Thread: How do you become a Honemeister

Originally Posted by Turbodude

No No I know that Honemeister is more or less a made up title.

You must be confusing SRP with some other amateur forum. I still cringe when I see "Meister" in this context because of the vastly different connotations in English and the original German, but it certainly is a honorific, and equally certainly not something that is acquired, but bestowed upon someone extremely proficient in honing. Rule of thumb, unless someone can hone any razor on any hone, he is at most a honester.

Originally Posted by Turbodude

I was just trying to pose the question, how would one become a professional honer if they never practice.

Professional as in 'honing for money'? Easy. Join a forum where people will believe anything because they do not know better...

Originally Posted by Turbodude

I can see getting at least one razor done professionally so you have something to shave with and a example for one to use while honing their own razors. I say why not try and hone your own blades. Even the most professional honers had to start somewhere. Like i said it was just a thought i came up with the other day.

What an excellent idea. Why don't you hone a few thousand razors, then report back with its validation...

Turbodude, kidding aside, I also find honing to be therapeutic. For me it is also a challenge. Every razor is different and some are easier to get "there" than others. Some are really difficult and frustrating. At my stage of development anyhow. I think I am proficient enough at honing razors to charge a fee and hone 'professionally' but I don't want to mess up something I enjoy doing by making it a job.

As it is now I hone when I feel like it. I also have the RAD so I am continually getting more razors and have a backlog of my own to tend to. No deadlines, no expectations. Some razors I've sharpened from bevel setting through finishing in thirty minutes while others have taken hours. It ain't worth the twenty bucks AFAIC. As I saw Lynn post once in a thread talking about a possible "honing certification" scheme, "I know I can hone." That is all the credibility I need and it is still fun.

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

"I know I can hone." That is all the credibility I need and it is still fun.

Right on! shooting is also amongst my therapy...hmmm is that weird that i like to perfect my skills with weapons? but seriously honing and shooting takes absolute concentration so you don't hurt yourself or others, and therefore takes your mind off of everything else you may be thinking of.

Originally Posted by BeBerlin

Professional as in 'honing for money'? Easy. Join a forum where people will believe anything because they do not know better...

What an excellent idea. Why don't you hone a few thousand razors, then report back with its validation...

HA HA HA! I should do that and make some extra cash! You know, and i know razors aren't the same as knives, i know this so don't jump me, but i have probably honed 1000+ knives for people over the years. When i was deployed to Iraq it never failed that someone would use their knife as a masonry tool and I would have to resurrect it from its grave for them. Like i said its like therapy for me so i might just do that, got a 1000 razors i can borrow?!

Some like to keep chasing that elusive perfect edge because they like it and find it therapeutic.
Some send their blades to pros because they like to concentrate to some other thing, be it person, hobby or aspect of shaving.

I can understand the whole new hobby with all its aspects entices newbies, but once you follow the forum for a while, a understanding of the complexity of honing dawns. This is why some people like to outsource the task to somebody who does it quicker, better and to a fair price. This is why I ATM get mine honed by a pro.

IMO, honing is a serious investment in terms of both money and time, definitely not just an easy way to dodge the sharpening fee, as many newbies seem to think. To me it only makes sense as a hobby, not economically.

Originally Posted by ursus

IMO, honing is a serious investment in terms of both money and time, definitely not just an easy way to dodge the sharpening fee, as many newbies seem to think. To me it only makes sense as a hobby, not economically.

I agree with that. I have invested one heck of a lot of $ and time in learning honing . Worth it to me though. It is not for everybody. I remember when I first came around a fellow posted about, " the drudgery of honing." Not that way to me at all.