Thread: Flat honing a frowning blade

I picked up this old Puma from the bay this past week. The one pic with the hand holding the razor is from the auction and although I didn't notice it when bidding you can make out the frown ahead of the heel.

So I was disappointed that I had to deal with it and I got out the DMT E 1200 figuring I would breadknife it. Looking at it more closely I found there was no chipping on the edge and I hated to go through the amount of work that breadknifing entails on the back end.

I had discussed frowning blades and breadknifing with Randydance awhile back and he had said that it is a last resort for him.... if I remember correctly... I don't want to put words in Randy's mouth and then quote him.

So I decided to flat hone it. There is an excerpt from a barber manual here in the SRP Wiki that I am always referring to. If you take a look at it there is an explanation of how to hone a razor using the x stroke to avoid a frown. It is said that some folks end up creating a frown in a blade by applying too much pressure when using the x stroke.

The manual tells how to avoid that by putting a bit of pressure at the heel at the beginning of the stroke and at the point at the end of the stroke with little or no pressure at the center of the blade you will avoid creating a frown and maintain a slight smile which is a desirable profile in a shaving edge.

A TNT revealed that the edge was butter knife dull so I began using the fore mentioned method to remove the frown and set a bevel on the diamond plate. I made progress on the plate in getting rid of most of the frown so when the edge got to where it would pop arm hair I went to my narrow Norton single grit 4k. This is a set of Nortons I got from Tools For Working Wood thanks to ChrisL. They are 8x11/2 and ideal for this sort of problem blade.

I continued to sharpen on the 4k and when the TPT felt really good I got the 8k into the picture and did a conservative pyramid and then stropped and shaved. Got a really good shave. Randy suggested to me early on in my honing that shaving off of the 4/8 is a good idea before moving up the grit ladder to finish with a finer hone. This gives you a really accurate assessment of how sharp you've gotten the razor without the finer hone smoothing the edge further. Anyhow as seen in my pic the frown is gone with a minimal removal of metal and probably a lot less time and work than would have been required had I breadknifed the blade. The bevel is a bit wider towards the point but the razor is just fine. The following day I took it to a mystery finishing hone and gave it 10 laps and got an even better, as in smoother, shave.

I think the way many frowning blades got that way is by guys honing them on the edge of the stone. I rehabilitate stones here and I often find a flat spot on the edge. If you try it, you'll see it frowns the blade. My favorite Charnley Forest had matching indentations on both edges and I could see the owner was right handed.

As far as fixing the frown, I breadknife if it's not too deep. If it's too deep, I hone on the edge of the hone. If it's too crazy frowning, I just put it in the collection or use it in the shop for paper and cardboard.

It's actually pretty easy to fix the frown on either the wheel or belt. Just need to make sure you will end up with enough razor to enjoy............

Another method is to hold the razor up at a 45 degree angle or so and do circles on a coarse stone to flatten/even out the edge and then go back and set a bevel and hone it up. Don't know if this makes sense to you. Might have to take a picture.

The breadknifing can take a while.

Excessive pressure in the stroke particularly in the middle of the stroke or the soft part of the stroke so to speak will definitely cause frowning too. I have found this more with people who have 1 or 2 inch wide stones as well.

Have fun,

Lynn

Thanks Lynn, I understand what you mean with holding it up 45 degrees and doing circles. I will keep that in mind the next time I run into a similar problem blade.

As long as the blade is not too thin, doing it on the wheel is much more effective. Should work with a Puma, Jimmy.

I haven't progressed to the point of using dremels or belt sanders on blades yet. I don't know if I ever will. Maybe down the road but right now I am satisfied with doing it by hand. Thanks for the tip though Olivia.

Good stuff Jimmy, on one of my razors I had an area of reduced wear at the heel which caused a frown, I used the narrow face of the hone and just worked that area.

If I had a razor with a more defined frown, the 45 degree thing sounds like a plan!

Well as far as power tools I hesitate as well, hence I bought me this nifty little hand driven gadget with an 80 Grit carborundum on. It goes as slow as you want it to.
Works very well and after a bit of training turning it and working the blade with the left hand at the same time its almost safe to use.

That is so cool! Do they make a foot turned version?

Apparently I've seen foot driven ones as well but they are much bigger.
You can even sit on.
This one is handier. Only 7 lb altogether.