Thread: Ok I'm a Klutz, so what do I do now?

I did about the same thing yesterday on my Dorko. My honing skills are not up to par yet but I know how a sharp blade feels like and got some spares so I can take the time to fix it.. so I'm going to give it a go myself.. If that doesnt workout I'm going to send it out..

Maarten

OK I'll post again and elaborate more on my original advice. First I'll start with a simple observation from this thread so far:

The less experience a member has with honing, the more willing they are to recommend OP tries to fix it himself.

Now, in principle there is nothing wrong to try honing, I actually think learning to hone on a blade with a chip is the best way to go, as it takes some time to get the chip out which is a helpful practice.

However, his chances of success are less than 1%. So...

What does he have to gain from an attempt:
- experience (it can be done on another razor)
- satisfaction upon success (same as the previous point)
- $20 or so

What are the negatives from going this way:
- time - a lot of it
- pain from the bad shaves - a lot of it
- doubt - with just two shaves he has no idea what to shoot for, so will he be getting bad shaves because he can't shave, or because he can't hone?
- more hone wear on the razor than necessary - it's a nice razor and most people like them to stay that way if possible. Even if it gets eventually fixed the steel that's gone while learning cannot be put back.

I think the negatives outweigh the positives by a large margin.
But, of course, everybody can make the call themselves.

I normally am trying to be 'nicer' but getting good advice is the first priority.

I don't know if everybody paid attention, but the razor has a visible chip! It means the chip needs to go out and a new bevel be set. This last part is where virtually all newbies fail, no matter how good they think they are.

Personally, I had the same thing happen to me and I took the chip out myself by honing the blade on some lower grit sp and then moved to my norton 4k/8k. It took some time but I was able to completely remove the chip myself. If you don't feel comfortable doing it yourself, you could always send it to a pro to do it.

Originally Posted by gugi

OK I'll post again and elaborate more on my original advice. First I'll start with a simple observation from this thread so far:

The less experience a member has with honing, the more willing they are to recommend OP tries to fix it himself.

Now, in principle there is nothing wrong to try honing, I actually think learning to hone on a blade with a chip is the best way to go, as it takes some time to get the chip out which is a helpful practice.

However, his chances of success are less than 1%. So...

What does he have to gain from an attempt:
- experience (it can be done on another razor)
- satisfaction upon success (same as the previous point)
- $20 or so

What are the negatives from going this way:
- time - a lot of it
- pain from the bad shaves - a lot of it
- doubt - with just two shaves he has no idea what to shoot for, so will he be getting bad shaves because he can't shave, or because he can't hone?
- more hone wear on the razor than necessary - it's a nice razor and most people like them to stay that way if possible. Even if it gets eventually fixed the steel that's gone while learning cannot be put back.

I think the negatives outweigh the positives by a large margin.
But, of course, everybody can make the call themselves.

I normally am trying to be 'nicer' but getting good advice is the first priority.

I don't know if everybody paid attention, but the razor has a visible chip! It means the chip needs to go out and a new bevel be set. This last part is where virtually all newbies fail, no matter how good they think they are.

I will have to agree that the best way would be to learn on a crappy ebay razor.However, an old razor with uneven hone wear will be much more difficult to get shave ready than a new razor with a uniform bevel.The hone wear would not be good, but he could avoid that to a large extent by taping the edge.
Yes, he would have to reset the bevel, but this can be done with the norton 4000.I have done it many times, but it takes some effort.With a properly lapped hone, and some patience, I don't think that this would be an impossible task.I think you are plain wrong, when stating that less then one percent would be sucessfull.IMO the way with trial and error, is the best way to learn.As I stated, I was in the same situation, and came out fine.That was with a significantly more expencive razor, and it still shaves great as most of my razors do.And I have honed every singel one myself.

Kristoffer

Originally Posted by gugi

OK I'll post again and elaborate more on my original advice. First I'll start with a simple observation from this thread so far:

The less experience a member has with honing, the more willing they are to recommend OP tries to fix it himself.

Now, in principle there is nothing wrong to try honing, I actually think learning to hone on a blade with a chip is the best way to go, as it takes some time to get the chip out which is a helpful practice.

However, his chances of success are less than 1%. So...

