Thread: Whats sharp part 2

Well I was shaving this morning and got to thinking about why some of my razors just seem to shave better than others. Lets see I've got about 40 razors now in my rotation including all the well known ones and about 10 TIs and 10 DDs but it just seems that there are distinct differences. I know people say any quality razor can be honed to perfection but is that a real absolute?

I classify my razors in three groups; those that give excellent shaves, those that give outstanding shaves, and thouse that give exceptional shaves. So whats the difference? All three groups give me a shave thats makes my face feel like a babys posterior the difference is in the comfort factor. The excellent razors, you can feel them working on you face, they don't pull or anything like that but you are aware of their presence. The Outstanding shavers, you can barely feel them on you face and the exceptional shavers if you were blindfolded and someone was shaving you you wouldn't know you were being shaved.

These differences cut across different brands. I think of my 10 TIs only two are exceptional and maybe another four are outstanding, probably the most consistant are the DDs. Just about all of them give exceptional shaves.

So the question is do you find the same to be true or do I need to go back to honing school?

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

So the question is do you find the same to be true or do I need to go back to honing school?

I like to look at it another way. Some razors are easier to hone consistently than others. The ones you call exceptional are the ones that hone easily. Most razors can be honed to be near exceptional, with different degrees of difficulty. Knowing I have exceptional ones, I don't have a lot of patience for the tough ones.

I'm still a newbie in honing matters and also don't own that many razors, but for my few I use in my rotation I can definitely second your observations.

All razors get the same treatment here, and I do my honing efforts until I cannot observe any further improvement on the edge, so my current impression was that this has to do with steel quality and the overall "character" of each razor. But of course it may very well be my limited ability in honing that just cannot cope with certain razors to get them to the "exceptional" level...


-Axel-

Sometimes the equipment is a factor. The Satinedge couldn't compare with the Eye Witness until I took them to the coticule. They both shave better but the DD is now on the par with Taylor's.

I don't know but as long as I get a good shave with little effort I am happy. I lso agree with Joe the less time I spend honing the more I can spend shaving>>