Thread: Importance of a honemeister

Importance of a honemeister...

There's an interesting trick that honemeisters do. Well, maybe not a trick but they all do it or guarantee it to be there. They all set a bevel. To my (inexperienced, young, naive, etc.) mind, the bevel is a baseline for the cutting edge. (You can read more into it HERE.) Without a bevel you might as well be shaving with a warped razor.

Another thing that true honemeisters tend to do is provide a guarantee. They understand that things happen between a razor leaving their hands and reaching your face. Their fault? Probably not as likely as the recipient's but the chance is still there. I've seen increasing frequency in shave-ready guarantees. If the razor isn't shave-sharp you can just send it back and they'll re-examine what needs to be done. Does this take time? Absolutely. Is it worth it? Double-absolutely.

It is essential in the learning curve of straight shaving that you first know what shave-ready is. It's your benchmark for how razors should shave and tends to be the shave by which you judge all the ones to follow (if you don't give up from a poor first experience). Second, when you send a razor back, you're telling an experienced shaver that something went wrong somewhere. The honemeister may examine their own methods or look over the razor and determine if it was something from the other end. From that, adjustments in the processes between hone and face can be made and learning can occur.

Absolutely true... the first step is to make sure it has a bevel. if in doubt or if you have any problems getting it sharp, that's the solution 80 to 90 % of the time.

Originally Posted by BrianB

Importance of a honemeister...

There's an interesting trick that honemeisters do. Well, maybe not a trick but they all do it or guarantee it to be there. They all set a bevel. To my (inexperienced, young, naive, etc.) mind, the bevel is a baseline for the cutting edge. (You can read more into it HERE.) Without a bevel you might as well be shaving with a warped razor.

Another thing that true honemeisters tend to do is provide a guarantee. They understand that things happen between a razor leaving their hands and reaching your face. Their fault? Probably not as likely as the recipient's but the chance is still there. I've seen increasing frequency in shave-ready guarantees. If the razor isn't shave-sharp you can just send it back and they'll re-examine what needs to be done. Does this take time? Absolutely. Is it worth it? Double-absolutely.

It is essential in the learning curve of straight shaving that you first know what shave-ready is. It's your benchmark for how razors should shave and tends to be the shave by which you judge all the ones to follow (if you don't give up from a poor first experience). Second, when you send a razor back, you're telling an experienced shaver that something went wrong somewhere. The honemeister may examine their own methods or look over the razor and determine if it was something from the other end. From that, adjustments in the processes between hone and face can be made and learning can occur.

The other thing every real honemeister is going to do is to actually put their own face on the line and shave with it. It may not be more than a little bit of cheek and jaw line, but if it can't shave the honemeister (comfortably), it isn't shave ready. Lynn has taught us that one... the only true test is to shave with it.

I have a full shave with the blade (if there is only 1) and if I have received more than 1 razor off the same customer, then I will use both razors during my shave to ensure that they go back asap.

I will shave one side of my face with one and the other side of my face with the other. This ensures that I am testing both razors on all of the tough areas (I consider on my face) and that it goes back out proper sharp.

I have not had one complaint out of the hundreds I have honed and if I did then I would question the recipients stropping upon inspecting the blade once again.

Scales that dont centre properly and touch the sides are a nightmare and I tend to take extra care when shipping these kind back. As I feel there is a chance of these 'turning' the a part of the edge in transit.

As a special note, I would say this to all who are thinking of sending their razors out to be honed. Don't even consider it if your stropping isn't up to par as you will only undo the work that has been done on the razor.

Originally Posted by poona

I have a full shave with the blade (if there is only 1) and if I have received more than 1 razor off the same customer, then I will use both razors during my shave to ensure that they go back asap.

I will shave one side of my face with one and the other side of my face with the other. This ensures that I am testing both razors on all of the tough areas (I consider on my face) and that it goes back out proper sharp.

I have not had one complaint out of the hundreds I have honed and if I did then I would question the recipients stropping upon inspecting the blade once again.

Scales that dont centre properly and touch the sides are a nightmare and I tend to take extra care when shipping these kind back. As I feel there is a chance of these 'turning' the a part of the edge in transit.

As a special note, I would say this to all who are thinking of sending their razors out to be honed. Don't even consider it if your stropping isn't up to par as you will only undo the work that has been done on the razor.

