Send it to Glen. GSsixgun on the forums, also at gemstarcustoms on the web. Okay. There is no easy way to fix a frown. The technique called "breadknifing" is probably the fastest way to get to a point where you can put a new edge on, but this will require you to reset the bevel again, too. Once all of that is done, then you can start rehoning your blade. I rarely do this, but writing anything more is beyond my skill level. Google "breadknifing a razor" and "pyramid honing a straight." This is not the best method to remove a frown, it is the quickest and easiest for a raw beginner. Better methods exist, but they require years of honing experience.
Please wait for some more people to respond to your thread before you do anything drastic (like bread knife a razor).
I'll probly wait to here what fellow member have to say before I send it off to a pro I'm a cheap guy and if I can learn it id rather do that before I spend money
Ok from start to finish.. and keep in mind that I am doing this off a so-so pic and can't hold the razor in hand.. Warning: This is restoration, and is dangerous to you and the razor, so procede and your own risk The heel need to be re-contoured.. I show how to do this in a couple of my Vids using a DMT 325.. Once the heel is re-contoured you need to turn the frown upside down into a smile, you could breadknife but that frown isn't that bad so I would start by honing toward a smiling profile.. There are two ways to do that one is explained in the Barbers manual over on SRP, try to find it by Googling "JimmyHAD" and the issue it should come up. Jimmy has linked that barber's manual 1000's of times.. The other is to simply watch Charlie/Spazola - Alex/Phildelph - or My vid on how to hone Smiling blades, we all have very similar thoughts on how to maintain a smiling profile and those techniques will also hone toward a smile for frowned blades keeping them straight.. Also start with 2 layers of tape to erase the effects of the bad spine wear..
You should have listened to Glen. He's an expert on these matters. You will need to reset the bevel on your razor now. Doing his way, you could have saved the bevel, it would have taken a little longer, but you would have saved more of your blade. It's not a huge deal, and this will be instructional. Google "resetting a straight razor's bevel."
I know nothing about this but adding tape to the spine will change the bevel will it not as I heard the spine and edge wear at the same rate to keep the same bevel angle
Yes, No, Maybe... Yes it will change the angle, about .65 of 1 degree per layer of tape, higher But that change might be for the good on a mis-honed or spine worn razor The spine and edge in a perfect world wear in concert, in reality that just isn't what we see out there.. Experienced honers can hone with near zero bad hone wear, most people can't I have yet after honing 10,000 + razors seen a one ruined from using tape, I have seen plenty ruined from not using it Tape is a personal choice it really makes no difference I have done the tests over 30+ full honing cycles on the same test razor, the angle changed less then 1 degree from the original 16 degrees, translated to real life means that perhaps my great great grandson might have an angle issue if I even had a Kid For my grand kids and great grandkids to solve that angle issue they would have to hone without tape every 5th -10th honing cycle, if I had Kids Basically that means use tape if you want, don't if you want, it really makes no difference..
Ok thanks for clarifying that I heard even one degree was bad but what do I know I was basically asking for vintage blades others may have to deal with in the future but I guess I shouldn't be worrying about that though
When we actually tested the theory and had people measure their blades we found that by a huge majority they landed in the 15°-17° range, all these razors were shaving,, The mean is 16° as is the target.. The range was from 13°- 23° IIRC might have been 25° but very few were outside of the 15°-17° the test group was well over 200 razors... We have found some old company schematics showing that they were targeting 17° for their brand of razor (2 * asin(.XXX / (2 * .YYY)) * 180) / pi = There is the formula to use and it is Google friendly X = Spine width Y = Height (remember to measure to the contact point on the spine not the top) Again many theories that people think are true out there on the shave forums, don't quite hold up when tested in the real world
The bottom line is does it shave. It's easy to get sucked into the idea that unless you achieve some ideal geometry using rare stones and complicated rituals of honing that your razor will be completely useless. Consider that somebody was shaving with that frowny razor, and did so through enough honings to get to that much frown- which probably took years. you CAN shave with a frowning razor. You can even hone a frowning razor, and get it totally shave ready. It is kind of a pain, honing a frown on a modern large stone, and if you do so you will probably tend to straighten out the frown automatically. I doubt it will make any difference in how it shaves. Honing out that frown is good practise. Bread knife or not, doing so will increase your skill.
I have recently acquired a Case Temperite that had a bit of a frown. Watching Glens videos on honing a smiling razor and reading the honing section of the Barbers Manual that JimmyHad links to, I was able to get most of the frown out with my Chosera 1K. As a side benefit, I think I have finally figured out how to set a bevel on it as well. It was popping arm hair, and I took it to the Norton 4/8 to polish the edge. I cant wait to shave with it in the morning. I think I might be at the point where I can see if I can get some of my ebay finds shave ready.
