What's new

First honing on 1k and Coticule

So I honed my Boker stainless on a naniwa professional 1k stone with the spine taped with 3m electrical tape, did about 50-60 x strokes with medium pressure, then on the Coticule going from heavy slurry to water slowly dilluting. Had a great shave only the bevel is not even between the heel and the toe. I uploaded some pics. The bevel is wider in the middle and about 3-4 cm from the heel the bevel is really thin. The bevel widt varies between the heel and toe, how can I make it more even?
 

Attachments

  • 20190110_200957.jpg
    20190110_200957.jpg
    1.3 MB · Views: 43
  • Screenshot_20190110-201116.png
    Screenshot_20190110-201116.png
    2.8 MB · Views: 40
  • 20190110_201245.jpg
    20190110_201245.jpg
    1.3 MB · Views: 41
  • 20190110_201242.jpg
    20190110_201242.jpg
    1.2 MB · Views: 40
So long as it is actually making contact along the entire edge I would not worry about it.
If it is wider in the middle on one side it is usually thinner at the same spot on the other side. This indicates a slight warp toward the large in the middle side.
 
So long as it is actually making contact along the entire edge I would not worry about it.
If it is wider in the middle on one side it is usually thinner at the same spot on the other side. This indicates a slight warp toward the large in the middle side.

Is a warp something you can fix? Or is it mostly a manufacture problem? When I got the Boker the bevel was more even from heel to toe, why wasnt it uneven from factory if it has a warp?
 
The warp can be removed but it leaves you with the uneven bevel.
Bevel was probably not properly set from the factory so it looked more even.
If it hasn't been honed much other than your first go you can probably see the warp by sighting down the spine toward the toe or placing it on a flat surface - one side then the other and look for light underneath the curve.
It is only a cosmetic issue and does not effect the way it shaves so long as you are getting full contact end to end.
You never mentioned if the spine has the same width variance starting as well. If the spine is actually warped it shows there as well.
It is very difficult to see the bevel and spine in your photos.
 
Last edited:
Sorry, I notice you said you used tape so the wear will not show on the spine.
Try sighting the spine. Sight it against white paper for better clarity.
If the bevel is not reverse on the opposite side and you can't see a warp then check your stone for flatness.
 
Last edited:
You see lots of razors like this it’s a pain but if you honed that razor and was successful with your dilucot then well done to you and I should not worry to much about that.

The new ti razors come from the factory with awful uneven bevels it’s very common .
 
Here some more pictures of my Boker stainless, I got a new Dovo Bismarck 6/8 and the bevel looks very even on both sides between heel and toe, if I would hone the Dovo and the Bevel turns out uneven between heel and toe, does that mean my honing stroke is not perfect or the bevel was not truly set at factory? The bevel on the other side of my Boker looks more even along the length.
 

Attachments

  • 20190111_124951.jpg
    20190111_124951.jpg
    1.2 MB · Views: 21
  • 20190111_124955.jpg
    20190111_124955.jpg
    1.3 MB · Views: 21
  • 20190111_125108.jpg
    20190111_125108.jpg
    1.4 MB · Views: 21
  • 20190111_125112.jpg
    20190111_125112.jpg
    1.5 MB · Views: 23
  • 20190111_125112.jpg
    20190111_125112.jpg
    1.5 MB · Views: 27
  • 20190111_125730.jpg
    20190111_125730.jpg
    1.4 MB · Views: 24
To me it looks like the bevel on the front is bigger at the heel and toe - smaller in the center.
The back it looks bigger in the center and smaller at the two ends.
If this is what you have (even if it is only slightly bigger on one side) then it is a slight warp. The bigger the wave, the bigger the warp.
If the other razor seems fine, try lining the edge with magic marker and make a few strokes on each side. If all the marker is getting removed evenly then your stroke is fine.
Again, make sure your stone is flat as well.
 
You can adjust for that type of warp but it's quite tricky. If your coticule is < 2" then it's easier but any size stone will work. You have to imagine that a strip of about 1 inch from the side running down the length of the hone. As the razor passes that strip, torque the edge at that point into the stone there. Where the bevel is thinner torque it more where it is wider torque it less. You have to maintain this throughout the honing progression. The hard part is estimating how much torque you need because your edge contact pressure needs to get lighter throughout the cycle but in proportion to the bevel width. You also need to remember the adjustment every time you hone - so it is worth keeping a honing diary.

I have straightened out a wonky bevel on a couple of my razors like this now but it isn't fun. Much easier to catch the warp right away and prevent the bevel going out.

Coticules are great for handling these type of problems because you can watch the slurry travel and hear / feel the loss of contact because of geometry. That makes them much easier to track progress without stopping to inspect the bevel.

The challenge I have found with coticules is that they seem to work best (for me) with the back and forth Japanese stroke. Whilst an X stroke is fairly easy to get the hang of, torquing a razor in one direction and then doing the same in reverse as you draw back is a bit like patting your head and rubbing your stomach at the same time. But it is possible, you just have to take it slow at first.

I have seen it said that these problems go away with a convex hone but I haven't tried one yet.
 
I would guess the edge has a very slight smile, you need to do a very slight rolling x-stroke to compensate.
 
Like Doc said, slight rolling stroke if it has a warp. I personally would not be using pressure to get the edge out of it.

As an aside, the Solingen blade makers use convex hones that only contact the razor at a very small point on the bevel and spine. This means that they can hone warped blades with a nice even bevel, which is probably why it looks different after you have honed it.
 
Top Bottom