Thread: Banged my Blade: Is this Repairable?

Hi guys,

I am a newbie to straight razor shaving, although I'm no stranger to wet shaving since I have been shaving with a DE since 3 years. I decided recently to jump into the final and ultimate art of shaving by buying a Dovo Astrale from Lynn, as well as a one of his English Bridle strops.

So I have been shaving every day with my brand new Astrale since a week, stropping it before the shave, and I just love straight shaving. So far so good. But I had a little accident this morning: while I was rinsing the blade between two passes, I banged the blade on the faucet What a noob I am...I did not do a close inspection of the blade and thought I was OK and finished my shave without really any problems. It's only after I cleaned it and dried the blade that I noticed a visible dent on the edge, near the round point. You can see it on the pictures below. I can also feel it with my nail when I pass over it.

So my question to you guys:

1) Is this repairable with a good honing or this is a serious problem?
2) I was actually about to buy either a 4000/8000 Norton stone, or a Naniwa 3000/8000 combo stone. Would careful honing on any of these stones correct this dent in the blade? If not, what would be required?

Thanks for your guidance guys. I am a bit discouraged now, what a shame...

Sure, no biggie. You might be wise to send it out but it can be honed out no problem. As long as it is a chip and not a crack.

Yes, this is a shame, and a nightmare for all of us and we feel your pain.
As Glen/Gssixgun would say: "this is not a re-hone, this calls for a restoration"
If you have not done this several times before I would suggest you check out the member services section and find an experienced Honemister. It's a nice razor and deserves the services of the best.

I no longer rinse the razor in the sink. I either use a tissue/toilet paper or strop off the lather on a damp towell.

Remember that when a barber shaved a customer in the old days he did not turn to a distant sink to clear the blade, he would wipe/stop off the lather on a towell that was draped over their shoulder or the customers.

And again, we feel your pain....

You could hone that out with the 4K side. If you're new at this, I'd suggest not doing it yourself.

This ding should hone out to bring the blade to its former glory.

BTW, I agree with MJC and Ace that you would be better off not trying that yourself if you are not experienced at honing. If you succeed in getting rid of the divot and getting the razor back to shave ready great but if you fail you'll have to send it out anyway. Better off getting practice razors to hone on and keeping at least one pro honed to shave with and to evaluate your own efforts against the pro honing. Either the norton or the naniwa you mentioned in the OP would be good choices.

Originally Posted by MJC

Remember that when a barber shaved a customer in the old days he did not turn to a distant sink to clear the blade, he would wipe/stop off the lather on a towell that was draped over their shoulder or the customers.

Damn good point. You can be sure this was the last time I was rinsing in the sink. I'll use a towell from now on and wipe it. Lesson learned, no need to take the risk of banging it against the sink, the faucet or whatever.

I absolutely want to learn honing but since I haven't done that yet, this would probably be a tall order to start honing by actually trying to repair this dent and keeping it in top shave ready condition. I think I'll do the wise thing as you all have suggested to me and send it out. My issue is that since this is my only straight, I need to get a second one to shave with when this one will be away

Thanks for your considerate advice gents, I am at least relieved to see that this dent shouldn't be much of an issue to resolve for a professional honemeister.