I Just Got this Froggie Roche Freres French Frame Back in the Post Today..Its a Lovely Clean Example & I Am Assuming its a Later Model as it Looks Kinda Modern Compared to Some Plain Old Frame Backs..I Will Hone Her Up Later & Punt it for Some Booze Tokens.. Billy..
I honed this "StubTail" today. It was a mess. The scales were cracked, and the blade was about black with oxidation. Lots of sanding and a little polish. The honing was awkward because this is a "Wedge", no hollow grind, and the 2 layers of tape acted as the spine. After some very careful honing, the edge took on a hair popping sharpness to it. The shave will tell. "Warranted" Stubtail, with horn scales. Unknown how old this one is. It's a true wedge though..
I Just Honed this Froggie Roche Freres Frame Back on My Naniwa Super Stone Progression & Finished Her on My Escher Thuri..It was a Doddle to Set the Bevel..The Fastest Frame Back Bevel Set in Town..The Factory Grind & Geometry of this Froggie Blade is 1st Class..I Might have to Keep the Bugger as its a Beautiful Razor & it has Taken a Killer Smooth Edge I Reckon.. I May have to Kick an SR Out the Nest..Eenie Meenie Miney Mo.. Billy..
I can't believe you would kick out one your razors?!?! Don't worry I will give the "Froggie" a nice home and post lots of pictures so you don't miss her.
Two razors honed tonight. Both were restorations. Top: The W.H.Morley & Sons "Clover Brand" razor was one I acquired in a trade with @Stu929 (thanks). It was a rusty one, but cleaned up fairly nice. It had little hone wear, so the honing session went well, with little issues. The only issue it has was a slightly warped blade. But, I've long since learned how to hone those, without anymore time taken than with a perfectly straight one. I progressed as usual, with the Welsh Slates and the Surgical Black Arkie Ultra Finishing Progression Stone. It ended with a very sharp edge. Now it needs to wait in line to shave. I have several ahead of it. Bottom: The "Shumate Barbers" razor was as flat as I have ever seen. Perfectly flat spine and blade. It was a non thinker, honing this one. Everything went like clockwork, on every stage. It ended with a wickedly sharp edge.
Some fun on this one Had to go with 2 layers of tape to finally get it to hold a nice fine edge, I killed the edge 3 times at the 5k level then once again at the 10k level finally finished with my Nakayama going with a DGLP raised misty slurry...
today i hones this J.A Heckels 472. progression from 1,5-5-8 and 12k before finished on the black ark.did 100 laps on the factory side and 100 on the side that i had lapped to 2k. needless to say the edge got supersmooth the heel was a bit off but got it finally.
I was able to get to two today. Both were honed with the Welsh Slate Stones and finished with the Arkie SB Progression stone. Japanese Hoshitombo 6000. True Kamisori grind, and a pain to hone. This had some major regrinding on the flats of the blade, by someone in Japan. I had to do some major sanding, just to make it presentable. It turned out sharp, in the end. Wade & Butcher. I had to regrind a little over 1/4 inch off the toe, because of a large crack, and turn it into a round point. It was a joy to hone, and flat as can be.
Here is one I've anticipated honing. After, I think I must have been crazy. The scales are Thick horn, which needed a complete sanding and polishing. The metal required a lot of hand sanding, and a lot or polishing with the Dremel. The biggest problem was the blades edge. It had 5 small chips, that required a new bevel. It took a while on a very coarse stone. Then the fun started. This Wostie cast steel is rock hard, and took a couple of hours to set a new bevel. But, when I had the bevel finally set, Oh what a fine edge it took. I used two layers of tape, and progressed through my usual progression, as well as the SB Arkie. In the end, I was rewarded with a fantastic shave. Darn good razor, with darn good steel. Oh, The blade required a little gymnastics while honing, but it was a no brainer. Before After
Thanks Karl. The inlay looks to be homemade Mother of Pearl, and done well, except it stuck out a lot. I sanded and polished it. Now it is completely flush, smooth, and looks factory finished. I took my time with them.
This was a fail, this was a blood thirsty razor. I tried muting the point and heal then honing it but the honing was a fail. I think it was subconscious.... @mrchick this is the razor I was talking about:
