Thread: How do you become a Honemeister

Ive been seeing around the site lately people have been saying to have your razors professionally honed. I can see this for a beginner and their first razor so they can shave with it right away. However on vintage razors i don't see why anyone wouldn't want to hone their own razor. If one is into vintage blades I'd wager that they have been in the game for a while and have honed a razor or two. I think as the hobby part of STR8s one would want to divulge in all the aspects of the art. Furthermore, how would one become a honemeister if they never practice. I guess my question is, do professional honers have computerized machines or super ultra equipment or techniques that make them a "cut above" the home honing standard. I am not bashing anything just simply curious. I know that I consider the time and concentration required to hone blades, knives and razors, to be a form of therapy simply because you have to put all your brain power into the action. Was just curious and thought of this the other day while I was shaving, Which by the way was my 4th shave. Doing good...still nicking myself but only because Im going to fast. I watched a video on here yesterday and learned some things so I'm just gonna keep truckin'. Take er easy yall!

"Professional Honemeisters" do not give themselves this title. It is usually bestowed upon them by the thankful masses.

Guys like Lynn didnt just start calling themselves honemeisters, after honing thousands of razors for different people and have repeatable good results on blades of various grinds and condition(think ebay specials).



Then other people mange to get a razor to sort of shave and think they are honemeisters. These people usually call themselves honesters.

No No I know that Honemeister is more or less a made up title. I was just trying to pose the question, how would one become a professional honer if they never practice. 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.

Oh yes.. Lots and lots of practice like anything else is required.

Originally Posted by Turbodude

No No I know that Honemeister is more or less a made up title. I was just trying to pose the question, how would one become a professional honer if they never practice. 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.

It is suggested to have your first razor pro honed so that you will know what a shave ready razor feels like. It takes out the variable of honing which is an acquired skill. The general idea is to take out as many variables as possible to make actually learning to shave easier. Once you get the hang of shaving and what a shave ready straight feels like, then people generally start getting into honing themselves if they feel the need or want. Personally, I only have two straights, both of which are shave ready so I just have a finishing hone for touchups. Something you can appreciate from knife sharpening, it is easier and faster to keep a knife sharp than to sharpen a dull one. Same thing with razors. I just don't let my razors get dull so I don't need a full set of stones. Although I will eventually get a set, right now I can't justify the price.

agreed! i cant tell you how many knives i buy from stores and have to rebevel the edge because the factory put on an edge for longevity not sharpness. And rebeveling suuuuuucks!

Send a PM to me and I will give you my paypal address. I will forward the honemeister certificate upon receipt of cleared payment .... no e-checks please.

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 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?!