Bogie
I'm not looking at you !
Just picked up a Jon Engstrom frameback in 'ivory'. The edge seemed to be really close on a thumbnail test. I started with a 1k shapton and after a number of passes, found a section of blade that was not hitting the stone. My first thought was the blade had a bit of a frown in one place. I took the blade to 250 and it still seemed to miss one place. I did a slight breadknifing to ensure the blade edge was symmetrical. However, when examining the othe side of the blade, it was taking a change/hone along the entire edge. That said, I worked the one side that was not connecting only to find the section of the frameback that corresponded with the gap in the honing seemed to be a bit out of plane. Once I worked that one side with a 250 stone, I could see the flattening in the frameback corresponding to the gap. After flattening the edge on the framback, the blade started showing a new sheen. Although not a consistent bevel, is was a fresh edge. I then went on to a 4K, 8K, coticule, and a Jnat. It shaved just perfectly.
Now the sweet part of the story, This was an ebay purchase and the seller sent the wrong blade, it was an Engstrom frameback identical except it was in horn. The seller said keep the mistake and he sent the one in ivory. After getting the ivory blade sharpened, I found the first blade in horn was just about shave ready. It is in neatsfoot oil for a day or two before I dress up the edge. I guess the message here is that although I have found blades ground uneven, this was my first experience with a frame back where the frame wasn't just right. On the second (mistake) blade, it was really close on receipt. Two Engstrom blades for $30, not a bad deal!
Now the sweet part of the story, This was an ebay purchase and the seller sent the wrong blade, it was an Engstrom frameback identical except it was in horn. The seller said keep the mistake and he sent the one in ivory. After getting the ivory blade sharpened, I found the first blade in horn was just about shave ready. It is in neatsfoot oil for a day or two before I dress up the edge. I guess the message here is that although I have found blades ground uneven, this was my first experience with a frame back where the frame wasn't just right. On the second (mistake) blade, it was really close on receipt. Two Engstrom blades for $30, not a bad deal!
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