Thread: Getting help with shaving/honing

Not only is all the help you'll ever need to start your straight razor shaving journey right here in these forums, but it even goes beyond that.

I was running into trouble trying to hone a blade to the point where I could shave with it, actually cutting whiskers. I called upon one member, AFDavisII, but I'm sure many here would also be helpful. Alan customized his instructions to my individual needs, was extremely patient, and got me quite quickly from someone who was just messing up blades to the point where I could actually shave with something I had honed. The help here is all over the place, but don't forget that one-on-one mentoring is also available. All you have to do is ask for it. Getting help on this journey from someone who has already gone this way is extremely effective and makes learning fun and even more productive. Thanks Alan!

That's what is great about this community; everyone's willingness to help each other out. It is a very reassuring thing, knowing that if you have a question, any question, regarding an aspect of wetshaving that someone here will be able to answer it.

Ask and thou shall recieve This is a fantastic place with so many helpful people...just a great place to be a part of!

Warren~ It was great speaking with you!

I think one of the better aspects of this site are the people that are in it. Warren and I had some great discussions.

When I started out Lynn was kind enough to spend some time talking with me on the phone. It helped me out a lot!

Alan & Warren,

great meeting you both.

thanks for taking some time for me today to give me some pointers and look at the edges off my rocks..

much appreciated.

-jon

I was looking for a place to post this, and it turned out that I had already started a similar thread. It was similar, but actually meeting a mentor and getting personal assistance, tailored to your specific needs, is so much different, far more effective, and much more enjoyable.

AFDavisII, Alan, invited me and globaldev into his home to look at our blades, give us instruction, and show us how honing and stropping are properly done. He took four hours out of his day to do this. The experience was beyond description in terms of both his kindness and how effectively he was able to put me right in several areas including: improving honing and stropping technique, proper stone selection, edge and bevel diagnosis, and sharpening tests.

I had read all the Wikis here, studied all the videos, and practiced for hours, but "seeing it done" properly and being able to ask questions and get great answers all along the way was a revelation. Not only was it instructional, it was just flat fun. I have never seen four hours go by so quickly, and I learned more in four hours with Alan than I have in over a month of diligent study.

All this just confirmed what I already knew: the people here are all willing to help. All you have to do is ask, listen, and, if you are as lucky as I was, visit. I guess it is possible to get good at honing and sharpening by yourself, but I had felt that I was in such an isolated vacuum with no model to attempt to emulate. Now I have one, and the way ahead seems so much clearer.

Alan: thanks for making me a better blade man in so many ways, and for making my day!

Thanks for sharing Warren...

This is one of the reasons we push those get Togethers so much on here, besides a kick in the shorts, they help a ton...

We had a lot of fun today. I got to see all kinds of cool equipment. With the variety of stones, razors, and strops out there you could study this art for years.

I got to hone one of my razors off a coticule Jon brought and I'm enjoying one of the beers he dropped off right now.

Both Jon and Warren had some really well done edges. Very impressive work, beginners or not.

Thanks again alan. Just for reference, I think you used the nakayama nashiji stone. I don't recall even really playing withe coticule...

A lot of what you said is food for thought on my personal honing application. Especially the ridiculous hair popping differences between the three of us. It certainly was an eye opener.

I justed tried to shave with that thin spined yellow scaled razor and put it away after just my cheeks and picked up the concave grind to finish. A world of difference even though they both were performing similarly on the sharpness tests.

I'll have to decide whether to put some more thought into why I don't find the edge satisfactory or just forget about it and state it a waste of time and not an interesting challenge and sell it and let someone else deal with it.

Glad you are enjoying the brew.

Yea, we had all kinds of hones all over the place. Thanks for clarifying.