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Bent blade..........

tat2Ralfy

tat2Ralfy

Well-Known Member
Ok I have an old G.Fazley And Sons of England,(Not G. Fazerly from the USA) it has a corn cob etched in the blade, anyone heard of them?

Anyway, I have tried honing and found the blade has a sideways curve in the middle, this of course is badly effecting the bevel, which is becoming huge in the middle on 1 side and barely kissing the edge on the other side, I have tried a Rolling Xstroke, Building the spine up with tape to compensate, and even giving it a press with 3 brass rods in the bench vice, but I have not been able to achieve a satisfactory bevel.

Its a shame because its a sweet old thing and I would love to bring it back to life, the blade steel is some of the hardest I have come across and I think it will make a great Shaver.

Any advice would be very gratefully received
Thanks
 
Put your beautiful n°10 on its side, so that you have a narrow honing surface. (Perhaps you might need to lap it first, but probably not)
Raise slurry. Don't worry about some blue in the slurry, but place the hone so that that yellow side is on the right (if you are right handed)
Dull on glass and reset bevel. Spend some extra time on the side that has the partial narrow bevel. Do work the entire blade, to prevent a frown.

Once you have the bevel shaving arm hair, just take it through a Unicot procedure.
Keep the honing pressure as low as possible on such a narrow hone.
(For the same reason I don't recommend honing on a corner only: all pressure concentrated on one point = not good for final keenness.)

You're going to be fine. The bevel will follow the curve of the razor much better on a narrow hone. A bit of blue into the equation won't do much harm. The Blue is a far better hone than what is generally believed.

Keep us posted, Ralfy,

Bart.
 
Genius!

Thank You Sir Bart, I will give it a go, as soon as the pain between my shoulders goes away ;)
 
Ralfy my friend... Don’t lose your cool attempting to straighten a warped hardened steel blade, the steel would rather snap than bend.
Tried this and lost a few good blades (including a beautiful W&B special with a wicked arched spine and smile, 6/8th size too). I’ve even tried heating blades to around 300 degrees (just below tempering) and bending in a vice while still hot, but the warp would not budge… I also tried leaving the blade dangerously bent in the opposite direction for a month… no difference.
One day I watched the Dovo manufacturing video and saw them hitting the blades with a hammer (dead blow) and then read somewhere that this will sometimes straighten a slightly warped blade… I haven’t tried this it because I fear the blade would just shatter (and I am still sobbing over the broken W&B Special).

I have since learned to live with warped blades and now enjoy getting them shave ready and producing consistent bevels you would never know were warped.

So in addition to what Bart suggested here is another way to “skin this kat”.

I use the “X” stroke on the last ½ inch of the long edge of the hone, this will ensure that narrow strip of the hone can reach up into the curve of the warp on one side of the blade and ride the crest of the warp on the other side of the blade as you traverse the length of the hone (you have to picture this in 3D, but one day I will have to make a video of this in action).
You will know you are doing the right thing when the slurry turns black on that strip, and very little black slurry anywhere else on the hone.

It is good to practice, and develop the muscle memory when using slurry and a warped blade because you will “see the effect” of the slurry changing color on that strip of the hone, and can make fine adjustment as necessary to keep the edge in contact at just the right “spot”.
 
Many Thanks Cedric, that is very good advice again My Friend, I have snapped a precious blade myself, and still feel a little sting.
I did try keeping to the curb as it were, but my skill levels, and the uneven spine wear gave unsatisfactory results

I will have to try again, and see where a little more patience coupled with the good advice given gets me

Thank you both so very much
 
I also snapped a blade, not too long go, still feels bad thinking about it... What did I learn? Never dry a full hollow blade too roughly using a towl, it snaps :cry: Be extra gentle to it when drying it :cry:
 
Jantjeuh said:
I also snapped a blade, not too long go, still feels bad thinking about it... What did I learn? Never dry a full hollow blade too roughly using a towl, it snaps :cry: Be extra gentle to it when drying it :cry:
Click to expand...

Oh my friend, I feel your pain for that one... and you stare at the blade wishing you had a time machine.

I don’t use the towel… especially the one used to dry myself after the shower because that towel is already saturated with water and won’t dry the steel efficiently.
Instead first wash the blade under running water (and "carefully" shake of the excess drops of water), then reach over and grab a few sheets of tissue paper, lay the paper in the palm of the hand and rest the spine in the palm (edge-up).
Then wrap the hand around the spine and pinch the blade as close to the edge as possible with the thumb and middle finger and wipe length-wise from heel to point (fingers and thumb will conform to the shape of the blade to wipe effectively)… do this twice (use another dry tissue paper).
This is useful because sometimes after a shave the carbon steel may have a tiny bit of gray patina (some folks may call it soap stain) and just wiping with the dry tissue will polish the steel again… and don’t worry, you won’t blunt the edge… if you are careful… Oh and one more thing, don’t forget to flush after the paperwork… lolololol.
 
