Silicon Carbide as a bevel setter?

[PiratesBlade]

I have a blade that has a bad geometry. The toe curves up a bit. I'm finding that my shapton glass stone HR 1K is not eating away metal at a fast rate as I would like. I was thinking of using this stone to accelerate the process and use the 240 grit side.

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It's made of silicon carbide which is the same as my norton flattening stone. Has anyone had any experience honing a straight razor on this?

 

[global_dev]

why not roll the stroke i stead of grinding away the edge?

post a pic.

i think some may use 325 “old” dmts or 400 or 600s to get some business done, but that low could put some deep scratches in your steel

 

[PiratesBlade]

I don't want to roll the stroke. It's easier to make consistent strokes if the bevel is on a flat plane. I've uploaded the photo. Thanks for the advice.

 

[global_dev]

if you are talking about that triangle little piece to the very very left, i’d ignore it. it’s too high.

if it’s something else, can you clarify

 

[buca3152]

Blades with a slight smile are bad geometry? When you find one that's perfect let me know.

 

[PiratesBlade]

See how the blade is straight and then goes up at the toe? Is that fixable or should I treat it as a smiling razor and do rolling strokes? I thought maybe a coarse and hard stone such as a silicon carbide could sort it out.

 

[buca3152]

You can hone everything flat. its easier to go with the flow and hone them as they are imo.

 

[PiratesBlade]

We should probably call this geometry fixing rather than bevel setting.

 

[PiratesBlade]

You can hone everything flat. its easier to go with the flow and hone them as they are imo.

Thanks buca. Since this is a cheap razor, I'm going to try honing it flat and see how it goes.

 

[buca3152]

Oops! Maybe you didn't get what I was saying. It's easier to hone to the razor then to hone them flat. If there is any misunderstanding.

 

[Gamma]

Haven't used that exact stone, no - but I have taken a fair bit of steel off razors using other similarly manufactured stones - carborundum stones mostly. Some of the newer stones like that one can be 'ok', and they'll take steel off, sure. They can also leave a very messy scratch pattern too, depends on the stone in question. Some are softer than desired for a job like this and they can dish more than expected. I would avoid that type.
If there's a stabilizer on that blade, be sure you don't ride the edge up into it.

 

[Alum of Potash]

Your silicon carbide combo as mentioned sounds reminiscent of the Crystolon series from Norton. I find that a broken-in or worn fine DMT with the perforated surface works most expeditiously followed by a 1k synth or equivalent. Just be sure to use up-and-down strokes with the diamond hone as a lateral motion can introduce chipping.

 

[eKretz]

It looks to me like that dark area at the lower left is a shadow... So what's not cleaned up? If you want to change that to a flat/straight edge you're going to need to remove a lot of steel - everywhere except at the toe. That's going to take some serious time. I think I would follow Buca's above advice and follow what's there.

 

[PiratesBlade]

Yes that's a shadow. This is a cheap blade so I'm going to experiment with it. I'm going to try to flatten it even if it takes time. I'll keep an eye on the scratch patterns. Thanks for the advice.

 

[global_dev]

why do you want to hone it flat?

 

[PiratesBlade]

global_dev I'm under the impression it's easier to do normal flat strokes instead of rolling strokes when honing.

 

[buca3152]

"Normal flat strokes" is not what honing is all about. It may seem that way now. But as I said it's easier to go with the flow and hone them as they are. Your call of course.

 

[eKretz]

Yep. I'd suggest it would be better to learn to follow what you've got - helps train your application of pressure and dexterity too - but if you would rather start by learning how to straighten it out, more power to you. You'll need to watch the pressure application to do that as well - trying to concentrate it only on the lowest parts of the blade and staying away from those higher ones until you get it straighter. Just be aware that you are going to end up with a very large amount of hone wear on the spine.

 

[PiratesBlade]

My main concern is that I didn't want to spend too much on a straight razor. Two that I bought have a straight edge save for the toe. These razors are supposed to be straight but aren't. I'd like to know that I can fix them. Anyway, they are cheap so I won't cry if I screw them up. Ironically, the cheapest one I got is the gold dollar 66 which costs next to nothing and I was able to get a good edge from heel to toe and it shaves very well. It's carbon steel though so eventually it'll rust out. I want a stainless steel blade.

 

[buca3152]

Carbon steel will not rust if you take care of it. None of my razors have rust or even water marks. I dry well, air dry open and I use clippercide spray. There are many who use nothing with zero issues.