I won't go as far a say get your honing skills up to par before you send your razor to a honemeister. I offer the edge warranty especially to newbs. I usually state that I specifically offer this warranty so when, not if, they roll the edge they can get back in shape for just the price of shipping both ways. I get a few that take me up on the warranty and that's just fine, that's why I offer it. I know it won't take me long to hone it back because all the hard work is already done. I used to test shave every razor. If I did that now, I wouldn't get to use my own stable and that just wouldn't do. Those of us that hone a lot of razors on a regular basis, regular basis being several every week, know from our own tests that we know when a razor is ready or not.

Originally Posted by Kenrup

I'm going to throw something in here tonight. I received a TI 1040 6/8 Silver Steel Stamina from Classic this afternoon. It was to replace one I had returned. With all the bad press TI has received lately, inspected the razor very closely. The box was sealed. When I opened I noticed immediately that the finish on the scales was far superior to the first one. The pins and all were as they should be. The real surprise was when I checked the edge. I was expecting to have to hone it as it was straight out of the box. To my surprise and delight it is shave ready. It's sharp! The edge is perfect! I'm tomorrow morning I'm going to just strop and shave. This is the very first time any new razor I have purchased has even come close to what I would consider shave ready just trying it out of the box. I honed four other razors this evening for customers so I am very picky about what I call shave ready. What a treat. I'll let yaw'll know how it goes tomorrow.

Follow up: What a joy to actually shave with a razor that is really shave ready out of the box! This TI shaved the way you would think a TI should shave. It only took about eight months to get it right. It would be terrific if this would be TI's normal quality razor. Hopefully they are getting back up to quality.

I don't call a razor shave ready unless it will shave my chin easily. I also think some razors cannot be sharpened as well as others.

bj

Originally Posted by Kenrup

I won't go as far a say get your honing skills up to par before you send your razor to a honemeister. I offer the edge warranty especially to newbs. I usually state that I specifically offer this warranty so when, not if, they roll the edge they can get back in shape for just the price of shipping both ways. I get a few that take me up on the warranty and that's just fine, that's why I offer it. I know it won't take me long to hone it back because all the hard work is already done. I used to test shave every razor. If I did that now, I wouldn't get to use my own stable and that just wouldn't do. Those of us that hone a lot of razors on a regular basis, regular basis being several every week, know from our own tests that we know when a razor is ready or not.

You mis-quoted me "I won't go as far a say get your honing skills up to par".

I said "I won't go as far a say get your stropping skills up to par

Although I think you meant to say stropping?

another thing to note here is personal preference. some people enjoy the feel of an edge off an 8k, other 12k, other coticule, other 30k, others pastes. every person likes a different feel. add on top of that every person has different hair thickness.

there are so many variables that go into it that no 2 razors will be the same and no 2 people will feel the same from the exact same razor.

i think that a honemeister gives you a blade that feels good to his personal shave. that doesn't exactly mean it will be 100% perfect for your shave.

~J

just goes to show, if you ask 10 different honemeisters a question you will get 10 different answers... but they will all say the same thing

getting back to the initial issue and forgetting about feel, smoothness, and what paste to use...
The biggest reason to get a razor honed by an expert is sharpness.
before shaving with a straight, I didn't know what sharp really meant.
Sure I could sharpen my pocket knife to a point where nobody wanted to use it... it really was scary sharp, and would cut to the bone in an instant.
but it was far from shave ready or razor sharp. An inexperienced shaver may believe that sharp in knife terms means shave ready...
It's then that a honemeister is needed to show them how sharp a razor needs to and/or can be.

As for the not quite shave ready Wacker... We're all human, it could have been a mistake in the honing, the test shave, the packing, shipping, even user error can't be ruled out... It's unfortunate, and had you contacted the honemeister, I'm certain he would have done everything in his power to make it right.
I purchased my first honemeister honed razor from the same vendor, a 7/8 Froidur, and it arrived shave ready. His customer service was excellent, and he was even happy to share some honing tips with me.

Originally Posted by poona

You mis-quoted me "I won't go as far a say get your honing skills up to par".

I said "I won't go as far a say get your stropping skills up to par

Although I think you meant to say stropping?

Ah yep, good catch.