> Bill Webber wrote (in part):
> 
>>The question in my  mind, remains, should the bevel on the body of the
>>shave (body bevel) have a slope to it?  Don McConnell (and others) sent
>>info from the original patent.  The description sounded like it might
>>indicate a slope to the body bevel, but the sketches were not detailed
>>enough for me to tell.
>>
>>...
>>
>>With the blade installed, and as you move the blade forward to close the
>>mouth, the back of the bevel on the blade contacts the body bevel, you
>>essentially have no mouth clearance, but there is considerable space
>>between the leading edge of the blade and the flat body bevel.  If you
>>try to use it, it simply jams.
>>http://users.erols.com/hihouse/0305-009.jpg
>>
>>If the body bevel had a slope down and towards the mouth, then you could
>>move the blade up over the body bevel to adjust the mouth opening like
>>this:
>>http://users.erols.com/hihouse/0305-012.jpg
>>
>>...
>>Any way the question remains: Is the body bevel on my MF #1 manufactured
>>correctly and if so, how do you make the dang thing work?

    I just checked to make sure my MF cigar was working.  I honed the
blade when I got it a few years back, and it has worked fine since.  I
have it set similar to Bill's first image referenced above.  That is,
the blade sits a hair away from the body bevel and forms a small
mouth. When I sight along the body bevel towards the blade it appears
that the blade sits a smidge above the bevel.  This orientation is
important because the body bevel is effectively the sole, and the
blade must project out from it somewhat to give blade depth.  I don't
know how important it is, but my body bevel appears to be original and
it has a distinct hollow grind to it. It is hard to tell but the image
of yours appears that the bevel may have been filed flat.

   I see differences in our blades as well.  Mine flares out from the
hold down screw and sits fairly wider than the body bevel.
Contrastly, yours appears to taper in from the screw and just barely
sits farther out than the edge of the body bevel.  Otherwise,  the
bevel on my blade appears flat, but it feels SLIGHTLY hollow.  There
is no back bevel.  I wish I could give you more science on how to get
yours to work, rather than some antecdotal information.  But I'm just
a hamfisted handtooler who was lucky enough to get one in working
order.

Regards,
Steve