Thread: number of shaves vs honing difficulty

Well, I just got done touching up my le grelot and originally started with about 60 strokes on my Coticule with no result so I switched to .5 and .25 diamond pasted strops and did about 100 passes with minor results and finally did another 200 passes each on both and that did the trick.

So I was curious whether you would rather have a razor that goes a loooong time between honings but is a real bear to hone or a razor that has to be honed frequently but takes 5 minutes or less to bring back to perfection.

I don't mind the hard to hone stuff so long as it stays sharp.

I don't mind the stuff that dulls so long as I can keen it back up easy.

I voted HARD


I've had some hard to hone and didn't keep and edge stuff, those are in my junk pile now.
I'm too honest to sell that sort of thing.

I have many blades that took forever to get a shaving edge on them at first, now though they hone up in no time. I use mostly USA based razors (mostly all I have) and understand that the steel is rather hard. Once the bevels are ste I don't seem to have a hard time getting them back after a few months shaving. I do have issues with softer blades Love the shave just a bugger at times to get them there, and they dull much faster. I may still have a touch to much pressure in my hold, softer blades don't like.

So I think I tend to be somewhere inbetween really

I voted hard. I am a perfectionist and as I was told when I was a kid, if it is worth doing it is worth doing right or not at all.

I haven't been stropping lately, so if an edge gets tired, just a few passes on the 30K freshens it up. If that doesn't work, a quick trip to a few stones, and it's good to go.

I think my definition of difficult honing may be different. Once the bevel is set, which can take a long time (not necessarily difficult, though, just time consuming), any razor should be much easier to maintain afterward - as in it should only take a few minutes.

Edit: The wording of the poll makes it look like taking the easy as pie method means either an inferior razor or a lazy shaver. I'm just an obsessed sharpener!

Just to clarify, what I'm talking about isn't so much razors that are a little harder to keep up but those razors that are really hard. Examples to me are the Le Grelot the TI Damascus and the TI Silverwing. They are made of really hard steel and even a touchup becomes a pretty big deal. I would cringe at the thought of having to put a new bevel on my TI damascus. Of course I've been shaving with the Damascus for years now and haven't had to touch it.

But for the purpose of the poll its just a matter of what you would prefer to do. A quick touchup more frequently or a more protracted session but over a longer period of time.