Hanging hair test uneaven

[boggemogge]

Desided to buy an old c.v heljestad and hone it. It had a ok bevel but I honed it from the beginning. I used lapping film with 1200 to 50 000 grit.

I honed it for a couple of hours and stropped it. It i squite sharp but I discovered that the hanging hair test failed from the midle and back to the handle. The razor gives an ok shave but not as near as my shavette or DE.

Should I start all over again and set the bevel from 1200 grit or should I give the razor more time on the strop?

This is my first straght and I know that I should start with a shave-ready straight, but I fugured that I could manage the honing becuse I have a long experience with hunting and carving-knives.

 

[Mike H]

A couple of hours? That is a long time with lapping film.

Since this is your first attempt, I would start over and reset the bevel. It should be popping arm hair coming off the 1200.
Practice is the key.

 

[squirrelmaster]

I always make sure after I set a bevel that all parts of the blade cut arm/leg hair (usually out of hair on my arm) I only start moving up into higher grits after this is happening. I have also been know to create a small burr across the length of the blade to know for sure both sides are meeting. if that makes since.

 

[dakotaev]

As the others have stated, the problem might be the bevel, or you might just have to target that area a bit more with the finishing stages. Does that problem area pop hair at all or just worse than the toe area?

You might need to adjust your pressure to get that heel area. I'm not sure if this is the case, but quite often some razors are previously honed at an angle (eg: 45 degrees) with the heel forward while doing the strokes. In this case the hone wear on the spine above the heel is less and if you hone with the razor straight on the lapping film the edge may not touch properly. Edit: Just to clarify because I realize this might throw some people off. I mean an 45 degree angle horizontally, not lifting the spine off the stone or lapping film.

Just one thing to keep an eye on, you might have to adjust your stroke to compensate a little to fit the razor.

 

[SliceOfLife]

Make sure the whole edge is on the film. A lot of razors have stabilizers on the tang that will hold the edge off a hone unless you angle the razor right. Also a lot of honers (because of this, to fit smaller hones, ?) hone at an angle by default and so cause the back of the spine to show less wear than the rest of the spine, making a razor held perpendicular to the hone not sit flat. Restart at the beveling stage and monitor these variables closely.

 

[boggemogge]

Thanks for the help. Very good input that will help me to decide what to do with the razor.

One question. Do you think I hone for to long time? I mean, I like it but it is frustrating to do it with lousy results.

 

[boggemogge]

BTW

Does that problem area pop hair at all or just worse than the toe area?

The razor is sharp all over. It cuts of hair all over but slightly better on the toe.

 

[SliceOfLife]

I can't comment. I don't work with films, but I'd assume they're one of the fastest means of honing. Honing a hollow ground from dead dull (IE Just honed a chip out and evened out the edge, starting to bevel), to razor sharp takes me under 5 minutes if I go via my fastest hones. Even my slowest won't break 15mins. But I have honed a lot of razors, and I use halfstrokes (I think that's what people call them, back and forth strokes on a single side prior to a flip to work the other), pretty heavily in my honing. I could see taking an hour on a razor if I was doing a single x pattern the whole way through, taking my time and maybe having a pot of tea or watching tv while doing it. It strikes me as a long time if focused, but everyone is different. On full wedges, an hour isn't unusual at all in my experience.

 

[boggemogge]

I can't comment. I don't work with films, but I'd assume they're one of the fastest means of honing. Honing a hollow ground from dead dull (IE Just honed a chip out and evened out the edge, starting to bevel), to razor sharp takes me under 5 minutes if I go via my fastest hones. Even my slowest won't break 15mins. But I have honed a lot of razors, and I use halfstrokes (I think that's what people call them, back and forth strokes on a single side prior to a flip to work the other), pretty heavily in my honing. I could see taking an hour on a razor if I was doing a single x pattern the whole way through, taking my time and maybe having a pot of tea or watching tv while doing it. It strikes me as a long time if focused, but everyone is different. On full wedges, an hour isn't unusual at all in my experience.

Now i don´t need to give it so much time in the future.

After work today I will get back to the razor and film, giving it another try before sending it to a friend who can hone it. Maybe I just have to give up on this projekt...this time