Honing advice on a smiling 7/8" Henkels

[natchez]

I bought this Henkels razor from a barber's daughter- she has some more for me to see at home. Unfortunately, her Dad passed recently so I was unable to ask him why the shape.

The blade measures about 7/8" at it widest pint and about 11/16" at the heel. He took some time to shape and hone this razor into this shape. Since there is grind work into the stabilizer on both sides evident, I am thinking it may have more of a reason than just a chip in the blade at the heel. I think you can see the grinding into the stabilizer in the photo. The blade and scales are in good shape. There is also a reasonably even bevel along the edge. Not quite perfect, but clearly done with some skill.

There is a photo of the blade below. The blue line is straight for reference. How would you experts suggest I go about honing this razor? It is sharp, but not sharp enough to get a good shave with. Also, why would someone shape it so? Does a razor shaped like this have any shaving advantages? What are your thoughts on this piece?

 

[professorchaos]

Rolling x-pattern is the way I'd go. Start by marking the bevel with a marker of some sort. The ink will wear away as you hone, showing you the places you are hitting and those you are not. Once you set the bevel, you'll have a good idea of the stroke you need to sharpen the whole edge - you can also continue marking it as you progress. Or not.

Smiling razors shave a little differently than completely straight ones. I have, use and like both so I'd not intentionally hone a smile into a razor.

 

[Chimensch]

Rolling x-pattern is the way I'd go.

Or you could use a narrow hone 1-1½" wide, which might be easier.

 

[Shaman]

Or you could use a narrow hone 1-1½" wide, which might be easier.

+1 on the narrow hone. I have a W&B with a lovely smile that I just couldn't get sharp evenly along the edge using 3" hones. A spyderco double stuff with it's 1" width worked perfectly for me to even out the edge. The rolling-x is not my best stroke so the narrow hone was the most expediate option for me.

 

[chess1]

That blade has been honed properly and by some pro person.
in fact it does have advantage while you use that smile shape blade.
it will do scything motion whole surface of the blade.
At the moment you will find very rare honer's which will do similar work.
you are lucky person owns one of the nice double smile blade. enjoy.
Never try to straight it . gl

 

[Utopian]

You don't need to go out and buy a narrow hone. When you hone on a narrow hone you need to do what's called a rolling X stroke to keep the blade in contact with the hone along the entire length of the blade.

If you feel the need for a narrow hone, take your 3 inch wide hone and draw a line down the middle of it. Now you have a narrow hone. Hone on it keeping the blade in contact with just that half of the hone. The motion you need to do to maintain contact on just that narrow region is the rolling x. Mission accomplished.

The smiling blade is preferred by many shavers because it essentially make the scything stroke easier. Barbers manuals explained how to create the smiling blade by emphasizing strokes at both the heel and toe, but especially the toe.

 

[professorchaos]

Or you could use a narrow hone 1-1½" wide, which might be easier.

+1 on the narrow hone. I have a W&B with a lovely smile that I just couldn't get sharp evenly along the edge using 3" hones. A spyderco double stuff with it's 1" width worked perfectly for me to even out the edge. The rolling-x is not my best stroke so the narrow hone was the most expediate option for me.

Agreed. If one wanted to dedicate a hone or a series of narrow hones to smiling razors. Instead one can focus on using the bottom 1/3 of a 3" hone. No matter what size hone being used, the stroke is essentially the same.

 

[thirdeye]

Agreed. If one wanted to dedicate a hone or a series of narrow hones to smiling razors. Instead one can focus on using the bottom 1/3 of a 3" hone. No matter what size hone being used, the stroke is essentially the same.

Spot on advice....

 

[Chimensch]

Agreed. If one wanted to dedicate a hone or a series of narrow hones to smiling razors. Instead one can focus on using the bottom 1/3 of a 3" hone. No matter what size hone being used, the stroke is essentially the same.

It's not a question of reserving a series of narrow hones for smiling razors, but using narrow hones for all your razors. If one were to design the ideal hone for razors, it would be narrow. People use 3" hones because that's what's available, but those hones are made for tools. Concentrating on using 1/3 of a 3" wide hone is really difficult and is simply a technique for getting around the fact that the hone is too wide. I believe in simplifying my life and that's why I had my hones cut in half. When sharpening razors, there's never a need for a 3" wide hone.

 

[natchez]

That blade has been honed properly and by some pro person.
in fact it does have advantage while you use that smile shape blade.
it will do scything motion whole surface of the blade.
At the moment you will find very rare honer's which will do similar work.
you are lucky person owns one of the nice double smile blade. enjoy.
Never try to straight it . gl

Thanks to all those who posted for their advice. I am going to give it a go this afternoon after work. I was suspicious that this shape was done deliberately because of the grind work. I am now looking forward to getting the edge ready and giving it a go

I will report back. AS always B&B is a really special place.

 

[natchez]

After reading the advice and suggestions you all provided, I honed this razor on a 50mm wide coticule, using the dilucot method, rolling x-strokes and the edge reached the HHT(2?) coming off the stone. The razor cut the hanging hair, but it did not do so perfectly cleanly, there was a noticeable grab onto the hair. It did take me about two hours, but I am new to honing so I went slowly and very carefully. This morning after a lengthy stropping, first on linen and then on leather, I had a most wonderful shave!

 

[Chimensch]

After reading the advice and suggestions you all provided, I honed this razor on a 50mm wide coticule, using the dilucot method, rolling x-strokes and the edge reached the HHT(2?) coming off the stone. The razor cut the hanging hair, but it did not do so perfectly cleanly, there was a noticeable grab onto the hair. It did take me about two hours, but I am new to honing so I went slowly and very carefully. This morning after a lengthy stropping, first on linen and then on leather, I had a most wonderful shave!

Congratulations! You're already way ahead of me because I'm one of those dweebs who never got the HHT to work. You're probably too young to know who James Thurber is (great American humorist) and your post made me think of his story about a guy who could never see anything in the microscope in high school. Anyway, you're off to a great start and I'm really pleased.

 

[natchez]

Congratulations! You're already way ahead of me because I'm one of those dweebs who never got the HHT to work. You're probably too young to know who James Thurber is (great American humorist) and your post made me think of his story about a guy who could never see anything in the microscope in high school. Anyway, you're off to a great start and I'm really pleased.

I am indeed old enough to recall Mr. Thurber, now 57.

I tried a few razors on synthetic stones, but did not have that much success. I could get them sharp, but not that really, really sharp. But, with the coticule for some reason I almost can feel the way the edge is behaving. I am not sure if this is just in my head, but it worked!

 

[chess1]

After reading the advice and suggestions you all provided, I honed this razor on a 50mm wide coticule, using the dilucot method, rolling x-strokes and the edge reached the HHT(2?) coming off the stone. The razor cut the hanging hair, but it did not do so perfectly cleanly, there was a noticeable grab onto the hair. It did take me about two hours, but I am new to honing so I went slowly and very carefully. This morning after a lengthy stropping, first on linen and then on leather, I had a most wonderful shave!

Congratulations.

 

[natchez]

Probably, just beginner's luck or an easy to hone blade. Perhaps, it was just a step away from good to begin with. I will try some others and see how I fare.

 

[DavyRay]

"The Night the Bed Fell on Father"
It is not as funny as sharpening a smiling razor, but it is pretty good.

Everything is relative. Especially Thurber.

I am glad to hear that you got a good shave from that smile.