Thread: Split personality

I've been working on my honing over the past few months, and have been getting serviceable edges...actually, what I think are pretty good. A day or two later I'll be glancing at the classifieds and notice a wonderful razor at a great price, shave ready - and BANG! Apres PayPal it's on it's way. When I receive it, I lather up...and realize how poorly my own sharpening skills really are. The new blades are like a knife thru hot butter!

Funny thing, while honing again and In a moment of distraction and fatigue I caught myself...well...I caught some slight interaction between the two sides of my brain. I had a good few passes, light and steady, but I had a brief though of the classifieds screen on SRP and proceeded to fumble the next pass pushing the shoulder in to the stone. Again, I relaxed and steadied for a few even passes...then remembered the W&B for such a fine price (and scales to die for). SCRAPE! Fumbled another pass.

I do believe I will never become a great honer. There's an evil part of my brain that refuses to accept razor sharpening when a new one can be found freshly honed in the SRP classifieds. I thought RAD was a slight desire for a new acquisition, but this is so much worse!

Sorry for rambling, but this is how I'm beginning my therapy. This post is half in jest, but remains true none the less.

Okay, now off to check the classifieds...errrrrr...enough!

Manifest destiny; self-sabotage; negative expectations. Nice to think you have such far-reaching capacity for determining the results of your labor?

Okay. I had two Norton combo stones "fresh from the factor" that were not flattened (my flattening stone wasn't flat so that was a good thing) but they were very flat. I honed up a chipped and dull Dubl Duck from eBay as the first attempt at honing (wouldn't have done that had I known their reputation in this community). I had Lynn's DVD, read for months on shaving and honing and had a number of shaves under my belt (well, actually above my jugular) from a shave-ready razor purchased from member of this site. Guess what? Without any real expectations, positive or negative it turns out I made a very shave-worthy edge finished on the Norton 8,000, and, just like Lynn said it was a perfectly serviceable razor.

My Norton 4k, once the surface had been lapped off, was determined to be defective (micro-holes that hold swarf that ruin the delicate razor's edge) and my ultimate finisher, my Spyderco Ultra-Fine had "high points" which also ruined an edge in a similar fashion. The Spyderco was fixed by a combination of razor laps with trash razors (used because it's so fine it doesn't wear off much steel) and fixed with a 6"x2" DMT extra-fine and another honer's non-honing side of the same exact hone (also chamfered). When I finished the Dubl Duck again with my highest grit (finisher) hone it ascended to a great shaver, as expected.

Mentality can be a powerful modulator of performance. You seem to know this. Now seize your fate! Time to finish your therapy!