Thread: 2 resto blades: newbs q's re hone wear and blade shape (pic heavy)

Feel free to move this to another forum if this is the wrong one . . .

I have two resto projects underway. Blade work for both. Neither has a frown, but neither has what I typically would call a "smile," either. The first has a heel that seems narrower than the toe; the second has a heel wider than the toe.

Please take a look at the pix, and let me know if these are (a) lost causes, (b) perfectly fine, or (c) requiring ________ sort of honing (you fill in the blank).

First is a Joseph Rogers & Sons: The hone wear seems even, but it's also pretty clear the blade shape is not straight across. The heel seems narrower than the front 1/3 of the toe. To bring out the shape contrast, I've tinted the photos:

Here's an upside-down shot:



The angle is less obvious when viewed right-side up:



Thoughts on dealing with this blade shape?

Okay, next is a W&B. This one does have some strange look to the significant hone wear. Again, there's no frown I can discern, but it's not quite a smiler, either.

In this first pic, you can see the hone line on the spine is not straight across:



In this pic, you can see the heel is wider than the toe:



And in this pic, you can . . . if you wish hard enough, sort of see some smile (but perhaps not)



Any honing tips for these two?

I picked both up for $15, so I won't weep if they're lost causes, I guess. But gosh, it'd be great to hone them to use, you know?

It may be possible that the razor was designed with the heel wider than the toe.

The first razor is fine, it has an even smile from heel to tow and doesn’t seem to have much hone were… should make a great shaver.

The second may or may not be designed that way. The grind appears to follow the edge, and the bevel appears narrow at the toe (I cannot see the spine were… maybe it just the photo), but “I” never seen a Butcher with that shape (yet). It could be a “doctored” blade… if you see horizontal scratches running from heel to toe, then, assume the blade is not all original (scratches should be vertical from spine to edge).
In any case, she’s a Butcher, and should shave well after a good honing.