What Straight Razor Have You Honed Lately????

I got one of my own Herder 49s out and touched up the edge with a N12k then the pool table slate with Smith’s. I couldn’t tell any difference between it and the glycerin and water. Shave test tomorrow.

 

Inspired by Jamie Mahoney’s Rigrazor rattler, I’ve gotten out some razors and stones that undeservedly just haven’t been getting enough love. This razor is a Gelle Frères rattler, almost identical to the Gauthier and probably the same blank. It still has some mild ‘complexion’ issues but it is a fine piece of steel nonetheless. The stone is an oddly shaped piece of Nakayama kiita that someone thought enough of to make a fitted base for, which was no easy task given the irregular shape.

 

I'm a fan of the "Rattler" look. I have a Wade &Butcher one, that needs restoration, along with new scales. I guess that should be my next project.

 

Very easy work on these three…
Brought the edge back on a Suehiro 6k and then turned to the Okudo with a Nakayama slurry.

Happy honing.
Tom

 

It’s raining so let’s keep going…
Had a bunch of Sheffield steel in front of me, so time for a Coticule or two, or three.

This Joseph Rodgers got a tried and true combination: Suehiro 1k for the bevel set, refined with the one on the right, and then taken up through finish with the one on the left.

I know that sequence works, and I have some Coticules that I think are beautiful to look at, but haven’t used in a while.

Had three more razors to switch up the finisher: I. Oxley out of Liverpool, a Wostenholm I•XL, and a Jonathan Crookes.

The Oxley (pictured above with the Wosty) was finished with the base stone slurry, while the other two utilized my normal Coticule slurry stone, which basically gives up all the garnets.

The texture of the Coticule can be seen better under the Crookes. It almost looks like tree bark.

But the reason I love this one is the color change from sand to almost purple. So unique in person, but I tried to capture it here wet.

Happy honing.
Tom

 

Took the 3 (with scales ) Burrell Cutlery Top Flights to the stones.

Suehiro 1k then 6k for all three to get to the finishing stone.

Then the bottom left one was finished on the Coticule, bottom right on the Thuringian, and the top one on the Charnley Forest.

Should be fun to compare.
Happy honing.
Tom

 

Having fun with that pink Coticule…
Enjoyed the edge it gave to the Sheffields, and then American Burrell, so now let’s try it on a couple of French razors.

Suehiro 1k & 6k, with the Beaujue Aine needing to spend some time on the DMT325 to fix some chips. Then both finished on the pictured Coticule.

A. Vedel in the foreground and the Beaujeu Aine in the rear.
Happy honing.
Tom

 

Tom, was the edges damaged? I was thinking about 1K to start with. I have found out that 3K works fine ( for me ) to start with after I have “killed the edge”.


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These all had some defects with the edge, and the 1k gets me through those issues in decent time. My next higher grit stone is a 4k, so I normally only skip the 1k for a razor that looks to have had an edge recently.

And sometimes, like yesterday, I am starting on the worn DMT325 or a Shapton 220 to take care of significant chips.

 

More playtime with Coticules…
Finally took a pair of Sheffields to the stones. All they have is “P.S.” on the tang and “REN” in a box very close to the pivot.

The Suehiro 1&6k stayed the consistent initial hones, and finished the first on the pink Coticule. I then brought a different Coticule into play… the green one.

A really beautiful shade of green. It has a good feel, but we will see with the shave.

The color when wet:

Put one more Sheffield, A. Barrett & Sons, through the progression.

Happy honing.
Tom

 

Some of the stuff I get to see and then fix
Look close at the before pics, looks like some genius decided to use either a grinder or some kind of rounded “Stone” to try a wreck this W&B
I used a 240 grit on the 2x72 to regrind it then 400&600 to smooth it up
Polished on the buffers
Heel was recontoured as I went
and then honed on Chosera 1-5-10 with a Coticule finish to a small tiny even bevel
Some fun !!!

 

Nice looking work Glen!

 

C Milns stubtail in today. I can find a Benjamin Milnes 1787 but no reference to C. Milns, maybe a family member who dropped a letter to fit the name on the tangs as Wostenholm did? Anyway, the tail and design dates it to the late 1700s, so 1787 would be about right for this shape.

It has extremely hard steel, even for a hard cast steel razor. It came equipped with the usual 250 year old problems, low places in the bevels, a few small chips, and a section on the show side near the nose that appeared to be sharpened at a much steeper angle. It took an hour and a half with a mellow 325 diamond plate to clear the issues, but the first image shows the new bevels after the coarse work. If I’d spent this long on a diamond plate with a Gold Dollar I’d have a sculpture razor! A new ‘chocolate kiita’ (Alex Gilmore’s term) also arrived today and it is a fine, hard, smooth, and pure piece of Nakayama and it provided the final finish.

 

You did a good job.
How does the edge look, under the loupe?? Hopefully no micro chipping.

 

Thank you Scott,

I don’t think that I’ve seen microchipping on these old razors. caveat: my experience is small!

So far, under the loupe is normal WRT edge farts. At least once I got both bevels to meet, which wasn’t easy.

 

The only reas

The only reason I asked about microchipping was because the size of the bevel, and you said it was very hard steel. I'm glad it is all well.

.

 

It’s a near wedge and the angle without tape is 17 - 17.5 degrees depending on toe or heel. With 1 mil Kapton tape, that’s about 17.5-18ndegrees, so it should hold that pretty well I think.

 

Wanting to get a few more edges off the green Coticule…
Slater Brothers “Venture” & an A.R. Justice & Co.


I know the Slater is a Sheffield, and I have a suspicion the Justice is also… my guess is a F. Reynolds.

Suehiro 1 & 6k to set up the finish on the Coticule. The Slater was a mess really… tape was my friend. Near wedge that took 4 layers to get to the edge.

Happy honing.
Tom

 

Hadn’t bought a stone in a few years, but I have a sweet spot for vintage Coticules…
Arrived Saturday morning:

A BBW backed Coticule, a little under a 2”x6”, and it had a dish to it. But didn’t take too long.

Kept some of the dish towards the edges, as there was no reason to lose all of that yellow goodness.
Didn’t absorb water readily and no noticeable auto-slurry, so tested out a few Sheffields: King William era blade and a W&B Fine India Steel.

Also added a Solingen to the test.

Should be interesting to see how she does.
Happy honing.
Tom

 

Shumate Cutlery Corp.
TungSteel
"No850"
St. Louis MO USA
5/8+inch
Extra Hollow Ground (and Smiling from the factory)

This Tungsten Steel is tough. I went through a full progression, and it just wasn't right, at the toe. I had to redo the bevel, and take a little more time. Meh, it happens sometimes. Taking it back down, and working through the Welsh Slate stones was fast. I used various Nagura as slurry stones, and finished on an Arkansas Surgical Black. Now it is super sharp, and is what I want now.
It takes a noticeable longer time, with each step, with this steel.