Is this normal for a straight razor?

[Casey]

I only have my grandfather's straight razor to use for reference, so I'm curious.

Looking at it end-on, it's fairly obvious that the edge is off-center. One side lays at a flatter angle to the hone or abrasive. Is this a normal thing, or should it be as any other edged tool and have a centered edge?

Would it be worth centering it? It looks as if it would take a great deal of metal off to do so.

 

[professorchaos]

Not uncommon. I've seen a fair number of warped straights. Is it visibly warped? If it can be honed using an X pattern, there's little use to straightening.

 

[Casey]

It'll hone straight, raise a burr, anything I normally do when sharpening, it's just off center.

 

[mparker762]

It'll hone straight, raise a burr, anything I normally do when sharpening, it's just off center.

That's fine. It's not desirable, mind you, but it'll shave fine. It's caused by using more pressure when honing one direction than the other.