Rough grit stone to beat a GD into shape?

[SolitarySoldier]

Hi guys, new to this site but not straights or honing. I’ve been hiding out on the other forum too lazy to join this one. Since you’re a open minded bunch what would you recommend to beat the GD into shape?

I’ve used the DMT C and XC. A Norton India both the coarse and fine side and even took some time on a 1k king once but never again. I was thinking of a Waterstone in the 400g range.

Potentials are 320g Suehiro Cerax, since the rest of my Waterstones are Suehiro.

400g Nani SS. I had the pro series 1-10k but returned them due to crazing. I know the SS load heavily.

500g shapton glass. Again had the 4/8/16 so I’m familiar with the feel of their stones.

Any other I’m not thinking of?

Thanks in advance.

 

[TurtlePL]

I used sandpaper.

Wysłane z mojego HTC Desire 12 przy użyciu Tapatalka

 

[buca3152]

I've used 325 DMT 600 DMT and for many years a 600 chosera. Just know that after a while and you torque the blade slightly to the edge everything gets done a lot faster. My first gd took me 4 hours to hone.

 

[Legion]

600 DMT here.

 

[bluesman 7]

Welcome @SolitarySoldier

For really rough work I have started using a coarse CRYSTOLON.

 

[Joshua223]

I've been wanting to give one of the cheap diamond sharpening stones a try for chip removal.

 

[ShaverAZ]

Depends on how much time & work you want to put into it. I have several older GD's and found it necessary to do minimal honing in order to get them into shave condition. 2 more recent buys were poorly finished and would have needed more time and effort than worth it, so I sent them back. The replacements were hone-ready, requiring no appreciable effort to make shave ready.
When you buy a cheap razor, sometimes they send you a cheap razor, then sometimes they manage to send one properly made.

 

[mr_houston]

Frankly, when I was working on GDs, I used a belt sander to start.

 

[Chandu]

Welcome @SolitarySoldier

For really rough work I have started using a coarse CRYSTOLON.

This is my favorite SiC coarse

Razor Edge System - Knife Sharpening Systems & Equipment

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www.razoredgesystems.com

 

[Steve56]

Mellowed 325 DMT. 320 Shapton Pro also works. Your favorite flavor of DMT is hard to beat if you have a number of them to do.

 

[NPV]

I say stick with the DMT, I feel diamond plates are well suited for that task.

 

[Slash McCoy]

With a GD, depending on model and when it was made, a 600 grit Chosera might be as coarse as you need to go. Older production GD66's sometimes call for the big guns. I have started them on 100 grit Harbor Freight diamond plates, or sandpaper on acrylic, down to 100 or even 60 grit, and sure, a belt sander clamped upside down in the bench vise works a treat as long as you don't go nuts with it. The trick is to stop, and kick up the grit when the razor nearly has a complete bevel, so at bevel set completion you are not still battling horribly coarse scratches. Starting coarse and using timely progression can make the difference between a half hour to hone a poorly ground GD, and taking a couple of days. If you "ruin" the razor, you are out maybe $5 so no biggie. I haven't had to toss one in a long time now.

 

[Dave Sl8r]

Potentials are 320g Suehiro Cerax, since the rest of my Waterstones are Suehiro.

This, for the reason you stated.

However, for heavy lifting its hard to beat a DMT DuoSharp interrupted diamond 10x 4 inch benchstone. I really think of them as plates, but IDK.
Extra course/Course (220/325).
They also serve as one heck of a fast lapping plate for your other stones.
Nice to have the Fine/Extra fine (600/1200) to clean up the foot print of the previous plate.
jmo

 

[Alum of Potash]

Either a Beston 500 or a fine DMT with red polka dots.

 

[147_Grain]

The focus so far has mostly been on honing, from what I can tell. What's the best tool for thinning spines & shanks? Will an Atoma 140 get you there at a reasonable speed, or are you better off hitting the thing with a belt sander and watching the temperature?

 

[Slash McCoy]

Belt sander is the bee's knees. Usually 20 or 30 seconds of contact to the spine or tang won't hurt the razor. You can do a dozen at a time and just do them for 20 seconds or so in rotation, or you can do one or two at a time and use an ice water dunk.

