That's a big assumption when they are sold as shave ready.
It's just a matter of time and economy. Whether you are a one man operation or a big factory, you need to sell as many razors as you can to make a profit. Spending as much time honing each razor you sell as we spend on out own personal shaving razor is not viable. That is understandable. But it would just be nicer if manufacturers were more transparent about it, because a lot of newbies buy razors thinking they will hone perfectly out of the box and then get frustrated.
I'm the same as you on this, although I do shave with some SRs "as received" just to see what their previous honing was like
Steve makes a lovely looking razor.
He pretty much told me the same he told you - "No tape and I use Belgian and Japanese stones but usually finish with a superstone."
Not saying that the razor's edge doesn't need a bit of a touch-up but razor burn generally comes more from shaving technique rather than edge condition (provided the edge is shavable). Try a flatted shave angle, lighter edge pressure against the skin and improving your face preparation.
Agreed.
Most of my SRs are scaled in timber. For protection, I wax and polish them (the timber) in beeswax. If you don't have access to beeswax, you can use any timber floor wax that is beeswax based. You could alternatively use Renaissance wax but that can get rather expensive when you have a lot of timber scales SRs.
