Hello Everyone,



I have been trolling the forums now for about four months soaking up the wealth of knowledge. I have aquired all my starting equipment from Ebay. (brush, razor, strop, soap) I took Glen up on an offer to run my razor over some pasted strops, and he was able to get it shave ready. I then proceeded to dull the hell out of it learning to strop. I was able to get a good amount of practice shaving my cheeks, but the razor was just too dull to do my neck/chin. I feel good that I was able to correct my stropping, and practice a bit on my cheeks.

I broke down last week and sent my razor off to Lynn to be honed. Oh by the way my razor is a 5/8 J.A. Henckels made in Solingen. It appears to be stainless steel. I am looking forward to getting it back and experiencing a full shave.


I am already hooked and have hunted down the razors I will be getting in the near future. I have to stop here and say......DAM YOU JOHN CROWLEY DAM YOU EVIL RAZOR BARON. I will definately be buying several of your razors when christmas rolls around. I will also eventually be learning to hone when I buy a Norton 4000/8000. So now that I have rambled on I guess I will ask my questions.

If a razor has gold wash or other decorative elements on the spine; won't honing the razor scrape it right off? When a razor does have spine decor; do you lift the spine slightly off of the stone when honing to prevent wear? Will pasted strops also dammage spine decor? I was thinking about getting one of John Crowley's 1/4 grounds that he has recently posted. I understand it just makes the blade a bit thicker/stiffer/heavier; but due to this will it hold an edge a little longer?

Thanks everyone SRP for the win!!!!!!!