Thread: Good Bevel, Slight Frown

I just acquired a Robeson Shur Edge. It looks to be a 4/8, good blade. It seems to have a good bevel, but the edge has a slight frown.

I would appreciate suggestions on how to proceed with this razor. Forget the bevel and straighten the edge, then start over with resetting the bevel? Or is this slight enough not to pose a problem with honing?

This is my first "frowning" razor so I'm not sure what he best approach would be.

Many thanks for your collective wisdom!

I'd shave with it first to determine whether it needs anything at all

Have your read the 1961 barber manual excerpt on honing and stropping here in the SRP Wiki Help Files ? It addresses what they consider the proper edge profile and how to achieve it and keep it.

I'm not saying to turn it from a slight frown to a slight smile but using their method you ought to be able to get a neutral bevel, neither here nor there, and that is what many of them are nowadays.

Whatever I did it wouldn't be breadknifing. As slight as the frown is you ought to be able to work it out and not need any drastic measures that create more work than necessary.

If that were my razor, I'd work to get the edge straight first and then reset the bevel.

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

Thanks for this link--somehow I missed seeing that. I had already honed my razor when I read it but was happy to find I'd stumbled on to the correct method--on the 4K I did some strokes just pressing slightly harder first on the heel for several strokes, then on the toe several strokes, and the frown is still there, but not as prominent.

This 1961 manual is a very nice treatment of honing and stropping indeed. Thanks again for pointing me that direction.

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

Have your read the 1961 barber manual excerpt on honing and stropping here in the SRP Wiki Help Files ? It addresses what they consider the proper edge profile and how to achieve it and keep it.

I'm not saying to turn it from a slight frown to a slight smile but using their method you ought to be able to get a neutral bevel, neither here nor there, and that is what many of them are nowadays.

Whatever I did it wouldn't be breadknifing. As slight as the frown is you ought to be able to work it out and not need any drastic measures that create more work than necessary.

I have a blade that I was using in my daily rotation, a Joseph Allen & Sons, that has a frown a 1/3 of the way down the blade from the toe. When I discovered it, I stopped using it. It is only noticible when you place it perpendicular against a flat surface like Lawson did

I get a true kick out of most of these "Frown" threads...

"Those are not Frowns" "These are Frowns" Said in my best Crocodile Dundee imitation









Slight frowning can be easily corrected by using either pressure and circles, or a directed honing stoke, like Jimmy linked to...

Don't confuse the use of Breadknife and 45 degree Breadknife techniques with honing,, these are restorations techniques and are used way to often when not really needed... The only trick is to know when to use each, and better yet when to use combinations of all of them...