Quote Originally Posted by esse View Post
hi nifty, am I understanding this correctly that it isnt necessary to proactively take the frown out, but rather let it come out w/ proper honing?
It is not necessary to take the frown out if you
can hone it to your shaving satisfaction.

The frown your blade seems to have is one
that would develop over years of happy shaving.
It tells me that your razor is a good one
and if you can find a stroke that mates
well with your hones you are good to go.

By using the magic marker trick you can
see if the edge is fully engaged as you hone
it. If the result is yes then hone it up.

Also to proactively remove the hone you are
going to remove a lot of good steel.

We cannot tell from here if a 4k/8k is all
you need or if you need a 1k or even
coarser hone to reestablish the bevel
and finish the edge. The odds are that
a rolling X will do the trick.

On the occasions I feel compelled to remove
a frown or smile I have found that a well worn
coarse DMT had value. All my water stones
will depart from flat a lot if I set out to reshape
a good hard razor with them. I start out
by lifting the spine a lot and worry the edge.
When the edge is a good straight line I switch
to a progression of water hones.

Caution: aggressive honing on a thin blade
can cause it to crack and chip.

The first step -- audition the hone
and your razors to see if a modified
stroke does the trick.