Thread: Rating razor quality poll

I'm relatively new compared to the gurus on the forum. However I've learned a lot from honing the hundred or so razors I've been playing with. It always seems that I can tell the quality of a razor after the 1k stone. For example, many good razors shave arm hair very easily after the 1k. However, some of the best shaving razors I have used seem to be on another level after the 1k. My recently purchased bruno custom, and every wade and butcher for barbers use, seem to tree top arm hair at the 1k. I do realize that further progression on the hones and finishing properly will make almost any quality blade satisfactory, but when you have a blade tree topping at the 1k it is something special!

I am not even sure what the options are, the second one is not a complete question. Are you asking opinions about, how a straight razor is easily honed? Are you asking if people like just shaving or honing also? Or some people may hate shaving with a straight razor but they like making them or honing them? Could you clarify your questions please? I like shaving with a straight razor, I am learning to hone properly, I have made a knife once, but mostly machining metal, and have cast and forged metal.

Originally Posted by Lynn

Most quality razors hone up fairly easy and really it is the shave that matters to me. Some razors are harder feeling than others, some grainier than others, some extra hollow grind, some quarter hollow grind, some heavy, some light, some smiley and some just have their own personality. Do the scales play any part in how this razor feels to hone or shave? Do the thumb notches that make honing and stropping more difficult come into play? At the end of the day, I like the razors that shave the best and those are the ones I have come back to and stayed with over the years. As I think about this, most of the best shavers hone up fairly easy unless damaged or badly worn. That said, the looks of the razor may play into how much I like it personally as well. Razors with a lot of wear or uneven wear are harder to hone usually. Most, if a quality razor will get there. I hone razors almost ever day of my life and have for a long time, and really the question put forth here has never been one that I have thought about beyond what I have already said.......... I kind of put this in my blindfolded tell me what stone I honed this razor on test..........

Sorry but a little lost on the point here.

Have fun.

I think you have it, Lynn!

What's better, honing or shaving? Would you rather hone a razor with geometry problems or one that is perfect? Would you rather hold a pretty razor that gives mediocre shaves or an ugly razor that shaves beautifully? If you have a razor that likes a certain hone for finishing, but you don't like that hone, do you use it anyway? Will a good razor hone easily for all levels of honing experience? If you hone a razor and determine that the razor is of poor quality because it does not comply with your efforts and then you hone the same razor 3 years later and decide the razor is top drawer, do you punish yourself by not using the razor because of the initial judgement? Do you remove the tape from a razor if there is a tiny bubble in it even if the bubble is not near the spine? Would you rather hone a problem razor everyday or shave everyday with a quality razor wearing fur lined gloves? Is it helpful to 'air hone' a quality razor so you don't inflict any hone wear? If you are honing your favorite razor and accidentally drop it, do you instinctively try to catch it?

Honing is a means to an end.
There was a time when I didnt know what to feel for while honing.
I watched all the videos and read the posts of how to, but you cant teach feel without a teacher.
Once I was taught , then I began to learn what to feel for, also how different steel feels.
Then I began to enjoy the honing, different steels, and how to fix the variables.
I do keep one very beat up WB 5/8 wedge because it just shaves so well.
I once said its as simple as blade to rock. Boy was I wrong.

I honed a razor the other night on a coticule I had just received off eBay. I was right at the end of honing and I was thinking, Oh man this blade is going to shave good, I can feel it. Well, I was wrong. It shaved, but it wasn't comfortable. So clearly I'm not quite at the stage to determine if a blade will shave well while I'm honing. When I think about how many blades I've honed, it really isn't much compared to some. I've maybe done, 100 or so. Still need more practice.

I judge razors more on how they feel on the razor strap
ymmv

For me its all about the end result. The shave itself.

I'm starting to enjoy honing as im getting better and find I'm smiling a lot more when I just know a razor is going to be a great shave. (Not always the case though)

First few razors I had to set a bevel on were a breeze and honed very easily with a tiny bevel. They shaved beautifully. "Well, I'm now a honemeister" I thought. Then I brought a few new and NOS with uneven grinds and bevels. It was like a punch in the face!
However this, I feel, is how one really starts learning how to hone.

Ultimately it is all about the shave, although how the blade reacts to the hone can be a tell.

There's certain a feel a quality razor will have on the hone, but as I find, it speaks more about the geometry and the steel quality of the razor, not that much about the ultimate (shave) test. So I'm with the crowd that would say "Both", if there was an option...

Recently I've ditched the tape on NOS, or vintage razors with little hone wear. Like Markbignosekelly above, I found that NOS razors may have geometry issues as well. This "has to" be corrected on the hone, by evening out the spine and watching the bevel. When that is accomplished, it will show during honing... the glide, the water displacement, all that basic stuff. No guarantees that the shave will be great, but it is a step in the right direction, IMO. It's either that, or adjusting the honing stroke to compensate for irregularities, which I find cumbersome, to be honest. I guess this comes from my general attitude towards razors being tools, mostly...but not exclusively, of course.

Another thing that I do as I'm correcting geometry, because I'm applying more pressure, I can watch what happens to the edge at the same time. I will alternate between more and less pressure to spot any chipping, for example, watching the scratches and how the edge gets refined. Speaks about the quality and hardness of the steel and hence tells me what it will take, to get it to shave properly.