pre 1000 bevel setting.

i have two razors coming that were never taken down to an edge, so I'll be removing a lot of metal to set the bevel and i'd rather not put so much wear on my 1000.

is there a material /sandpaper grit that i could lay on granite and do this in a cheap and efficient manner?

or a really cheap lower grit stone you know of?

I don't see any reason you couldn't use a 1000 grit wet/dry paper...

I have a few diamond benchstones from Lansky that work extremely well for removing chips and dings, and setting bevels. 600-1000 grit in diamond works very quickly to remove steel.

What brand razors did you get? Most new razors come with a factory edge that is obviously not shave ready, but is still as sharp or sharper than any factory edge on a pocket knife...

Even a Gold Dollar can be set reasonably quickly on a 1k, as long as the geometry is not dysfunctional...

What kind of razors, and which 1k are you using?

Got to echo some of BadDad's sentiment....if you're just setting a bevel it shouldn't take too much off your 1k.
If it's restoration work that's a different story.

i have two razors coming that were never taken down to an edge, so I'll be removing a lot of metal to set the bevel and i'd rather not put so much wear on my 1000.

is there a material /sandpaper grit that i could lay on granite and do this in a cheap and efficient manner?

or a really cheap lower grit stone you know of?

If you live in the Continental United States, I'll add this: If you're just getting started out, and you aren't really positive how to go about getting the bevels set right...send me one of the razors, and I'll get it to whatever point you tell me you want me to stop, and you can go from there. I also wouldn't mind honing it all the way up so you have a good "comparison edge" so you can track your own progress.

I offer this 100% free of charge. Shoot me a private message and we will work out details.

Unfortunately, if you live outside of the Continental US, I have to rescind the offer, as international shipping is just too much of a hassle, but I will offer any input and insight I can to help you along the way.

i have two razors coming that were never taken down to an edge, so I'll be removing a lot of metal to set the bevel and i'd rather not put so much wear on my 1000.

is there a material /sandpaper grit that i could lay on granite and do this in a cheap and efficient manner?

or a really cheap lower grit stone you know of?

If you live in the Continental United States, I'll add this: If you're just getting started out, and you aren't really positive how to go about getting the bevels set right...send me one of the razors, and I'll get it to whatever point you tell me you want me to stop, and you can go from there. I also wouldn't mind honing it all the way up so you have a good "comparison edge" so you can track your own progress.

I offer this 100% free of charge. Shoot me a private message and we will work out details.

Unfortunately, if you live outside of the Continental US, I have to rescind the offer, as international shipping is just too much of a hassle, but I will offer any input and insight I can to help you along the way.

That is a great offer and if you can, take it. You want to remove a little metal as possible. You can turn a straight razor into a letter opener quickly.

As well, I would use the 1000 stone. Setting the bevel is the most important part of honing. It that isn't right you'll never get the rest of it right. Due to that, I would be concerned that using sand paper on a flat wouldn't work well. My concern would be that the paper would rise slightly, even if you couldn't see it, and cause trouble.

I trust BadDad completely and would be very comfortable sending a razor to him.

I want to echo that you shouldn't need to remove much metal. Keep in mind that the cutting edge of a straight is very, very thin, especially if it is a full hollow. A little bit goes a long way. Also, even thought the spine is much thicker, you can really diminish the value of the razor with hone wear on the spine. A light touch is all that is needed. It probably wouldn't be a bad idea to put one layer of electrical tape along the side of the spine since you are getting started.

Lynn Abrams does the best videos I have seen on honing and stropping. Here is a link to the one I learned with. I stopped and backed up the video many times as I was learning. Remember to keep your elbow up as he instructs. When he talks about using pressure, he doesn't mean a lot. I used this video because I have the stones he demonstrated. He has many other videos and may have one to match your setup.

Also, in case you weren't aware, stones have to be lapped, even when brand new. I lap mine after every razor is sharpened on them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQd8lOd1yqI

Best of luck!

i very much appreciate the offer, and may take you up on it.

the razors i'm receiving are from a guy doing two custom straights for me. i asked if he had a drawer of reject razors. he said he'd sell a couple to me, once he threw together scales for them. he implied, kind of chuckling, that there would be ample room for honing practise on these.

so not really sure what I'm going to get. hopefully some hollow, could be blanks straight off the bandsaw. should find out some time next week.

anyone know of any sources for setting the bevel geometry from square one?

Proper geometry should be built in to the blade design. If these are "custom blades" they should have a reasonable edge on them, but since they are "second nds"...there's really no way of knowing until you get them...


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reut0, I have concern that this is a project with a high probability of failure and frustration. Here is why I'm saying this. Honing a straight razor for shaving takes considerable skill. It is much easier with a blade that has been taken to to the point of being ready to set the bevel. You are taking on a project which requires advanced honing skills.

My first thought would be to get back with the artisan and work it out to get first quality. If that isn't feasible, my second thought would be to send them to Straight Razor Designs and let them do it. Depending on what you receive, they may charge a lot to get it where you want it.

Please don't take this as my throwing cold water on your project. My opinion here is based on similar projects I've taken on which sounded good in the beginning, but turned out to be very frustating and costly.

In answer to your question, you can use wet/dry sandpaper, but you'll probably find it starts deteriorating relatively quickly. The best cheap option is to get some lapping film.

But considering the guy is making a joke about how much honing practice you'll be getting, I'd be very leery about tackling this yourself. For you all you know he never went beyond roughing out a hollow grind.

Now, if he could just rough out the edge on his belt sander, this project becomes much more feasible and you wouldn't need anything more than the 1k. It's really not a lot of wear to set a bevel or even do a gold dollar.