Thats just what I do, only every now and again I use a little Alcohol on the tissue, just watch the very edge, because paper is bad for the edge, and the edge is bad for fingers!!:O then I strop 20 times on Linen to clean the cutting edge itself, fold carefully closed and place with the rest of the gang on the shelf in our Office/dressing room/back bedroom.
 
Thanks for that Ralfy... I forgot that one... a few laps on the strop after drying, does help to prevent rust on the edge.
 
Bart said:
Put your beautiful n°10 on its side, so that you have a narrow honing surface. (Perhaps you might need to lap it first, but probably not)
Raise slurry. Don't worry about some blue in the slurry, but place the hone so that that yellow side is on the right (if you are right handed)
Dull on glass and reset bevel. Spend some extra time on the side that has the partial narrow bevel. Do work the entire blade, to prevent a frown.

Once you have the bevel shaving arm hair, just take it through a Unicot procedure.
Keep the honing pressure as low as possible on such a narrow hone.
(For the same reason I don't recommend honing on a corner only: all pressure concentrated on one point = not good for final keenness.)

You're going to be fine. The bevel will follow the curve of the razor much better on a narrow hone. A bit of blue into the equation won't do much harm. The Blue is a far better hone than what is generally believed.

Keep us posted, Ralfy,

Bart.
Click to expand...

Hey Ralfy,

I'm still wondering how it turned out. Did the razor at last surrender to your will?
 
Thank you Sir Bart
Yes I won it over with a little help from the dremel and Mr Polishing mop!
The bevel is still uneven but there is enough of it to use for the unicot method, and the Shave it gives is outstanding!
I did break the scales when I was trying to fit a bush into the pivot, but I re-worked and fitted an antique Horn set that look very nice indeed :thumbup:

I will post up some pics when I have more time
 
Ok heres a couple of pics of the work I did on the spine, to try to increase the bevel size, I did this 1 time and am ok with how it turned out, but I have done it a 2nd time as I feel it needed just a little more, notice how HUGE the flat on the bevel appears each end in the top pic, the bevel was tiny at each end on that side of the blade,its not that extreme in real life, and how small the bevel is in the center of the blade in the 2nd pic, I ground away the spine in the center that side.
I used a dremel with a fine sanding drum on its lowest speed, and see how I taped the edge to protect both it and myself, I finished the "grind" with a polish on the polishing mops with grey and brown compound, because I know I will not catch all of the sanding work when I hone the blade and it will look shitty, also I believe it will help the steady graduation on the bevel form in a smoother fashion, all the time being aware not to build too much heat, best way I found is never wear gloves! blade steel is very heat sensitive, but not as sensitive as Ralfy's hands!
I will try to take some clearer before and after pics of the bevels themselves, although the shaves I get off this now are very good indeed, as I have not re-honed since re-doing the spine work (another reason for the protective layer of tape!)

Photo0342.jpg


Photo0341.jpg
 
Thanks for the update, Ralfy.
You are a patient man with razors.:)
I would have chosen the narrow hone route and be done with it.

Talking about heat. I work with bare hands as well. A few days ago,I saw a picture of a guy holding a small piece of wet sponge pressed against the other side of the blade, while he was grinding it. I looked like a good idea for polishing too, but haven't tried it yet. As long as I don't have a secure grip with my stumpex finger, I'm not spinning any buffing wheels.

Bart.
 
Bart said:
Thanks for the update, Ralfy.
You are a patient man with razors.:)
I would have chosen the narrow hone route and be done with it.

Talking about heat. I work with bare hands as well. A few days ago,I saw a picture of a guy holding a small piece of wet sponge pressed against the other side of the blade, while he was grinding it. I looked like a good idea for polishing too, but haven't tried it yet. As long as I don't have a secure grip with my stumpex finger, I'm not spinning any buffing wheels.

Bart.
Click to expand...

I used the narrow hone and would have loved to call it a finished job at that, but wasn't happy with the edge so I felt i had to go the extra mile.

Just lat night i polished up an old Thomas Turner, and I sat it on a pad of wet paper towel (Plenty rocks!) to keep it coll while I lent on it with the dremel, it worked very well and I was pleased with the outcome, unlike Alicia who didnt seem impressed as She vacuumed the compound off the Kitchen table/walls/me etc....lol
 
Thank you Ray thats very cool, and I am sorely tempted to take you up on that kind offer, let me see how it goes after I re-hone it and I will get to you if thats ok buddy?

:thumbup:
 
tat2Ralfy said:
Thank you Ray thats very cool, and I am sorely tempted to take you up on that kind offer, let me see how it goes after I re-hone it and I will get to you if thats ok buddy?

:thumbup:
Click to expand...

Anytime Ralfy. Just holler if you need help. Go take a look at the magnetic holder I sell for sanding. It has an aluminum bed that the edge rides on and dissipates the heat while you sand. Maybe you can make one for yourself. www.straightrazorsharp.com

Ray
 
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