Thread: And so it begins -- Walker

You can go as low as 100 for pitting. Always use the highest grit that will get the job done. So try 400, then 200/220. If that does not work 150.

There should be a Lee Valley near Etobicoke, right? They've got all kinds of neat little jigs and tools. They've got the full line up of Norton hones, but they are a bit pricey there.
They've also got the 3m type syntheitc steel wool in green (320ish), purple (400ish), grey (1000ish) and white (5-6000ish).
In paper they have all the usual suspects as well as very fine abrasive pastes and very fine grades of paper in dark grey (15micron,1000ish), light grey (5 micron, 2500ish) and green (0.5micron, 9000ish). Their numbers, not mine.

Some may be a bit higher than you need, but you'd be surprised by the figure that appears on nice wood at higher grits. Also, these will help if you prefer a mirror finish to a satin one.



Matt

Thank you gentlemen. I'll probably get 150 and 400 as well tomorrow. There are a couple of pits I can actually feel with my fingertip (fortunately nowhere near the edge). As for the scratches, I can't feel the difference b/w them and the "polished" metal.

As the 600 was not having any effect, I decided to polish the nick out of the W&B (the single purchase). It was tough since it's at the heel end, but it will require only 15 more minutes on the rough hone and then I can give it a polish and finally the japs. This one will not get nearly as much detailed work as the Walker and the other W&B, but it should turn into a great shaver once I'm done with it.

I think I will have to switch to 100. 180 was relatively ok but it's still not removing a couple of really bad spots, and I'm really stubborn about doing this particular blade right. What's more effective in metal removal.. Wet or dry?

I did my rounds with the sand-paper. There are still a couple of pits that would need too much metal to be removed, but it's in a decent shape overall. Spent several hours honing it, but I'm not having much luck. Satinedge was MUCH easier to get shave ready and it was butter knife dull when I got it.
Is there a special trick to honing half-hollows or does this just require more patience, since it's a fairly heavy blade and I'm dealing with slow-cutting hones?

Originally Posted by FiReSTaRT

I did my rounds with the sand-paper. There are still a couple of pits that would need too much metal to be removed...

Of course you mean too much time sanding not really a metal quantity issue, is it? The amount of metal is insignificant for these massive blades.

Originally Posted by FiReSTaRT

Is there a special trick to honing half-hollows or does this just require more patience, since it's a fairly heavy blade and I'm dealing with slow-cutting hones?

I find that the DD line of razor hone very easily. Sheffield steel and TI's take more effort. Just keep at it and you may want to use a lower grit (1000 Norton) to establish the bevel before switching to 4000. I even used 220 when I got fed up of 1000 going too slow.

Vlad, you're 100% correct. If I removed all the pitting while keeping the blade uniform, it would take me like a year to do it by hand. In any case, it looks decent and should become a good shaver once I finish with it.
Actually Sheffield steel isn't really hard. What makes DDs so easy to hone is the delicate grind. As for Sheffields, the only exception are TIs and that's because they use lead-hardening. On a good note they hold the edge longer because of it.
As for the Walker, it's a massive blade with a lot of metal to remove to reestablish the bevel, especially after removing the nicks with the rough hone. I may just give up and FINALLY get a Norton lol.

Update: I'm finally beginning to put an edge on it. The heel will need a bit more work and the toe will need a lot more work, but the mid-part is doing fine. The toe edge was the one that had that nasty nick. At least some progress is being made.