Thread: Learning to Hone on a Junker - Worth the Effort?

When I've gone to the bay to buy a junker on which to practice my meager honing skills I have been distracted to go nicer. But I finally pulled the trigger (no big deal, shipping was more than the purchase price) and bought a blade...SCZO Razor....Pakistan! Yes, there are warnings about these, but I have it, and in my defense ...well, nevermind! When I opened the box, I nearly tossed it in the can. But it will likely cut the tape on my next purchase...with a little effort.

To the point. I am making progress on my norton 4k/8k followed by yellow coticule. I can achieve a shavable edge on a decent razor...not like those of the blades made shave ready by the pros. Can I learn anything honing this piece of junk I just acquired? Will it hurt these stones I have? I figure I can get better holding a blade to the stone, maybe develope some muscle (or even some brain) memory. Thoughts? Dont think too hard...its a $5 razor!!

Thanks all.

Jim

Learning to hone on a razor that won't ever become shave-ready isn't really that useful. The only thing I can see it useful for is to practice the motions of honing. I actually got a couple of crap Zeepk razors a while ago with the same intent, but they've sat in the drawer ever since. You can pick up cheap razors that are not shave-ready, but can have a shave worthy edge put on them.

Do as Old_School says and check the classifieds, but if you want a razor to practice honing on make sure it's not shave-ready. You can also check out ebay for old razors, but that's a little more touch-and-go. When you get razors from ebay it's not always what you expect, so you have to make sure there are a lot of pictures and info to go on. But buying from members here in the classifieds is a LOT more safe IMO.

I don't see how practicing with a blade that will not give you good feedback will help teach you to hone

Thanks. I've joined the choir! Anyone need a cheap letter opener?

Jim

Jim, just to play the devil's advocate, if you've never honed a razor and you don't have another to practice with why not try and see how sharp you can get it ? If it was me I would look at the bevel with an eye loupe or a hand held microscope and note the condition and shape.

Then I would read the honing tutorials in the SRP Wiki and look at Lynn and heavydutysg's videos. I would practice the bevel setting, the stroke, and what have you checking under the magnification to see how I was doing. Also doing the TNT and TPT just to familiarize myself with them. Randy told me to practice the TPT on a new DE or single edge blade to get the feel of it. Good idea.

If I was just learning I would rather make my mistakes on a junker then a good razor. It'll do for practice until you get a good one and you'll feel more confident when you do.

I picked up the same brand just for kicks. I hoped maybe I'd be lucky and it wouldnt be too bad. It's not just that the steel it bad, they arent ground correctly. You can clearly see how un-even the spine is, the bevel is ground knife style with the spine lifted. I spent a good 20 minutes or so with good pressure on a 1200 grit DMT and didn't get anywhere. At best you can practice technique with them.

Maybe instead of getting the Tony Miller practice strop, you could use one of these to practice stropping on your regular strop. Not like you could nick your strop...

Get one of those Chinese white-handled double arrow razors. I used it to practice and I shave with it. it's like 20 dollars with shipping

good idea, bad razor i also picked up a cheap razor to learn to hone on but it was a usa carbon steel blade. look here for a practice razor

razors :: Charming & Cheap Vintage Collectibles

There is something positive here. No use losing steel on something precious. I picked up a Pakistan "Top Quality Venice Razor" at the local flea market for $5.00 about 8 years ago specifically to learn to hone. I learned a lot for a fraction of what it would have cost me otherwise. I finally got it to shave quality, but the edge crumbles easily and will not last. I learned some very subtle techniques that help me to this day.

I still have that razor. It makes a hell of letter opener, and just the right conversation piece for my desk.