Removing a Chip

[FlScott]

I'm a newbie to SR shaving and newbie to restorations. I'm committed to learning everything I can about caring for and maintaining razors.

I purchased a Dremel yesterday and was giving the polishing felts and Dico polishing compounds a test run today on an inexpensive razor. I managed to touch the mandrel to the razor edge and I chipped the edge. This is a practice razor, so I figured I would see if I can correct the issue.

Any suggestions on how to work this situation? Please point me to tutorials, if you can?

Cheers!

 

[global_dev]

my thoughts right now, you can either hone it out across the whole edge or portion, or create one if those japanese blade profiles that cuts across the heel. maybe hone a slight smile into that blade

 

[sig303]

my thoughts right now, you can either hone it out across the whole edge or portion, or create one if those japanese blade profiles that cuts across the heel. maybe hone a slight smile into that blade

This is how I see it too... I'd probably lean towards the "Japanese" blade profile myself rather than honing it out across the whole edge or creating a smile... although the smile could be a fun learning exercise for you.

 

[FlScott]

So I used a 320, 400, 600 progression of wet sandpaper.

I did 140 strokes each side on the 320 (45 degree angle) and 400 (30 degree angle) grit sandpaper. Then 140 strokes each side on the 600 grit (20 degree angle). I took off quite a bit of material: it began at 17.1 mm it's now 16.7 mm.

I'm glad this is a practice blade. Trial by error.

 

[Alum of Potash]

Looks like you did a very good job of bread-knifing. Personally, I would not use a pair of calipers to measure things like that, rather, a plastic ruler across the spine and edge. Thing with bread-knifing is that the spine-edge relationship still needs to be achieved, and this can still take an awful lot of work, a Faustian bargain as it were. If you are comfortable with the w/d sandpaper, then perhaps tape the spine and hone on the 600x until the bevel/edge is in line with the spine. Once this is achieved, remove the tape and hone from 1k on up to your finishing stone.

Also, keep an eye on that point that is developing at the heel. If it remains fully sharpened at the end, it needs to be dulled before shaving IMO, lest it risk to dig in.

 

[sig303]

Good work man... impressive as you're new to this.

 

[FlScott]

Thanks for the help. I plan on checking the bevel and honing the blade today. I have a Norton 4000/8000 stone, and an ILR finishing stone already, and I just checked that my local hobby shop has a Norton 220/1000 in stock. So, I'll drop by there this morning.

I'm still learning and experimenting with the Norton products but once I get a solid foundation I'll branch out to other stones.

Good work man... impressive as you're new to this.

I'm definitely sold on SRs. My wife just shakes her head in disbelief.

 

[Alum of Potash]

Thanks for the help. I plan on checking the bevel and honing the blade today. I have a Norton 4000/8000 stone, and an ILR finishing stone already, and I just checked that my local hobby shop has a Norton 220/1000 in stock. So, I'll drop by there this morning.

I'm still learning and experimenting with the Norton products but once I get a solid foundation I'll branch out to other stones.



I'm definitely sold on SRs. My wife just shakes her head in disbelief.

Not much mention of a Norton 1000 for bevel-setting here, but I have a friend in France who used one for years with razors on a professional basis. The 220 side may be too aggressive for razors. I've always followed the advice to start at around 500 or 600 on synths, and since your chips are gone, 1000 may be enough. In this case, though, after bread-knifing, I would still start out with tape on the spine with the 1000 before removing it once the bevel starts to approach the edge (best viewed through an ~10x loupe from my experience) and continuing without tape for the rest of the process.

 

[sig303]

The Nortons are fine stones and will take you a long way. The only thing you'd really want to try after them are natural stones like coticules and jnats, but wait a while until your honing technique is really developed as there are many subtle (and not so subtle) differences with natural stones - even within the same type/range of natural stones - and some of those differences might be lost on you until you're more experienced.

The shave off a well-honed SR is still the best shave you can get - you're right to be sold on them.

 

[FlScott]

Not much mention of a Norton 1000 for bevel-setting here, but I have a friend in France who used one for years with razors on a professional basis. The 220 side may be too aggressive for razors. I've always followed the advice to start at around 500 or 600 on synths, and since your chips are gone, 1000 may be enough. In this case, though, after bread-knifing, I would still start out with tape on the spine with the 1000 before removing it once the bevel starts to approach the edge (best viewed through an ~10x loupe from my experience) and continuing without tape for the rest of the process.

Thanks for that advice.

