wellhonedrazor.com

Fnord5 said:

I make no claims to being an expert.
But I would put my edge up against just about anyone else's.

Honing is not a magical gift, handed down to a certain few from Hephaestus.
If I was able to get an edge that is shave ready, comfortable, and truly sharp in 6 months of practice(actually lots less) then that's how long it took.

I am seriously getting sick of a few "Straight Razor Guru's" that want to belittle the new guys, try and make them look bad to the noob straight users. It serves no purpose, and is not very gentlemanly.

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You know there is a meet in Portland in April 2010 why don't you come.. I think you might be amazed at just how hard it really is for people to learn to hone correctly...
The other problem is the razors that people start honing with, think about what we tell people every single time somebody says "I am learning to hone" what does every one say??? "Get some razors off e-bay and learn on junkers" Now anyone that actually knows the first thing about honing knows what??? That E-babies are the hardest things to hone...

Watching a group of people at a meet trying to Hone, Strop, and Shave is a very enlightening experience, you should try it at least once, before you start saying "Anyone can hone, it's easy" Consider this an invitation

I remember any number of these conversations over at SRP a couple of years back and fully agree with Glen. While I found honing easy to pick up, many people just don't have the manual dexterity (or patience) to do it! I remember that the three biggest problems people had were: 1) not setting a proper bevel 2) using FAR too much pressure on the hones and 3) not properly flattening hones. If you fail to do any one of these things properly, you will not get a shaveable razor.

Newbies, honemeisters do great work, and set a level of sharpness that is worth seeking. Yes, you can hone yourself. Yes, a newer honer can do great work as well. Yes, an established honemeister will put a great edge on your straight. If you really want to learn to hone on your own (like I did) I think it is worth it. If you just want a sharp razor to shave with, I highly recommend sending it out, and I highly recommend you seek out the recommendations of established shavers. They will let you know who will give you the best edge you can find.

I have to admit, that was not a response I was expecting.
If I have time, I would love to make it up there, as I am sure there is a ton of things for me to learn still.

My aunt lives up there too.. I would have a place to stay..... I'll try and plan it!

Having taught a couple of people and talking to people learning to hone, it is indeed not easy. Previous honing skills help, I think, but honing a razor is still different.

Hmm, Portland...definitely can't make it, its during the school year (and finances). But it would be nice to go back. Although April is still an ugly time of year up there. May or June would be much nicer.

I know that we are going to be very gentlemanly in our disagreements, aren't we?

Fnord5 said:

I have to admit, that was not a response I was expecting.
If I have time, I would love to make it up there, as I am sure there is a ton of things for me to learn still.

My aunt lives up there too.. I would have a place to stay..... I'll try and plan it!

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I sent you a PM with more info, I really hope you make it, they really are a kick in the pants too, I went all the way out to NC for the last two years and had a blast... This is the first one I get to drive to so I am bringing a ton of stones, strops, and razors to mess with...

Fnord5 said:

Honing is not a magical gift, handed down to a certain few from Hephaestus.
If I was able to get an edge that is shave ready, comfortable, and truly sharp in 6 months of practice(actually lots less) then that's how long it took.

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Yes, that's how long it took to get that edge, but in my view getting few edges to shave doesn't make one an expert.

Fnord5 said:

I am seriously getting sick of a few "Straight Razor Guru's" that want to belittle the new guys, try and make them look bad to the noob straight users. It serves no purpose, and is not very gentlemanly.

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Actually the issue here is not who looks good and who looks bad. I could not care less about this.

The problem is new guys getting poorly honed edges and giving up on straight shaving because of that. I have seen many so called 'shave-ready' razors, and I have talked to my honing guru friends who get plenty more coming after new guys have been burned by self-appointed experts.
The thing is that the new guys who stick with this a bit longer can tell fairly quickly whose honing job they like better and that's who they send their next razor to.

I personally am sick of hearing of relatively new honers without much experience take advantage of new guys by charging more than some of the experts and delivering an average or poor job. It's not to belittle anyone just the truth. Almost anybody who is willing to spend the time and the effort can do this right, and my explanation why some don't is that they lack the experience to be efficient and compensate for it by cutting corners and screwing the new guys in order to make some extra money.

I think a warning to the new person that not everybody who pretends to be an expert is one serves a pretty good purpose - figuring out who has the actual experience and who is just paraphrasing the words of others can dramatically improve one's learning.

I never claimed to be an expert.
I know my limitations when it comes to honing, give me a smiling blade, or a really heavy wedge, and then I struggle a bit(even moreso on a smiling wedge )

I have tried a few differen't "honemeister" edges now, and while darn good, they were not quite sharp or smooth enough for me. Even mine take a bit of tweaking to get 100% by my standards. And I have yet to charge someone for honing, I usually offer it free with a re-scale job. (I guess you could call it charging too much for honing, and giving away a free set of scales. )

Fnord5 said:

I never claimed to be an expert.
...
And I have yet to charge someone for honing

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So my recent comments don't refer to you then - that's easy isn't it

If you can't find a honemeister in AZ you can't find the ground. That place is loaded it seems.

Honing is something I don't think I'll ever try. Aside from being too fast paced, impatient and a klutz, I have no interest in it. To those that do, good job! And, thank you. People like me will keep you going.

Okay, but, about the thread....what's the status? Any word from the vendor? Perhaps they don't have your contact information, but just a razor?

The best bet for any newbie to straight razors is to find some of the old timers on this board and ask them questions. They are very nice and helpful, and will tell you who they recommend.

I have not sent my razors out to be honed yet, but I know who I am sending them to. I want to send my razor to a reputable honemister and shave with it.
I would be incredibly pissed off if I sent out a razor and got it back, and then had to send it out again to a pro to fix the edge and re hone it. Im out 40 in instead of 20 now if I were to do that.

At least when you know you send your razor to someone who is a pro, you know that their is piece of mind involved. Its not in the back of your mind that maybe I need to send it to someone else for a re hone.

rickboone1,

Haven't heard anything back. Believe me, he has my contact information.

I enclosed it in the package, I've sent two or three emails and left two voice messages.