Thread: Who does their own straight honing?

I maintain my own blades, but I have restored a few edges. Only just a few though, so even though I know I have the skill to restore, to a point, I answered maintaining my own, as that is all I really aspire to doing.


Mick

I restore my own razors. But I only buy razors that need minimal restoration. I like the rustic look (maybe I'm lazy) and so don't spend days polishing. I have tried this in the past and I don't have the time. But for every new razor I buy I reset the bevel to overcome problems like rust, pitting, and chips.

Also, living in a cash money situation I can't afford to pay anyone to do it for me, so I have to do it myself.

I made what was a tough decision for me when I started. I told myself that "You aren't going to shave with a straight unless you maintain them."

I do not work well with my hands so that was a pretty important decision. I thought I was going to risk ruining them because I took a metal shop class in junior high school and couldn't make the class project (I studied extra hard for the written tests so I could pass!) When my first couple of razors needed attention, I put it off and bought a couple more vintage razors. Then I said that I can't keep on doing this.

The World of Straight Shaving DVD gave me the confidence to try. It presented honing in a non-threatening manner, as something that even I could do. That's the reason why I recommend that new people get this video. It's not to brown nose Lynn Abrams. It is because it gives you an awareness of everything involved. If you know what you're getting into, and it looks like something even a clumsy person like me can do, the apprehension is removed and you can do it. So I started doing it myself and nothing feels better than getting a great shave from a razor you sharpened up yourself.

Down the road I did a few honings that didn't result in the kind of shave I anticipated. That's where this forum comes in. You can ask questions and try something that people with a lot of experience recommend.

Getting a great hone job from one of the people who offer their services in the Classified section is a great teaching tool, but for me, shaving this way required that I learn to at least know how to maintain my own blades.

It's the challenges and feelings of accomplishment that keep straight razor shaving exciting and something I never get tired of doing. This is the definitive site for straight razor shaving.

I voted for the fourth option in the poll. For the most part, I'm only interested in maintaining the blades, but there have been a few occasions where I bought a used razor (from sites like ebay) that required me to start all over and bring it to shave ready status from scratch. And I did it!

I maintain my blades only, on a 12K shapton pro and on to an Escher.
Even If I do a resto or re-scale on a perfect blade (as far as geometry) I send them to a pro one time.
Once the bevels are set properly,IMO it is very simple to maintain them I feel perhaps forever barring no accidents or damage occurs.