A little encouragement for the newbies, from a newbie . . .

Having been shaving with the same (expertly AFDavis11 honed!) blade for about 10 days with no more maintenance than daily stropping, I noticed that the edge was getting a little dull and pulling more during the shave. Having read here about lots of guys ruining their edges by trying to refresh them on a hone, I approached my barber hone with more than a little trepidation. I wet it and followed Lynn's refreshing instructions on Lhis DVD. I'm happy to report that this morning's (post-refreshing) shave was unambiguously better than Tuesday's (pre-refreshing ) shave. Apparently, it's possible for even a newbie to improve an edge! :y

I love barber hones.

http://hometown.aol.com/frigginjoedammit/hones.jpg
Coarse, medium, and fine, from left to right.

Have AFDavis, Lynn, etc get a blade shave ready and a barber hone will do just fine in just a few laps for maintenance.
Heck, just before I corrected an edge on an old blade and took it from butterknife to shave-ready going from just the three hones above, left to right, not a touch of the Norton or Japanese stones. That left one can set an edge!
The blade didn't even have an evenly worn spine.

Those are some nice barber hones Joe.

What are the grits/names/types of hones you have there? I've been interested in finding a way to bypass the inevitable Norton Hone with some nice barber's hones if possible.

The best source for barber's hones is a lady named Tilly. Her website is www.redtrader99.com.

She has a nice set for less than $30. I love mine, although the barber hones are a little tricky to get the hang of. My advice would be to get your razor honed by an expert the first time, then use the barber hones for maintenance. It would take a long time to get a dull razor shave-ready with these things. Think hours and days. :D

Josh

Thanks for this little push. I have a Cornetta 7/8s that is not quite as nice a shave as my other razors, and I have a Tam O'Shanter and a Coticule waiting in the bottom shelf lapped and screaming its name.

I have been scared - I dont mind admitting it - to approach this beautiful knife with the stones until I know what I am doing, but my others are just so nice that I can't run the risk of only having one decent shaver.

Tonight, I take the bull by the horns, and I will hone it....

...

or maybe I will just wait for Lynns DVD to turn up first.

I hate myself.

That's good news, Steve. Put a feather in your cap.

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