Thread: Heel gets sharp but toe doesn't (?!)

I'm not quite out of the woods with that Union Cutlery Wedge razor. The heel half of the blade is nice and sharp, but the toe half will not hold an edge. Has anyone here ever heard of such a thing?

Here's one thing that might be suspect. When I got it, there were a bunch of tiny chips in the edge, not like it had been banged into anything, but like the metal had rotted away from decades of disuse. I sanded the crap out of it, but three tiny chips, barely visible, are still there (I didn't sand past them mainly because of laziness). The chips themselves don't seem to affect the shave, but I wonder if the presence of the chips indicates that I still haven't sanded completely past the oxidized metal. (When I first started sanding it, the heel wouldn't get sharp either).

This blade is very narrow to begin with, so I'm reluctant to keep grinding away on it. Maybe I should cut the blade in half & cut down the scales & turn it into a coochie razor? The razor I'm currently using as a coochie razor is nice & narrow, but a bit too long for the job. I only paid $20 incl. shipping for the Wedge, so I don't mind sacrificing it.

There's curing the headache by cutting off the head!


But anyway, what I really want to know is, have you seen this before on old razors, and are my observations consistent with the known effects of 25 years of oxidation on carbon steel?

TIA,
-Johnny

Take a magic marker and mark the edge of the blade on both sides. Give it a few strokes on the hone and see if the entire edge is in contact with the stone. You may need to use the rolling x to hone it. For micro-chipping like that I take the edge and lightly rub it vertically on a DMTC until they are all gone then I set a new bevel.

I'll try the magic marker trick, thanks

Do you, apart from the tiny chips, also see some other rust spots on the bevel? 3 microchips won't be the difference between dull and sharp, but if you have rust spots a bit higher up on the bevel these will act as weak spots. You can imagine the bevel "crumbling away" if you like around them when you shave causing immediate dullness in situ.

Just a thought.

Old, oxidised steel will not take an edge. If the chips were there in the beginning then you have to take them out before you will get to good steel.