Thread: To Hone or Pay Someone Else to Hone

Undoubtedly, experience in the actual shave counts for a lot. When I started straight razor shaving, I wanted and needed every advantage I could get. I spent a lot of time learning face prep, lather heat, angles of attack, skin stretching. Part of my emphasis was on blade sharpness. It needed to be scary sharp!

As I became more experienced at shaving, a lot of these "helps" have lessened in importance. Several months ago, I realized that my blade was noticeably less than optimally sharp, but I had continued to shave with the blade in that "poor" condition. I had the time to rehone, and have good equipment. But, it just wasn't necessary to get a nice shave.

I know from many posts that my experience is a common experience. With time, we get better and better shaves, even with less than optimal edges on occasion.

All this leads me to second guessing myself on something I just said earlier. Here it is...

"Minimally a barbers hone and a leather strop is enough."

Maybe, I should say "For someone who is experienced, a barbers hone is enough..." The question in my mind now is whether a barbers hone is enough for someone just learning to shave, or do they need a better edge than the 8K can provide?

I still stand by my "barbers hone is enough", but not as steadfastly as 30 minutes ago. Hmmm...

Originally Posted by LarryAndro

All this leads me to second guessing myself on something I just said earlier. Here it is...

"Minimally a barbers hone and a leather strop is enough."

Maybe, I should say "For someone who is experienced, a barbers hone is enough..." The question in my mind now is whether a barbers hone is enough for someone just learning to shave, or do they need a better edge than the 8K can provide?

I still stand by my "barbers hone is enough", but not as steadfastly as 30 minutes ago. Hmmm...

Actually everyone is right, the only difference is that a Barber's Hone is "designed" to maintain a "Shave Ready" razor where the Norton (or comparable) will create and maintain a "Shave Ready" razor

I think the actual saying is "It is much easier to keep a knife sharp than to sharpen a knife" (unk)

*Yes I know many of us can create a "Shave Ready razor using a Barber's Hone but that is not a newbie thing