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True wedge

How do you hone true wedge?
With tape?
I started to hone one for the first time and noticed very fast that this design makes it possible
to hone forever without hitting all of the bevel.
 
How do you hone true wedge?
With tape?
I started to hone one for the first time and noticed very fast that this design makes it possible
to hone forever without hitting all of the bevel.


This is why most use tape to expedite the process and why Wedges never really took off for the professional.
 

rbscebu

Girls call me Makaluod
A true wedge is perfectly flat on both sides, both along the blade and across the blade. With a perfectly flat stone, the whole blade from spine to edge is the bevel.

The main difference between a hollow and wedge when honing is that with the wedge, there is a lot more steel that needs to be removed when setting the bevel. Using tape on a wedge gives you a secondary bevel at the edge that requires a lot less metal removal.

I'm not a tape type man.
 
This is why most use tape to expedite the process and why Wedges never really took off for the professional.

So I have to use between using tape or not being able to hone a true wedge?
Can life be that cruel? :c17::scared::mad2::incazzato
How did they do back in the times, I have to use my google fu.

A true wedge is perfectly flat on both sides, both along the blade and across the blade. With a perfectly flat stone, the whole blade from spine to edge is the bevel.

The main difference between a hollow and wedge when honing is that with the wedge, there is a lot more steel that needs to be removed when setting the bevel. Using tape on a wedge gives you a secondary bevel at the edge that requires a lot less metal removal.

I'm not a tape type man.

Yes there is more steel to remove.
"perfectly flat blade side"
-yes in a perfect word, that's not were my razor seems to be made.

Sandpaper, hollow out that son of a gun.

I will, but can you make a video first to show me how to? Full instruktion.:a30:
 
So I have to use between using tape or not being able to hone a true wedge?
Can life be that cruel? :c17::scared::mad2::incazzato
How did they do back in the times, I have to use my google fu.


You can still hone it without tape if you want but you will not want to do it again:)
That's how they did it. They were not a preferred grind by anyone professional.
 
Most wedges have been jacked up over the years so it's hard to tell what happened to them, when it happened and why. But, those that weren't handled by circus animals along the way seem to have been honed hand-held at an arbitrary angle. FWIW - some 'wedges' have a slightly convex profile, making things even more interesting. Once in a great while I find one with an even more bizzare geometry; every so slightly convex on one side, ever so slightly concave on the other. Had one where the barber's notch was on an angle when viewed head-on, didn't affect honing but it was weird as heck to look at.

Me, I love a good wedge, honing them is fun and tape has worked well for me. Yes, it's work, but for me overcoming the challenge makes it worthwhile. There are a few other options but tape is the easiest. Some make a big deal out of using it, there's no issue. Check the geometry, see what 2 layers of tape add to the equation. Rolling strokes would be for a smiling wedge or one that's got a weirdness in the grind. Might or might not be needed, figure it out as you go.
 
I agree with Gamma. I have three very old (late 1800s – 2 W&B and 1 Manhattan) razors that I restored and I can only get them where I want them by using tape, although I first tried without tape. For my other razors (non-wedge vintage razors), I go sans tape without a problem.
 
As Gamma points out... yes, a wedge is perfectly flat in theory. Theory with 200+ yr old grinds rarely syncs with practice. Many wedges if you were to take today and grind into true, will define a frown into the razor.

I don't like how wedges shave, but for their honing, I'd argue that tape or some other means to raise the spine is often practically necessary.
 
So I have to use between using tape or not being able to hone a true wedge?
Before people started to use hollow ground blades they used hollow ground hones. So you have to choose between using a tape and getting your wedge it's personal hone.
 

duke762

Rose to the occasion
Is tape always used through the whole progression? Can it be used at the end of the progression to create a micro bevel?
 
Is tape always used through the whole progression? Can it be used at the end of the progression to create a micro bevel?
It doesn't make any sense. If you set the bevel without tape, there's absolutely no reason to add it in the finish, except for the lack of stones.
 
It doesn't make any sense. If you set the bevel without tape, there's absolutely no reason to add it in the finish, except for the lack of stones.
Depends on how much wear you got on the spine and edge I guess. If you have alot of wear it makes sense as the razor and the stone will create alot of suction. Hard to get a decent edge if the razor is basically stuck to the stone.
 
True, but you can also reduce the suction of the bevel to the stone with a small (minimum) amount of fine slurry. So your example can also be seen as a lack of stones. What I'm trying to say is that the tape is only one way to get things done, and certainly not the only one.
 
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