Thread: First attempt @ large blade, 9/8 W&B

Today for the first time I honed a W&B which is 9/8. It is the first time I ever honed a blade this big. I looked at the edge under magnification and noticed is had some chips that would need removal. I started on the 220 and kept working until the edge What was nice was I could see the angle of the bevel being created also. After the edge was clean I started on the 1K and proceeded until it popped hair. I looked at the edge also and could see a straight and well defined bevel. I then went to the 4K and did enough laps until the water was being pushed in front of the blade and the blade glided smoothly over the hone. I looked at it also and it was nice and clean and the bevel was clearly defined. There were small scratch marks but none of the marks left by the 220 were present.
I moved to the 8K and continued until I could see the edge start to really reflect light. I then moved to the 12K. As I was working on the 12K I could see the edge really start to reflect the light in the room and I could see without magnification that the edge appeared very smooth. I then went to diamond spray, Crox on a paddle then to the strops.

Oh, by the way the rocks were Norton and a 12K Naniwa.

As we all know the only real test is the shave test. So off to the shower and shave. I have to say my little program worked really well. I got a nice smooth shave on a single pass. You can read it here.

Sun November 20th - Sat November 26th


Enjoy your day!!

Glad to hear it!
That blade is a big one; my last one was a large M. George & Son wedge, it was a challenge.

I have yet to succeed honing either a smiling razor or a wedge.

I'm not giving up tho!!

Great job man!!

M

I find the trick to a wedge is patience, patience, and more patience. I always go back to my 2000g (if it's really dull 600g diamond) and hone till it will shave arm hair with out pulling, then work my way up through the stones watching the hone scratches closely. Once all evidence of the previous hones work is gone I move to the next. Wedges by their nature have wider than normal bevals so it just takes time. When I first started the mistake I was making was not getting a shaving edge at the start so no matter how much I honed on the finishing hone I never got what I was looking for. As for smiles.... Always keep the cutting edge to spine angle straight on the hone, which means your going to have a curving motion in your stroke, to much curve and you'll increase the smile, to little and you'll have a sharp center and dull ends and the smile will wear away.

Originally Posted by mjhammer

I have yet to succeed honing either a smiling razor or a wedge.

I'm not giving up tho!!

Great job man!!

M