Thread: The Perpetual Experiment

This is a very interesting idea. Although I am not as experienced as the rest of you, I have only honed 97 razors to date, I would at least like to be in on the results. Maybe I could even be the last guy to get them, but I would like to participate in some way if possible.

Ray

Reminds me of the honing 'contest' we were having .... was it a year ago ?

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

Reminds me of the honing 'contest' we were having .... was it a year ago ?

Since you're already the second one that asks about it...

The SRP honing contest. After a wearisome procedure to get the actual permission to go ahead with it, I bought 30 Double Arrows. I made new scales for them (there should be pictures somewhere in the forum). Next I stared fixing the notorious shoulder issue on all DA razors. In the mean time, I wrote submission rules and tried to get the judge's comments on them to reach a definitive version. I also tried to foster the developement of a document that would allow the judges to note their findings in a standardized and consistent manner. I still was trying to find a 4th judge. I found someone prepared to take care of te US part of posting and collection of the razors during the competition. I didn't like the idea of using my personal Paypal account for entering the submission fees, so I asked about the possibilty of an SRP paypall account or some other transparent solution for the financial transactions connected to the competition. The absence of enthusiasm for this whole operation was at times deafening. Some seasoned SRP-members, in particular Glen and Bruno, were supportive but for the most part I felt like rowing a boat with some companions holding their paddle still in the water, waiting for the boat to loose momentum and quietly sink. Then I had a big confict on the forum, that has no connection to the Honing Competition, but it lead to my departure and subsequent banishment. Not expecting to ever be active on SRP again, I decided to put my energy in developing a website in support of the Belgian Hones. Belgian hones are directly, yet not exclusively, connected to traditional shaving, so I figured my 30 Double Arrows would easily find a purpose for future activities organized over there. (By the way, if I can figure out one last issue with sending e-mail from a Typolight propelled website, the plan is to launch next week)

In the mean time, I got the opportunity to return to SRP. I see a lot of new members, that have probably never heard of the Honing Contest. And there are several members that originally adhered to the idea, whom I haven't seen around on the forums anymore. The contest subforum is removed. So I figured the Honing Contest is dead. Upon request and if someone 's willing to actively row the boat with me, I am prepared to blow new life into the whole operation.

Except for the use of Double Arrows, this expreiment has little to do with the original contest idea. The contest did not promote experimentation. The contest's main idea was to present expert feedback to a participants honing efforts on one razor. The "perpetual experiment" offers one peer's review on three razors honed by the participant. It also offers the opportunity to shave with a peer's edges and compare them to one's own. That's quite different than the goals of the honing contest.

Best regards,
Bart

Bart, if I understand it correctly the razors can be honed on whatever the recipient chooses to use ? Should all three be honed on the same hone as you have done but with different variations in method ? Such as 1 with a pyramid method, another progressive and the last perhaps followed up with pastes ? Or is this a coticule only experiment ? I will join in just for the fun of it.

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

Bart, if I understand it correctly the razors can be honed on whatever the recipient chooses to use ? Should all three be honed on the same hone as you have done but with different variations in method ? Such as 1 with a pyramid method, another progressive and the last perhaps followed up with pastes ? Or is this a coticule only experiment ? I will join in just for the fun of it.

I may come across as a serious man, but believe me that having fun is usually my main motivation for proposing these ideas.
Yes, as I see it, everyone is completely free to devise his own experiment. Yet I strongly suggest that we stick to the "2+1 format", meaning that you 'd hone 2 razors with the same method and hones, and the third with a method that diverts in a particular way. The main idea is to find out if the next person in line can differentiate between the 2 identically honed razors and the one with the experimental treatment. Whether you'd choose to copy an already done expiriment or turn up with something new, is entirely up to you. As long as it's 2+1.

Best regards,
Bart

Since only very few people showed interest in this, and no one of the mod team seems supportive of the idea, I decided to withdraw the proposal.

Many thanks and my apologies to those that possibly have been looking forward to it. I might set up a more modest version of the experiment in private.

Thanks to all that have responded,

Bart.

Originally Posted by Bart

Since only very few people showed interest in this, and no one of the mod team seems supportive of the idea, I decided to withdraw the proposal.

Many thanks and my apologies to those that possibly have been looking forward to it. I might set up a more modest version of the experiment in private.

Thanks to all that have responded,

Bart.

Don't mistake the personal views of some of the mods with an official request to the mods to have a project sanctioned. The ultimate response might be very different once we all get involved and kick it around.

It's really no problem.

I had expected more enthusiasm for my idea, but that's just because I was enthusiastic about it myself. Like most people, I have the tendency to predict how people will react to something, based on how I would react myself.

So I imagined at least one or two moderators embracing the idea and a dozen members showing interest to join.
Neither of that happened, hence I was wrong.
That's no big deal.

I get together a few times a year with a small group of straight razor aficionados and I have plenty of opportunity to fool around with honing variations and discuss the outcome.

I only wanted to add an interesting activity to SRP. The emphasis seems to have shifted lately to being of service to those who start out, which is a very noble cause of course. But I wanted to get something going for the slightly more advanced SRP members. The idea was inspired by a post on Badger&Blade that I once read, where a razor was used by a chain of people that all engraved their initials in the scales. I thought it would have been fun the do something similar with 3 razors at once, add a honing game to it and publicly discuss the outcome in a thread.

Best regards,
Bart.

Bart,

As a newer SR user, and a non-honer (as of yet), I'd like to publicly thank you for making an effort to continue to push the art of razor honing in a manner that benefits the community as a whole.

I mean, it's fun too, but adding more data points to our existing knowledge can only benefit us as a group.