What does he have to gain from an attempt:
- experience (it can be done on another razor)
- satisfaction upon success (same as the previous point)
- $20 or so

What are the negatives from going this way:
- time - a lot of it
- pain from the bad shaves - a lot of it
- doubt - with just two shaves he has no idea what to shoot for, so will he be getting bad shaves because he can't shave, or because he can't hone?
- more hone wear on the razor than necessary - it's a nice razor and most people like them to stay that way if possible. Even if it gets eventually fixed the steel that's gone while learning cannot be put back.

I think the negatives outweigh the positives by a large margin.
But, of course, everybody can make the call themselves.

I normally am trying to be 'nicer' but getting good advice is the first priority.

I don't know if everybody paid attention, but the razor has a visible chip! It means the chip needs to go out and a new bevel be set. This last part is where virtually all newbies fail, no matter how good they think they are.

This newb agrees 100%. Especially with the last part. I've sharpened over 100 razors now (well, not that many razors.... many were sharpened over and over again to practice), and I'm just now to where I can really set a nice bevel.

And one point that really has to be stressed: All newbs need to have a honemeister sharpened blade to compare their work to. It should be a mantra all newbs should have to repeat on a daily basis. Since the razor in question is the OP's only blade, he needs to have it sharpened and fixed by a honemeister so he has a benchmark again.

A high quality blade is just not one a guy should learn repair and honing on. You can grab a double arrow off of ebay for ten bucks. Buy one, put a chip in the blade, and go nuts learning to repair and hone.

O c'mon... what happened to "to have tried and failed is better than not to have tried at all"?

Here's some more positives to balance things out.
- The excitement and anticipation of trying something new
- The anticipation of the self satisifaction and sense of accomplishment if successful
- The satisifaction, knowledge and understanding gained from doing the prep work and investigation
- The satisifaction of getting NEW STUFF if you don't already have everything needed
- The therapeutic benefit derived from the physical act of honing

Even if you fail I think there's a net gain (and you know what you're paying ~$20 for)

+1 to that.I'm not saying that he should do it, I'm just saying he could.

Kristoffer

Originally Posted by FloorPizza

This newb agrees 100%. Especially with the last part. I've sharpened over 100 razors now (well, not that many razors.... many were sharpened over and over again to practice), and I'm just now to where I can really set a nice bevel.

Ummm, but you took a long route. You decided to try with what you had instead of what you needed. I seem to remember that you came off of knife sharpening and you decided to try various sand papers and everything. YOU immediately came to mind in my previous post as someone who has experienced loads of fun and satisfaction in the trying . This is not true?

and some people get lucky: http://straightrazorpalace.com/basic...g-results.html Maybe not typical, maybe just lucky in the selection of equipment (not inexpensive) and maybe because I had a lot of reading under my belt first, but I've never honed anything before.

And one point that really has to be stressed: All newbs need to have a honemeister sharpened blade to compare their work to. It should be a mantra all newbs should have to repeat on a daily basis. Since the razor in question is the OP's only blade, he needs to have it sharpened and fixed by a honemeister so he has a benchmark again.

but he had a benchmark before he dinged it. it's not like he doesn't know the end goal.

A high quality blade is just not one a guy should learn repair and honing on.

?? I'd think that's exactly what you want. Think of those poor guys who tried to learn on a zeepk.

Definately try it yourself. Load up on information first, then give it a go. If you do try it, strop heavily after the 8k if you don't have a finishing stone. I've done the same thing to my Dovo, and its really no big deal. If you're as anal as I am about hone wear, try the electrical tape trick i.e. put some electrical tape on the spine before you hit it with the hone. Also, be advised, many hones do not arrive flat, so unless you have a lapping stone or sandpaper of some sort, you may have to lap your hone before using it. If that sounds like too much work, send it over to Lynn, and its no big deal.

I'm pretty sure everyone has done this to their first razor.

Originally Posted by Quick

but he had a benchmark before he dinged it. it's not like he doesn't know the end goal.

Yes, but that benchmark did not last long enough for him to make any use of it. Read again the part about his first two shaves.

Kris, I think you may fall in the 1%. And I disagree that setting a uniform bevel is going to be easier. I should take microscop pictures of the edge of the next razor somebody fails to get sharp and you'll see what I mean.
The problem is not the uniformity of the bevel, it's the curve of the edge. All the ones I have seen are 'wavy'. We're talking on a micron scale here, I can't see it without microscope.