Thread: Rating razor quality poll

For me a lot has to do with how a razor hones not only the shave.

The quality of the grind and geometry is easier to notice while honing, although just looking at a razor will tell you plenty. Nuances, really, but things like slight fluctuations in spine width and heel issues are easy to miss by just eye balling. Then again, shaving with a razor can tell you a lot about the level of hollowness it has; noticing the difference between a full hollow and an extra hollow can be challenging just by looking at it.

Like most have said, it's a sum rather than an either/or situation:

You look at a razor, you know something about the razor.
Then you hone the razor, you know a bit more about the razor.
Then you shave with it a few times, you know pretty much all you need to know about the razor.

It really depends what information you are looking to find to answer the question. For instance: on my hones, I can pretty much predict when a razor will shave aptly judging by the feedback I get off the hone.

Some of you have set the edge and finished hundreds even thousands of razors. And I am sure those of you who have done so can read the quality of the blade on the hone much more effectively than the majority of us who hone only for ourselves. I only know that from a personal perspective I have favorite razors that shave well and I have others that I use less often that do not perform as well. Whether the fault lies in the blade,hone, or my technique is something that is yet to be determined . Therefore the quality of the shave is the ultimate factor for me. I'll get back to you after another 1K blades.

I can only go by the shave , because I do t hone them, but I can tell which blades take a better edge, cause the razors all get done by the same guy, I just touch up after a dozen or so shaves on my finisher , and on that I can't tell by just honing ,, so my vote , the shave test , with no experience honing. Tc

I can tell the difference between honing with tape and without tape. I'll hold the analogies.

How the razor shaves determines it's place in the rotation with me.

The only exception is my original Wade & Butcher, with is also a heirloom, it will always be my best razor.

I don't hone for others either but from my own stable I go mostly by the honing end of things. Really the shave is kind of the icing on the cake.

If you asked me this when I first started I would have said by the shave however that has evolved over time and with honing more razors.

I abhor the necessary practice of honing. I do like the shaves better!

I do like the feeling on the hones as you know it will shave well. Most times, this is a positive indicator for me.
On occasion I just KNOW it will be fine, give it a shave and the edge falls off or it was just plain not right.
Back to the stones!

The purpose of a razor is for shaving. I know, that's fairly obvious, but the question has been posed so I'm answering it.

I can and do assess razors before, during, and after I hone them. I can also get a sense of them by the way they feel during stropping. None of that really matters though because I hone to make razors shave well and so how they shave is the ultimate assessment.

Interesting comments so far

So let me toss one out there for you all to ponder

You buy a New Razor, you begin to hone it and find that the edge is wavy and uneven because the grind was off slightly or there is a slight warp

Now we all have seen hundreds if not thousands of posts that have said "It will not effect the shave" so is the razor still "High Quality" in your eyes since it was the "Honing" that finds the error and not the shaving..