Wacky Wapienica Half-Honed (

:confused:

Got a Wapi in the mail two days ago. Took it to my hones last night.

Since it already had a good edge on it (the bevel was much, much shorter than any of my full hollows) I started on the 4k --- then to couticule --- then on the chinese 12k for about 100 laps --- finished off with 15 laps on the chrome ox.

Test shave - one side shaves super-smooth ATG. Pretty much as close or closer than anything I've had in my short experienece ( ~ 3 months )

The other side of the blade used when I switch hands for the other side of the face --- pulls so much I had to stop ... too painful. Pulls like the devil. Could only do 1/2 my face! So today I'm feeling a little off-balance ...

I triple checked on technique, angle, even hands ( I shave ambidextrously ). But one edge of the blade was so rough and one so smooth, I am dumbfounded as to what happened on the hones. Can anybody comment on why one side and not the other is shaving well? Do Wapis need to be honed differently due to their assymmetrical grind? One side seems hollow and the other flat ...

Tell us about your hone technique. Do you use cross-pattern? One hand or two? Do you go left/right or forward back? As much info as possible would help. ;)

Also, have you honed other razors and have you run into this problem before? Did both sides of the razor appear equally good before you started honing?

I always use an "X" pattern while honing. The reason I do this is simply because some of my razors don't sit completely flat on the hone (and the hone isn't to blame ... lapped the heck out of it) and so dragging the edge of the razor over the edge of the hone allows that part of the blade to be flat at that exact point on the spine.

Also I always use two hands while honing: right hand does the work w/ pinky supporting the weight of the blade. Left finger used at extreme toe end of spine area to ensure the whole blade is flat against the entire X motion.

As I understand it, having a blade not sit 100% flat on the hone shouldn't prevent the ultimate worthiness of the edge ... is tihs true? I would rather all razors sit 100% flat on the hone because then I could do the simplier back and forth in a straight line motion.

The only other razors I have honed to shave-readiness were Ebay practice razors ... both identical Double Arrows. Those I was able to get super-sharp really fast (4k to couticule to CrO2) but they do not hold their edge up on the long run (prbably softer steel) shave after shave.

Both sides of the razor looked identical to me when I recieved it in the mail. To tell the truth it was already pretty sharp but when I tried shaving ATG it pulled like mad, so I decided to put a new bevel on it with the 4k.

If the razor shaved good on one side not so good on the other I doubt it is your honing. Probably a glitch in technique

Weird...

IF it's not a glitch in your techique, the only thing I can come up with, is that you possibly could have rolled over the edge a bit. Not enough to render it completely dull, but just enough for one side of the razor to still perform well, while the other side pulls like hell. I never witnessed something like that, but I guess it's possible.

As far as the glitch in you techique is concerned: Try shaving a part of both cheeks with the same hand but turn the razor in the other direction. It's easy to do and the shaving angle is easy to control that way. You could also try shaving armhair with both sides of the razor and check if that shows a similar defect.

A slightly bend edge is probably caused by some stropping mishap, perhaps during the chromium oxide stage, or otherwise during normal stropping.

You could try stropping 30 laps with a bit extra pressure (together with some extra force to keep the strop taut) and then 30 laps with your normal light pressure. Maybe that would fix things. If not, I 'd jump back to the 4K for a few strokes, check the bevel for sharpness and proceed with the rest of your progression. Wait with the Chromium Oxide till after your first shave. That first test shave should be very good. If not, there's something wrong with your honing. (I hope you don't raise a slurry on your coticule?)

Good luck,

Bart.

"Do Wapis need to be honed differently due to their assymmetrical grind? "

If you have a razor with a grind, one side flat, and one side concave, then it is a Micortome, not a straight razor.

If both sides of the blade have a concave grind then the most likely explanation is that the blade is slightly warped. If thats the case then one side(the convex side) needs to be honed using the rolling X stroke.
If you have not been doing that the the convex side will not be evenly honed.

Hope this helps,:)