pinch the paper with yer fingers on the sides of the razor and sand toe to heel this will reset the bevel and smooth up the spine at the same time..... By the time you get to 2000 grit you will be hard pressed to even see the old bevel and the old spine wear....
keep in mind you are going to have to switch directions and buff, or polish, spine to edge, to create a mirror finish... However the 2000 grit and some elbow grease will give a bright shiny working finish no problem...
Then tape the spine and reset the bevel on the hone and continue with what ever honing method you like from there...... This of course is the hard way, a simple X pattern on the hones will still produce a shaving edge... or Poona's way works also, it just depends on what final result you want...

PS: be careful sanding this way, it's easy to get a cut finger...

Originally Posted by JCitron

I just got an Ebay special for not too much. It's in pretty good shape, no rusting, just some water marks. I plan on this being my learning razor for restoring and honing.

My question is this, how does one straighten a bevel? In the case of this razor when it is set perpendicular to a flat surface the edge does not make contact in all places. It's not a smile or a frown per se, more of an un-even wave look.

Would you run the edge perpendicular to the stone untill it's flush and then lay it down and set the bevel?

All advice appreciated.

I will post pictures if needed as soon as I figure out how to post them.

That method will work, i have done it, but setting the bevel will take quite a bit of work. if you do then use either a diamond hone or a 1000 grit wet/dry sandpaper to set the bevel. I cut a piece of the sandpaper to fit on top of the hone, wet the sandpaper and hone before you start.

If the bevel is only slightly uneven then I would try the sandpaper route first. Try up to 150 laps and judge the rate of change for yourself.


Hope this helps,

I once had this problem, and after consulting with the owner he let me fix it.

I put a 1/2" drum wheel in my dremel, and simply ran the wheel back and forth along the edge until the 6/8 was a 5/8 and the bevel was gone.
Then I put a new bevel on it with a DMT8C. This took 2 hours, but the result was good.

Wow, thanks for all the advice guys. As soon as I get batteries for the camera I will post pics to give a better idea of what I'm working with.

I like the idea of using the dremel since I have one, but I don't know that I trust myself as of yet. I can see myself trying to straighten the bevel here and there until I end up with an extremely nice toothpick.

Now that the government has stimulated me I think I may invest in a Norton. So either way I will be waiting to start on this project. In the mean time I'll be reading the forums and hopefully by then I'll have a good idea as to how I'm going to approach this.