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Has anyone seen this on Ebay? Is anyone more interested than I am at dropping $18 to see if it's got any worthwhile info in it for us?:) Hey, I took one for the team by ripping a Shapton ceramic on glass 1k lengthwise to see if the glass backing was tempered or not (it isn't). Someone should check out this DVD!
HERE
Chris L
Chris, the seller, Razorman2, is Phil Krumholz. He is the author of the big Gillette book and Getting to Know Your Straight Razor. I have seen the DVD for sale and been curious but not enough to spend the $$. If you ask him for details he will respond to questions from potential buyers.
Chris, I have this DVD. If you're interested, I'll loan you the DVD to look over. If you like it, you can order your own copy from Mr. Krumholtz. PM me and I'll mail it out to you.
Here's my take, as a newb that is fascinated by all things related to straights and especially honing:
It's pretty much home-movie quality converted video footage made several years of an old-timer showing all his old equipment and how he did his business. That's its charm. Only about 10 minutes or so of it covers straight razors specifically, where the old-timer takes a single straight razor and re-grinds it from junk, through honing, polishing, and stropping. He explains everything he's doing, and gives opinions on various aspects of grinding, honing and stones, and strops. The speed with which he hones is impressive. The old-timer has a high opinion of his "Belgian hones" and says sadly and matter-of-factly that "you just can't buy 'em anymore." ;)
I didn't learn any step-by-step secrets of the old timers; the quality of the footage isn't that good, and I don't think that's really the point of the video. To me, just seeing the old wheels and other equipment live and in use, hearing the old timer tell how he works on tools, shears, razors, etc., was worth it. Seeing a functioning old cutlery service shop, like I remembered as a little kid in Chicago (and I'm not that old - I'm talking late '60s), was just very cool.
Someone with more knowledge and experience than me might be able to "see" much more in the footage, much like somebody who plays a musical instrument sees more in a live performance than other spectators. But I enjoyed just being a spectator. If you like tools, old guys with skills, and want to know how things were done at one time, then it's worth it. As an instructional video, not so much. Unless you have a 3-foot leather-clad polishing wheel at your house that you don't know how to use. :D
Edit: Just looked at it again, and to be fair, there is good honing information in this video. It's hard to see precisely what's being done on the wheels, but the final honing on a carborundum and a coticule has some pretty detailed shots and info. It's almost funny how fast this guy does the final honing on the coticule.
Thanks man. I might have to PM you and have a look at that on loan. I would be interested in the grinding and resto footage first and the honing second.
Chris L
I have this one too. Its' nostalgic informative & humorous at times. Especially when he apologises for the resto he's doing being less than perfect. He says his father would roll in his grave but the 12 different wheels he should be using to do a good job are packed away in the garage.