Vintage Straight

The Z

The Z

Joined
Sep 8, 2010
Messages
143
Picked this Wade & Butcher up on ebay, cleaned and honed it up. I am guessing it is from the 1880s or 1870s based on the markings. It took a lot of time to hone as the blade was a bit warped, but it gives a great shave now, finished on translucent arkansas and a few strokes on a chromium oxide strop. I also had to replace the old handles which were cracked - I used a replacement faux-tortoise handle from Thiers-Issard. It has a lot of hone wear but all in all I think it cleaned up fairly nicely. Was definitely a learning process!

Before:
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After:
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nice!
and hone wear is overrated :)
the wear on the spine will reduce the thickness at the spine which will make for a more shallow edge angle. It will also make the blade less high (edge will wear away too), so you might keep it in about the same ratio.
 
looks good. I dont see how some expect no hone wear on a 140 year old razor. Like Zyhano said its overrated and doesnt hurt the function. I have tried many times to get a W&B with no luck thus far, nice score.
 
Just wondering: how long did it take to hone due to the warped blade? I have a straight razor with a warped blade, and it's taking absolutely forever to get the bevels flat again...
 
A looooong time. I used a 1k waterstone (don't have anything coarser that is flat enough for it), I don't remember exactly how long it took but it was a few hours.
 
The Z said:
A looooong time. I used a 1k waterstone (don't have anything coarser that is flat enough for it), I don't remember exactly how long it took but it was a few hours.
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That's not bad at all... I've been using a DMT XC stone for hours and hours (at least 10), and it still isn't flattening out. It's really easy to see that on one side, there is a healthy bevel in the middle but thin on the tip and heel, but on the other side, there are healthy bevels on the tip and heel and a really, really thin one in the middle (and the middle isn't even getting touched which can be seen with sharpie marker.)
 
Keep in mind, if the blade is warped, you are never going to get a really even looking bevel. This one was close enough where it can be sharpened flat on the stone now, although the bevel width varies. What I would recommend in your case is to try getting the side that is toe and heel heavy so that it is flat, and using a rolling stroke on the other side.
 
Here's another razor I just got, a Morris Mfg. Red Imp, which I put some Thiers-Issard scales on.

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The Z said:
Keep in mind, if the blade is warped, you are never going to get a really even looking bevel. This one was close enough where it can be sharpened flat on the stone now, although the bevel width varies. What I would recommend in your case is to try getting the side that is toe and heel heavy so that it is flat, and using a rolling stroke on the other side.
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Well, It flattens out on the one side on my DMT F stone, but then when I switch to the EF, the middle keeps getting missed again. I think there is some unevenness in the distribution of diamonds on the stone or something (or the diamonds have been worn at the edges, which I think could be the case), so I'm going to wait until I get some ceramic or water stones to fix this thing up again...

Also, the rolling stroke was working on the toe and heel up until my last stone (Spyderco UF.) For some reason, a burr formed and just kept getting bigger and bigger at the heel...
 
David Martin said:
THG, Thats a good finishing stone. Good luck on straightening the razor out. DM
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Is it normal that it takes forever to start seeing metal come off onto the stone? I could be making passes for an hour or two, and there will still be barely any metal showing on the stone.
 
Those aren't known for metal removal but I usually notice it on mine within 5-10 strokes.? If your razor was close to sharp and the bevel set I would think 30min. time on it would be enough. Then go to your strop, if it has slurry applied maybe 15-20min.. If no slurry double the stropping time. Are you getting a good shave with it? DM
 
David Martin said:
Those aren't known for metal removal but I usually notice it on mine within 5-10 strokes.? If your razor was close to sharp and the bevel set I would think 30min. time on it would be enough. Then go to your strop, if it has slurry applied maybe 15-20min.. If no slurry double the stropping time. Are you getting a good shave with it? DM
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Yeah, I thought it's weird since when I sharpen knives with this stone, I can see metal trails when I make passes... On my razor, it gets rid of sharpie marker, but hardly any metal comes off as far as my eyes can see. I don't use a slurry on my stones, and no, I don't get a good shave with it (apparently I never have; I got a razor from Larry at Whipped Dog last week, and it gave me a better shave than I've ever gotten with my Dovo in 2 months.)
 
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