Hone Razor

[DaBears]

Basically a straight razor shaver here, but because of old age face changes or more likely, inherent laziness, I find myself looking towards my double edge more and more often these days. Since I am used to the comfort of the straights, when I do go double edge I use the mild razor, sharp blade approach with the black Tatara Masamune (not the Nodachi). To this point, I have been very pleased with it but wanted a new mild razor (ya' know - just 'cuz).

After doing a lot of research on the forum, I found a couple of posts well buried that mentioned the Hone Razor (stainless) and decided to give it a shot. I have to say I am very impressed with it. It is definitely a very different beast than the Tatara, but for me, it feels smoother and easier on my skin than the Tatara; and yet, it gives a closer shave as well, better even than my straights.

The main reason for my post is that I wanted to give a shout out to the forum and in particular to the someone (sorry I do not remember who) mentioned the Hone. I had never heard of the brand before, and probably never would have without his mention this and the results have been great.

So whoever you are, thanks!!!

 

[GlazedBoker]

I have a Home razor as well but, in the Brass alloy. With a Feather and/or KAI, it's an excellent smooth, mild yet nicely effective shaver.

Congrats and enjoy....

 

[GlazedBoker]

I have a Home razor as well but, in the Brass alloy. With a Feather and/or KAI, it's an excellent smooth, mild yet nicely effective shaver.

Congrats and enjoy....

A Hone. I hate spell check.....

 

[DaBears]

I'm with you re: Spell Check!

 

[gdawg55]

I have a Home razor as well but, in the Brass alloy. With a Feather and/or KAI, it's an excellent smooth, mild yet nicely effective shaver.

Congrats and enjoy....

Gus, what other razors can you compare the Hone to that you have? Curious about this one.

 

[GlazedBoker]

Gus, what other razors can you compare the Hone to that you have? Curious about this one.

Sorry for the delay my friend. The Hone Brass is a very unique razor in that it has this huge weight, almost behemoth like compared to anything else around it. True that it’s a mild shaver but, that weight & heft helps it give a much more assertive shave feel than one would think. I have great success with a Feather in it as it is both super smooth yet nicely efficient. With a KAI, it turns it up ever so slightly with a real nice audible effect that gives a bit more real time info on what’s going on. I still prefer it with the Feather overall as it’s just a really comfy shaver.

It feels a bit like a cross between an RR Mamba .70 & a Pre-War Tech. Not identical to either but, more of a melding of the best attributes of each. It’s really hard to explain because as I stated before, there’s really nothing else out there quite like it.

Great shaves to you amigo….

 

[gdawg55]

Sorry for the delay my friend. The Hone Brass is a very unique razor in that it has this huge weight, almost behemoth like compared to anything else around it. True that it’s a mild shaver but, that weight & heft helps it give a much more assertive shave feel than one would think. I have great success with a Feather in it as it is both super smooth yet nicely efficient. With a KAI, it turns it up ever so slightly with a real nice audible effect that gives a bit more real time info on what’s going on. I still prefer it with the Feather overall as it’s just a really comfy shaver.

It feels a bit like a cross between an RR Mamba .70 & a Pre-War Tech. Not identical to either but, more of a melding of the best attributes of each. It’s really hard to explain because as I stated before, there’s really nothing else out there quite like it.

Great shaves to you amigo….

Thank you sir.....excellent information.

 

[LRod]

I ordered a 15a (aluminum) in the black finish 2 weeks ago and it's scheduled to arrive tomorrow (Monday).
Reason I got the aluminum is because I've read good feedback about it and it was the cheapest way to try one out.
It also seems really hefty for an aluminum razor at 52 grams which I find a plus.
That's almost entering titanium razor weight territory!
I'll post results after the first shave!

 

[GlazedBoker]

I ordered a 15a (aluminum) in the black finish 2 weeks ago and it's scheduled to arrive tomorrow (Monday).
Reason I got the aluminum is because I've read good feedback about it and it was the cheapest way to try one out.
It also seems really hefty for an aluminum razor at 52 grams which I find a plus.
That's almost entering titanium razor weight territory!
I'll post results after the first shave!

Congrats on the acquisition. I'll be looking forward to your thoughts and impressions on the 15a as I have been pondering the same thoughts to its weight for an aluminum razor. It does compare favorably to a Ti alloyed razor.

 

[LRod]

My new Hone type 15a in the black finish arrived! 15 days in transit, LOL!!
What a beautiful looking razor!
Very impressive presentation in that nice box which includes a matching stand and a couple of Feather blades.
A nice thank you note from the owner too!!
I was pleasantly surprised by the stand being included. Nowhere do they state that the stand is part of the deal.
I actually thought it was in the pictures just for show
The stand must weight about 4 times more than the razor. Very solid!
Anyways, it's heavy for an aluminum razor. The heaviest aluminum razor I've ever held. The finish is excellent
and it feels smooth in the hand but at the same time not something that I believe would slip.
I loaded a Personna Lab Blue for tonight's shave and the alignment on it is 100%.
Only negative is the slight grittiness from screwing that handle. Very typical of aluminum razors though so it's expected. I think the only ones that have figured that out is Henson. With use, it should get better!
All I can say is that it looks amazing and I;m very pleased with the aesthetics. The size and width is pretty much perfect. Let's see how it shaves tonight!!

 

[LRod]

First shave with the Hone 15a!
Quick take on my experience:
My normal nightly 2 pass WTG/XTG
Personna Lab Blue blade with some Arko!

A mild razor but it's got some good efficiency. It's not a mega efficient razor but perfect enough
for someone like me that shaves every day. So for daily use it's excellent. I'm guessing that for those that do ATG, it would excel. 30 degree angle (as recommended by Hone) and you're good to go. No learning curve so this is a definite autopilot razor. Nice curved tight tolerance blade clamping that results in no blade chatter and perfect alignment. Blade feel is minimal since it's got neutral blade exposure but it's got a large blade gap (1.2mm).
I don't shave steep but I'm guessing it might work for someone that does due to that large blade gap.
Center of gravity is just under the base plate on the handle so that's where you'd preferably hold it.
I typically hold razors close to the head so I felt very comfortable with that.

The weight:
This is definitely a razor that almost crosses into titanium weight razors. It doesn't feel like an aluminum
razor when you use it. Matter of fact, I don't think I'd buy the stainless or brass versions. It feels great
with the weight that it has. I didn't feel the need to apply any heavy pressure during the shave from the lack of weight. A very miniscule pressure gave me the shave I needed.

Drag:
I had read about this and was expecting some drag. The head design and finish I guess lends itself to this occurrence. I felt some but nothing that bothers me. I use a Henson sometimes and feel the same thing.
Not a big deal for me! YMMV when it comes to this!!

Bottom line is that I ended up with a close shave that made my face feel great. Some razors leave you OK and others you feel like everything got trimmed down perfectly equal. Hard to explain!
This one falls in the latter category. Running my hand on my face feels the same as what I feel with my
top shelf razors. I guess I'll attribute it to the perfect tolerances that this thing has. It's excellent in that regard!
Again, YMMV but for me it worked great even though this was just the first shave.
I like it a lot!