I need help. Pictures included

[SavantStrike]

My apologies for the quality of the pictures, the memory card is worth more than the camera, but it's what I've got and it will do with the editing I did on the pics.

I'm trying to hone up a Wostenholm pipe with a slight curve in the cutting edge and have been having nothing but problems. The first problem was it's magnetized from my blade holding jig. I've got a demagnetizer on the way to fix that problem.
The next problem is it's taking an awfully long time and it's still not past the 1k stage. In fact it's taking as long as it took me to hone my first and only wedge. Is my hone not working any more, or is this just an excellent example of extremely hard steel? I am creating an entirely new bevel (it's taped and everything, I want to tape all of my blades to get used to it for if I ever end up with a worked back), so I'm not terribly concerned yet, and there seems to be some small amount of progress, although not enough for my liking.

The third problem is the one that I really need some advice on. The shoulder on the blade is made in such a way that I cannot do an X pattern with a heel leading stroke without a fair amount of the blade not making contact until later in the stroke, and more importantly this type of stroke will scratch up the maker's mark on the tang . Frankly I'm not sure the last guy that owned this thing however many decades ago ever had the heel sharp to begin with. As you can see from the following picture there is no hone wear on the spine that correlates with the heel of the blade.
View attachment 54296

How do I get the heel sharp, and do I have to take the tape off to waste some of the metal on the spine? So far I've been keeping the tape on (haven't been able to decide on that one myself yet) and doing the following stroke while exerting extra pressure on the heel. I am aware of the fact that at bare minimum if I keep the tape on, I will have to touch up this blade with tape every time a touch up is needed.
View attachment 54297

 

[mparker762]

The next problem is it's taking an awfully long time and it's still not past the 1k stage. In fact it's taking as long as it took me to hone my first and only wedge. Is my hone not working any more, or is this just an excellent example of extremely hard steel? I am creating an entirely new bevel (it's taped and everything, I want to tape all of my blades to get used to it for if I ever end up with a worked back), so I'm not terribly concerned yet, and there seems to be some small amount of progress, although not enough for my liking.

A 1k hone should go through steel like butter. What hone are you using? It may be time to lap it to expose fresh abrasive.

The third problem is the one that I really need some advice on. The shoulder on the blade is made in such a way that I cannot do an X pattern with a heel leading stroke without a fair amount of the blade not making contact until later in the stroke, and more importantly this type of stroke will scratch up the maker's mark on the tang . Frankly I'm not sure the last guy that owned this thing however many decades ago ever had the heel sharp to begin with. As you can see from the following picture there is no hone wear on the spine that correlates with the heel of the blade.

The wear pattern on the spine tells you what you need to do to hone this razor.

Start with the heel of the razor close enough to the edge of the hone so it's not hitting the shank. This will put part of the spine hanging off the edge. Then draw it down and sideways in a curving motion, so the heel spends as much time on the hone as it does with your traditional stroke.

Or just place the blade straight across the hone instead of doing the heel-leading thing. The heel-leading stroke isn't mandatory, it's just helpful on the heavier grind razors, and it makes the edge a bit less sensitive to pressure issues. But you can still get a razor shaving sharp without it.

 

[SavantStrike]

Another TPT reveals that the blade is in fact getting sharp/is sharp (minus the heel which I got semi sharp but not as sharp as the rest of the blade) and I'm just not remembering that the 1k stage is not very sharp in comparison to where I'm going. I put a new bevel on another blade just to confirm this, although the Wosty still feels like it isn't as sharp just yet. As for the remedies you described I have two possible interpretations depicted, were either of these what you were describing?

Scenario 1:
Hold the razor like this, and while tilting it down onto the hone, push it forward while at the same time moving it sideways
View attachment 54324

Scenario 2
Put the razor on the hone at the farthest point where the makers mark on the tang (shank??) will not get scratched. Push it forward on the hone while moving it sideways.
View attachment 54325

I appreciate all the help as this will come in handy when I have to hone a truly smiling edge (rather than one with more smile on the toe than the heel). I'm not content to let the heel be duller than the rest of the edge and just leave it, that's doing a shoddy job.

 

[SavantStrike]

Tiny bump.

I went on to a different blade but went back to this one and am still having trouble visualizing what exactly I should be doing. I know, daft and all that.

 

[mparker762]

Neither scenario above is correct.

Start as in scenario 1, except then lay the razor flat on the hone, with the tip angled back about 30 degrees. You will notice that this puts the heel of the blade just on the edge of the hone (allowing it to be sharpened), with the stabilizer hanging off the hone (so it doesn't get in the way), and that the part of the spine that is showing hone wear will be the part of the spine that is now resting on the hone (explaining the odd spine wear). Drag the razor down the hone for an inch or two, then slowly pull it off the hone heel-first as you move down the remainder of the hone, in a sort of lazy arc, keeping the razor flat on the hone as you do so, *not* sticking up in the air.

The second option is to do exactly the same as above only with the razor pointing straight across the hone at 90 degrees.

You mentioned that the edge was curved. You may have to rock the blade a bit from heel to toe as you go down the hone. If it was ground as a smiling blade then the spine will also be curved, and this allows a very smooth and precise rocking motion that makes it a breeze to get the entire edge evenly sharp. If it's got a straight spine and curved edge then the rocking motion will be a three-phase affair, and this causes some nastily uneven spine wear and makes it difficult to get the front and rear third of the blade sharp.

 

[SavantStrike]

Neither scenario above is correct.

Start as in scenario 1, except then lay the razor flat on the hone, with the tip angled back about 30 degrees. You will notice that this puts the heel of the blade just on the edge of the hone (allowing it to be sharpened), with the stabilizer hanging off the hone (so it doesn't get in the way), and that the part of the spine that is showing hone wear will be the part of the spine that is now resting on the hone (explaining the odd spine wear). Drag the razor down the hone for an inch or two, then slowly pull it off the hone heel-first as you move down the remainder of the hone, in a sort of lazy arc, keeping the razor flat on the hone as you do so, *not* sticking up in the air.

The second option is to do exactly the same as above only with the razor pointing straight across the hone at 90 degrees.

You mentioned that the edge was curved. You may have to rock the blade a bit from heel to toe as you go down the hone. If it was ground as a smiling blade then the spine will also be curved, and this allows a very smooth and precise rocking motion that makes it a breeze to get the entire edge evenly sharp. If it's got a straight spine and curved edge then the rocking motion will be a three-phase affair, and this causes some nastily uneven spine wear and makes it difficult to get the front and rear third of the blade sharp.

mparker THANKS!!!

I can visualize now how this would have exactly the same amount of travel time with the heel on the hone as there would be with a heel leading stroke using a blade that didn't complain about it.

I'm fortunate that the smile is both extremely mild and added by design, as the spine lines up with it perfectly. I will have to pick up a blade that requires the rocking motion at some point to see if I can develop this skill further. It was a lot easier to hone a blade that was 100 percent flat, but that wasn't as much fun as this .

 

[SavantStrike]

I just shaved with the blade in the pics today and all was well . I guess that means I got it .

Thanks again for all the help!