I did tape the spine and run a Norton progression with 220 and 1000, then I removed the tape for the 4000/8000 and the finishing stone. It popped hairs and sliced a tomato but did not shave well in two areas of the blade near the toe.

I was planning on going back and reworking from 1000 and up but without tape. I did notice the "wobble test" revealed a slight movement on one side of the blade. I suspect the spine is a bit high near the shoulder.

 

[FlScott]

I went back the 1000 stone but without tape to correct the woggle. I put sharpie on the spine and the edge and found a few high spots. I worked on those spots a bit then beveled. I'll give it try tonight.

I did smooth the small tip off the heal after this photo was taken.

 

[davent]

Looks like you did a very good job of bread-knifing. Personally, I would not use a pair of calipers to measure things like that, rather, a plastic ruler across the spine and edge. Thing with bread-knifing is that the spine-edge relationship still needs to be achieved, and this can still take an awful lot of work, a Faustian bargain as it were. If you are comfortable with the w/d sandpaper, then perhaps tape the spine and hone on the 600x until the bevel/edge is in line with the spine. Once this is achieved, remove the tape and hone from 1k on up to your finishing stone.

Also, keep an eye on that point that is developing at the heel. If it remains fully sharpened at the end, it needs to be dulled before shaving IMO, lest it risk to dig in.

I've six of these plastic vernier calipers scattered throughout the house. Handy to have around.

dave

 

[FlScott]

I've six of these plastic vernier calipers scattered throughout the house. Handy to have around.

dave

Where did you get those?

 

[davent]

I bought mine at Lee Valley but i'd imagine they'd be available elsewhere.

Imperial/Metric Vernier Caliper - Lee Valley Tools

And a much nicer single in plastic but only 1/32"/1mm gradations.
LongLife® Pocket Caliper - Lee Valley Tools
dave

 

[FlScott]

I bought mine at Lee Valley but i'd imagine they'd be available elsewhere.

Imperial/Metric Vernier Caliper - Lee Valley Tools

And a much nicer single in plastic but only 1/32"/1mm gradations.
LongLife® Pocket Caliper - Lee Valley Tools
dave

Thanks

 

[FlScott]

I shaved with the razor, this time it went much better. A 4-pass shave (Face: WTG, WTG, XTG, WTG and the neck: WTG, ATG, WTG, AGT on the neck). It cut without tugging, so that's a plus. No nicks, weepers, or burn and the alum did not sting. It sort of shaved like a Derby DE razor, no frills but gets the job done. I think I will try sharpen the blade more tomorrow.

 

[Alum of Potash]

Excellent job! And I'm glad to have the link for the plastic calipers from davent. Didn't know about those. The DE blade analogy is a good one, I get that sense sometimes off synths. If you finished with a Norton 8000 and have your stropping down, I would suggest getting a cheap Herold strop from TTS and pasting it with the Soligen red tube or red crayon paste. That should both put a finer, smoother finish on the blade in the short run. 3 laterally biassed laps followed by maybe 6-10 more long X-stroke laps should do it. Just be sure to clean the paste from the blade before moving to your normal finishing strop. Another option would be the Thiers-Issard alox-diamond crayon paste on a suede paddle, which works well for beginners.

 

[FlScott]

I have an 3" Heirloom Artisan Roughout Heavy Draw Steerhide Strop that I pasted the backside of the of the heavy weight, medium weave cotton with a chrom ox bar. I think that helped.

I have a Herold 57Ri Calfhide Leather Paddle Strop from TTS that is pasted with red and black, so I will give that a try tomorrow. Thanks for the help.

 

[Alum of Potash]

I have a Herold 57Ri Calfhide Leather Paddle Strop from TTS that is pasted with red and black, so I will give that a try tomorrow. Thanks for the help.

That should do the trick, and it sounds like you know what your are doing. The same holds true for the black paste; in either case, start out with a limited number of strokes and repeat as necessary. Off the Norton 8000 (which many rate as slightly coarser than 8k JIS), a visit to the red paste prior to the black paste would seem to be in order. I would suggest starting with the red paste only to see how it changes things regarding your prior shave, then introducing the black paste afterwards as needed.

 

[FlScott]

I would suggest starting with the red paste only to see how it changes things regarding your prior shave, then introducing the black paste afterwards as needed.

I ran it over three laps of the red paste, then 10 X-strokes. Followed by a good stropping. I'll give it shave in a little bit and see if it made a difference.

Thanks for the suggestions.