Thread: Franz Swaty hone, Austrian

Originally Posted by Utopian

Agreed.

I have a set of razors I have maintained with nothing but a barber hone for several years. They shave just fine. However, their edges are not as good as the edges I can produce with some of my other hones.

Now, are the edges off of a $500 hone better than then edge off of a $15 Swaty????

Of course they are!
Their edges are $485 sharper and $485 more comfortable!!!!!

Of course there was that nice study that found people rated the same wine better when told it cost $100 than when told it cost $10. When not informed on the price it was in between.

link

That is the problem with just labeling X better than Y when using such a subjective test as shaving. Properly blinded tests would be needed to be truly accurate about such subjective quality.

I've tried shaving from multiple edges refinished on a swaty compared to my normal progression of finishing on a 12k and then an escher and trust me there's a difference in the edge, but both are fine for shaving.

Originally Posted by PonderingTurtle

Properly blinded tests would be needed to be truly accurate about such subjective quality.

UMMMM Yeah you have a good time with that test, me I keep my eyes wide open while shaving...Personally I'm thinking the stone won't matter much if shaving blinded, the shave might tend to be a bit painful regardless...

Originally Posted by Gibbs

I just did. All I got in this search for this sub-group was you and Utopian and myself. I'm sure Swaty was well used by barbers.

Might you have accidentally clicked on "Search this thread"? There are a couple hundred results for Swaty in the hones forum

enjoy!

Originally Posted by Disburden

I've tried shaving from multiple edges refinished on a swaty compared to my normal progression of finishing on a 12k and then an escher and trust me there's a difference in the edge, but both are fine for shaving.

And audiophiles claim that they can hear the difference between a $1000 power cable and a $2 one. People have a very strong capacity to convince themselves of what they want to believe. Of course when the participate in a blinded study they can not tell the difference between a $1000 cable and a piece of wire coat hanger.

So I believe that you perceive a difference, and that given the chance I might well perceive the same difference, but with out proper blinded tests you can't be sure. You don't think that the people tasting the wine when told it was $100 fully believed it was better than those who was told it only cost $10? They were just as sure of themselves as you are.

Human perception and memory is highly fallible.

I was funning earlier, but honestly there have been "blind" tests done, in fact with much closer finishing stones than a Swaty and a Real finisher...

It really depends on the person doing the shaving, but in this test RayG nailed the differences pretty darn good...

http://straightrazorpalace.com/honin...aving-fun.html


Now between a Barber's hone and a high grit finisher there is even more difference in the final bevel finish than in that test I linked...

Along the lines of what Glen wrote, I too was "funning" when I said there was a $485 difference between the sharpness and comfort of my Asagi and my Swaty. There is a noticeable difference. It's just a matter of personal priority as to whether or not that difference is worth the cost.

Originally Posted by gssixgun

Now between a Barber's hone and a high grit finisher there is even more difference in the final bevel finish than in that test I linked...

I am not saying that there is no difference, just that when it is this subjective that an honestly perceived difference may not equate to a real difference.

Originally Posted by Utopian

Along the lines of what Glen wrote, I too was "funning" when I said there was a $485 difference between the sharpness and comfort of my Asagi and my Swaty. There is a noticeable difference. It's just a matter of personal priority as to whether or not that difference is worth the cost.

And again my point is not that there is can not be a difference, just that with out blinding a perceived difference might not equate to a real difference. Honestly only disposable razor companies are likely to do fully valid testing criteria to compare different razors.

For example I remember seeing about one of their factories that had all their employees shave at work, to get this kind of reliable data.

I prefer my razors to be in the neighborhood of $300 sharp. YMMV.