Thread: Good Bevel, Slight Frown

It is possible to get a great edge on a razor with a frown. It's up to you if you want to remove the frown or use the razor as is. That one looks small enought that you probably wouldn't notice it. Then again, if you are a new honer, you may have some difficulty getting a frowning razor shave ready.

Thanks all. I decided to go ahead and see if I could hone the razor and shave with it. Rather than count strokes, I decided to rely on my thumbpad and arm/leg hair. I worked on the 1K until my thumbpad couldn't for sure detect any improvement, then stepped up to the 4K. Again, I don't know the absolute standard, being a rookie, but I can tell if the razor is better than it was, or if I'm not sure it's better. If I wasn't sure it was better after some improvement, I stepped up. So then I went to the 8K and then the Naniwa 12K, stropped, and this AM shaved with it.

It gave me a very nice shave, no drama. Like my other Robeson Shur Edge, it seems smoother than my other razors, much moreso than my new razors, and just a bit moreso than my "board of elders" razors. Could be my imagination, though. Blind, maybe I'd not be able to tell, though I think I could spot the Robeson's over the ohters.

It is very satisfying to be picking up these vintage razors for a fraction of a new razor's cost, and putting a shaving edge on them myself. It has added a whole new element of enjoyment to my newfound straight shaving experience.

Thanks all for your collective knowledge and wisdom!

I say bread knife it and then get it right. Yes it will be a little bit of extra work but like my grandaddy used to say. " anything worth doing is worth doing right!" this will cover all basis now and future wise. My .02

Originally Posted by komjong

I say bread knife it and then get it right. Yes it will be a little bit of extra work but like my grandaddy used to say. " anything worth doing is worth doing right!" this will cover all basis now and future wise. My .02

Having used that technique on a few early on I only go to it as an absolute last resort. I don't think breadknifing is doing it right. Certainly not for a frown as slight as the one illustrated. YMMV.

I can appreciate the idea of starting from scratch, except here I had a few other factors. First, the frown wasn't really pronounced. Then, overall the edge felt like it had a good bevel already. Also, this blade is a little skinny, more like a 4/8 and so I didn't want to make it any skinnier.

I also thought that if I try to work with the existing bevel, and failed, I can always go back to the coarse stones and start over, though I'm not a fan of breadknifing either, though I lack the vast experience to pronounce on this topic! I've breadknifed two razors and then with two others just worked on them without taking that step, and the latter path seems to work better for me. Maybe if I had a really bad one, that would be the thing to do, but this razor seemed not to need that complete reset.

This morning's shave seemed excellent and with my somewhat pudgy face, the "frown" sort of "fit my face" which is exactly what Robeson bragged about with their razors though not for that reason!

Originally Posted by komjong

I say bread knife it and then get it right. Yes it will be a little bit of extra work but like my grandaddy used to say. " anything worth doing is worth doing right!" this will cover all basis now and future wise. My .02

Another alternative is to keep the spine off of the hone and work the razor on a coarser stone as you would a pocket knife until you have a blade profile you're looking for. Or a few layers of tape on the spine to begin with and remove layers as you progress. More than one way to get there. Doing the above is less damaging than breadknifing IMO and in the long run less work.

Thanks--this is also a great idea. If I end up wanting to straighten the edge a bit more, I'll try this. For now, I'm actually 90% happy with the edge so I'm in a "less is more" kind of mode with it. I've actually messed up a few blades that I had in good shape by fussing over them! I think I'll do 3-4 shaves with just stropping in between to see how it settles in.

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

Another alternative is to keep the spine off of the hone and work the razor on a coarser stone as you would a pocket knife until you have a blade profile you're looking for. Or a few layers of tape on the spine to begin with and remove layers as you progress. More than one way to get there. Doing the above is less damaging than breadknifing IMO and in the long run less work.

Here's a couple pictures of the razor. I still want to do some cleaning, but I thought I'd give you another look. I like the hammered tang.

The tail has a stamp 34-D-300 which I imagine is the model number. Robeson prided themselves on having razors for every type of face and event every type of male personality (the "nervous" man, for example!).