Thread: Presharpened Razors and too many complaints

I think that there is a point that has not been really addressed here. When a new person receives a shave-ready razor from a honemeister, there is an unknown factor: the recipient's ability to strop. I don't say this to slam newbies but more to reflect a problem I had when I started out. I was applying way too much pressure on the strop and was taking a perfectly good edge and rolling it. Consequently, I got really sucky shaves (that's a technical term).
So, another question here should be how skilled at stropping is the person receiving a razor honed by Lynn or any other honemeister.
I am not saying that when I order a razor prehoned that it necessarily meets my standards for sharpness all of the time. I usually have to work with it a bit to tune it up. However, I have progressed beyond the stage in my learning cycle where I trash the razor on the strop.

When I first read this thread, I was pretty sure the problem laid in the shaving and not the honing, and Tony's post seems to confirm that. Wetshaving itself is not easy, even with a DE. Throw in a straight with users who might have no experience with stropping, beard prep, and lathering...

Every time a thread was posted by a newbie about subpar shaves, the questions were always the same. No one ever seemed to doubt the honing of the razors. Seems that was the right course of action.

holli4,

>>"Every time a thread was posted by a newbie about subpar shaves, the questions were always the same. No one ever seemed to doubt the honing of the razors. Seems that was the right course of action"<<

From what I have seen on various threads, it apppears that the new-to-straights generally blame the honer and then the razor. All of which is fine as it keeps our own halos shiny. When I returned to straight shaving after a very long absence and upon what seemed sound advice, I got a couple razors which had been honed by a honemeister, Lynn, in this case. I was appalled at how poorly these razors initially shaved. I bought a bunch of hones and started trying to hone my own. In shave testing them, I was surprised at how much better the Lynn-honed razors shaved than the ones I tried to hone, but was still not really satisfied with his work either. The more I practiced with prep and shaving in general, the more amazed I became at how much better Lynn's honing got -- on the same razors!! With never sending it back to him for re-work!!!!

[this may be not unlike how smart your father got between your 15th and 21st birthdays]

I agree that what is shave ready for one may not be face perfect for another. Each of us is unique, similar certainly, but unless you are a twin, there is no one like you. This implies that idiocyncracies will make each face subtley different, perhaps enough to make the preparation of a razor's edge slightly off for one face from another. I have since my initial trials purchased vintage, shave ready razors from forum members - which needed a bit of tweaking to make them work smoothly on my face. When commenting about this to the seller, they were surprised, as their honing made the razor work perfectly for them. In making this comment about my newly purchased and prepared razor, I wasn't attacking the seller/honer only verifying my theory that a well honed razor will shave, but it may need to be tweaked a bit for it to work the best on a particular face.

Dunno if I'm right, but it sure sounds reasonable....

I guess I should have been more clear. When I said "no one ever seemed to doubt the honing," I was referring to the more senior members who were answering the newbie's questions. And the threads that I am referring to typically describe terrible shaves (as opposed to slightly less than smooth), where the razor pulls a lot or does not cut hairs along the full lenght of the blade. Maybe that is not what all the threads have detailed, but that is what most of the ones I've read seemed to say.

I bought two TI's and two Dovo's brand new. One TI was honed pretty well but has camber to it and the other had gouges in the edge like the grand canyon when viewed under the microscope, I had to rework both of them. Of the two brand new Dovo's I bought both of them had edges that looked like they had honed them on 220 grit sandpaper and sent it out the door, the edges were nowhere close to the mirror finish of a .92 or .49 micron Shapton honed edge...I had to rework both of those as well...

I think a 'shave ready' blade is one that will pass the HHT...last night I got the .49 micron Shapton stone and i finally got the HHT to work with the blades i have...despite being very careful with the .92 micron stone, I could not get that to pass the HHT either...is this why Classicshaving sells the .92 AND the .49 micron Shapton stones? possibly...