To Hone or not to hone

Hello all,

Brand new to the site and to the whole idea of straight razor shaving. I enjoy shaving in general; it's my little zen ritual every day. I started reading up on straight razor shaving and thought it would take my little ritual to a whole new level.

Regrettably I didn't find this site until after I'd already purchased a few things. Either way, I now have an "intro" set of stuff from classicshaving: dovo razor, badger shave brush, some shaving soap, a double-sided linen-an-leather strop, and a 4000/8000 water stone.

So I finally got the stuff and wanted to use it, of course! Long story short, I tried taking a few passes with the thing out of the box after some stropping (don't scold me yet, I only took a few strokes and didn't cut myself) and it was pretty apparent that it was not shave-ready (not a surprise, from what I've read on these forumns today).

So here's the question:

Do I get the razor professionally honed by Lynn or one of the other honemasters, or take chances and give it a shot myself? I am not underestimating the task...I have read it can take years to learn to hone well.

But is there anything to lose? Can I really mess it up? Why not take a shot at it and then send it in if it doesn't go well?

Maybe that's just major naivete, which is why I'm putting the question up to the group of much wiser shavers than myself. Either way I want to get shaving, but will be patient if it's a really bad idea to try honing out of the box.

Advice?

Thanks!

-Andy

P.s. I'll check back here of course, but my email address is akmathys@gmail.com

Andy - welcome :)

Personally, I think you did well to kit yourself out at classicshaving - I've heard good things, and the Dovos are good shavers.

It's useful to have a "reference" point from which to gauge subsequent self-honing, so getting it honed by an expert initially can be a good thing. An added benefit is that it's one less thing to worry about - there's a plethora of things to learn when you first start: stropping, angle and technique to name a few. At least if it's honed by a meister you can eliminate that variable at the beginning.

There is also the danger of causing some damage to the blade when you first try to hone - that's why many people here advocate getting hold of an old vintage "junker" off ebay or wherever to practice on.

Personally, I didn't go the honemeister route when I first started, but being in Australia I had very little in the way of resources (I didn't discover this forum until it was "too late" so to speak). But I did have access to some vintage blades via my father in law, and practiced honing them before I tackled my brand new Dovo. I must admit that I didn't do any damage to my blades, but it was reassuring to use cheap razors nonetheless.

Best of luck with whatever you decide to do. Keep us posted and ask as many questions as you like - we love to answer questions :tu

James.

What Jimbo said. I didn't send one of my razors to get honed either when I started but I did buy a shave ready razor which was honed by one of the honemeisters Bill Ellis at http://www.billysblades.com/ . This gave me a good reference point and then I did have a go at it myself. haven't looked back since and 15 razors later, still doing great. Good luck and enjoy your new morning ritual.
Ernest

Wow guys, thank you for the quick replies!

I guess deep down I knew you're right. But I want to get on with it :)

This may sound like a stupid question, but how do I send the razor to Bill or Lynn to get it honed? And how much does it cost?

I guess for now I'll just practice my soap & lather technique with my mass-produced cartridge razor.

Thanks again for the help!

Since you've made the investment, you can still pick up an entry level razor that's shave ready from someone on this board for 25-30 bucks. That would give you something to judge a shave ready razor by and you'd also get it in a few days, rather than the time it takes to send your dovo out, get it honed, then ship it back. The price would be about the same, too.

You can contact Lynn, his handle on this forum is adjustme69 or Bill Ellis aka Urleebird. Most honing rates are between 15.00 to 20.00. Check this thread for info. http://straightrazorpalace.com/showthread.php?t=6759 . Ask for their mailing address and go to the post office for a mailing packet. Get one big enough to hold a razor wrapped in some newspaper and stiff cardboard for protection. Getting insurance on mailed items (especially prized razors) is always a good idea.
Ernest

Good tips, thanks everybody. I think I'll do both...send my new one out to get done by a pro, and get a starter shave-ready as a second razor, comparison, and maybe an eventual first-practice tool.

Getting a honemeister honed razor is a very good way to understand where we set the bar. In my experience, though, those Dovos are not too far from shave ready. They've got a good bevel which can be quickly built upon.

From what you've decided, you'll have a couple of razors which'll need touching up soon so you'll get to see what that's like. Get those practice razors too because that's a different experience too.

X

Have a look at classicshaving.com. Just add "honing" to your cart, proceed to checkout & pay. Then print out your receipt and send it along with your razor to Lynn Abrams at the address they give. You have to add applicable shipping to the $19.95 cost, which gets it from Lynn back to you. It took 3 weeks before I got mine back , superbly shave ready!:)