Thread: Experience counts

All is I know is if I can't get these razors sharp.. Then Im sending them off.. then ill be happy.. haha I def agree with this post

Originally Posted by floridaboy

... one hundred years ago, it was harder to come by things we take for granted,say-hot water. remember you had to build a fire, get water, and those were the easy parts, first you had to have the money to buy that razor.

Which is why I put that fictional gentleman in the "middle class". I'm sure the average farmer or equivalent peasant would get far fewer hot shaves, but a lawyer would have a different experience.

X

I probably have a tad over 1000 shaves on my belt but as has been said that not necessarily indicative of good shaving experience. Sometimes you learn the wrong thing and as any teacher will tell you unlearning a bad skill is much harder that learning it right in the first place. In my opinion anything less than 5 solid years of shaving makes you a novice and 10 years or more makes you a veteran.
So I'm still a novice.

Originally Posted by Spokeshave

So what is it that makes you consider yourself a novice?

Well for one thing, I pretty much had to learn everything on my own. There was precious little information about the "hows and whys" of straight razor use in the early 90's.(no web connection and the local libraries sucked) The only real help I could get was from a local leather worker who made me a small bench strop and showed me how to use it.

I'm still trying to learn honing. That skill has eluded me all this time and still bothers me considerably.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

I probably have a tad over 1000 shaves on my belt but as has been said that not necessarily indicative of good shaving experience. Sometimes you learn the wrong thing and as any teacher will tell you unlearning a bad skill is much harder that learning it right in the first place. In my opinion anything less than 5 solid years of shaving makes you a novice and 10 years or more makes you a veteran.
So I'm still a novice.

I to have just over 1000 shaves and consider myself a novice. I'v been str8 shaving for over 3 years, about 95% of my shaves are smooth and bloodless. My consistancy in honing is improving. But there still seem to be so much more to learn. Str8 shaving once learned takes a lifetime to master.

I am really enjoying this post guys. I have been using a straight razor since 1973 and am closing in on having honed about 8,000 straight razors and ya know what; I am learning from you guys every day. It's a lot of fun..........wish I could make handles...........hahahahahaha.

Lynn

WOW! 8000 honing job's.. Now let me see @ $20.00 a crack. hmmm, about $160,000.00 Sure you don't need another Harley?
Donald

I agree that in general experience counts, but it depends on the question too. The lecturing part of my job leads me to think that in some circumstances people at the same level are better at helping their peers than someone with a lot of experience who's forgotten the feelings and anxieties associated with a certain level of learning. Experience can work backwards - while you gain more shaving experience as time goes on, you might lose your "newbie" experience at the same rate. Some (by no means all) of the best answers and advice I've seen in newbies corner has been given by fellow newbies, simply because they're experiencing the same problems/frustrations/mind-set as their fellows.

Having said that, you'd be a fool to ignore an experienced shaver's advice, clearly.

Anyway, (for what it's worth) I'd guestimate I've done around 300 - 350 face shaves (add another 100 - 150 if you want to include head shaves). Probably about 20-30 nicks/cuts. So a conservative average nick/shave ratio of about 1:10.


James.

I wish Donald !!!!! LMAO.........

I couldn't say exactly. probably between 1000 and 3000.