It is very important to keep the spine completely in parallel to the edge. Best way is to first set a rough preliminary bevel. Then take some thin steel like from a coffee can lid and fold it over the razor's edge. Be careful you don't chip or crack the edge. Think of it as taping the edge in order to hone the spine without putting any wear on the edge. Except you are using steel instead of vinyl electrical tape, which of course would wear through in a couple of seconds. Even with the steel, you still need to keep most of the pressure on the spine. You need to also calculate the present bevel angle, and then figure out how much you need to thin the spine to give you the bevel angle that you want. Start with 60 or 100 grit and get it down in the ballpark, then go like 150, 220, 320, 400, 600, etc. Set your bevel at the 600 grit stage and see how close you kept the spine in alignment with the edge. You may have to do some freehand work on the spine but hopefully not.

So, you got the spine thinned. Next, do the shank. The idea here is to make no part of the shank form a shoulder, neither the normal "hard" shoulder nor a gradual one, that can intrude into the honing plane if you overrun a bit when honing. Otherwise, a shoulder will eventually develop on its own.

So, once thinning has been accomplished, you have a razor with a tremendously wide bevel on the spine. Some would say it doesn't look good. That is irrelevant. But that wide contact area will prevent normal wear. The normal spine thinning while performing routine honing will slow to a crawl. Well, compared to the reduction in width from edge wear. Plus due to the edge being elevated by the thickness of the steel edge guard you were using, the angle of the bevel on the spine is such that during normal honing the BOTTOM edge of the spine bevel will contact the hone, not the top edge. Basically you have upset the entire geometrical apple cart and to put it back in order, you should push the hollowgrind up into the now deformed spine, and then sand it back round again. The nose wheel of your belt sander works great for the former. Sandpaper and fingers for the latter. Clamp your belt sander in your bench vise upside down, and just apply razor to the belt where it passes over the nose wheel. Try 120 or 150 grit to start with. Just gouge out steel from the bottom edge of the spine, extending the hollowgrind upward. When you have shrank the width of the bevel surface on the spine to a very narrow strip at the top edge, you are done.

Before hand sanding, you might want to take your dremel and some sanding drums and attack the vestiges of the shoulder, and sort of fair the blade and shank together in a nice flowing transition. Or not, depending on how you feel about cosmetics. And this is your last chance to make the thumb notch profile more pleasing to the eye, and maybe profile the nose to match, to make it look like someone with a very good eye designed and made this razor.

Finally, fold and tear some 150 grit into strips about an inch wide. Tear a strip into rectangles about an inch and a half or two inches long. Take one and fold it over the spine. Pinch it between thumb and forefinger with the edge pointing outward, away from your hand, and start working the razor back and forth longways through the sandpaper. This will take some time. Keep going until you like the shape and appearance of the razor, especially the spine. Then start progressing. At 400 grit, start working the whole blade thinner with the sandpaper, especially the belly, which is the thickening part just at the very top of the edge bevel. Thinning that part down, especially, will help with the honing and shaving. A narrow edge bevel will nearly always hone and shave better. Wear out some sandpaper. Burn up a few days of your time. Continue with 600, 800, 1000 grit, 1500, 2000 grit. Starting to look like a very advanced custom razor, huh? Oh, I DO hope you gave the nose and thumb notch some love, including chamfering the edges a bit, particularly the nose so it doesn't scratch your strop.

You could pin her up right like that, but in for a dime, in for a dollar, right? Get yourself some 3u diamond paste and rub it on the blade on both sides. Chuck a felt wheel arbor or a cloth wheel into the dremel. Lay the razor on a piece of aluminum plate to guard the edge and serve as a heat sink. Buffing can push the temper just like power sanding or grinding. Start buffing. 3u, 1u, .5u, .25u, .1u. If you are patient and you don't advance to the next grit before its time, you will have a really impressive mirror polish. NOW pin the razor into some nice scales and you got something very special.

 

[Dave Sl8r]

^^^
Something tells me, when it’s time to sell this masterpiece, I would be hard pressed to get the $325 per hour I usually bill my clients.

 

[Slash McCoy]

^^^
Something tells me, when it’s time to sell this masterpiece, I would be hard pressed to get the $325 per hour I usually bill my clients.

You won't make $3.25/hr on a full mod. That's not a project that you would ever want to sell. It is one that you will enjoy using, and be proud to own.