Thread: Vendor prof honed razor?

Wanted to get some thoughts from folks before i think about sending this back to a a vendor i won't mention cause i do believe they are a good company and i dont like bashing folks. The razor is stated "Brand New Dovo Carre profssionally honed". I honestly think they made about 5 passes on a hone and sent it out for delivery. Razor doesnt even pass the hair test. Should i send it back or should i just send it to Glen which i would do when a razor needs honed? Thoughts? Apologize if this isnt the right section for this.

You say it does not pass the HHT, but have you tried to shave? I can care less about HHT, it can tell sharpness but not shave readiness.

I guess my first question would be (and don't take this the wrong way) how long have you been shaving with a straight razor? Second question would be have you tried actually shaving with it?

Very few new razors are truly shave ready. They can vary from being a joke to pretty close. Unless you know who did the honing I wouldn't send it back but I would call them and talk to them about how it was professionally honed. I would send it to someone you know will do a good job.

I agree with above. The only real test is the shave test. If you get a good shave from it the HHT doesn't matter. Only time I ever do the HHT is when I want to amuse myself.

Hey, RB
I don't think there's much to add, though its possible that your sharing your experience level would allow better focus.

Vendor services will show you all the pros for honing. If you're brand new to str8 shaving, I would recommend this. These guys use one daily and know what both sharp and smooth are. The reason for the pro is that if you're new and someone else does the work - you'll have a nagging doubt about the quality of their work. When new, there are a gajillion things that can make a shave or an edge go south. I became proficient at most of the mistakes.

If you're somewhat experienced w/ a str8 and just don't like the edge, I'd be happy to do for just actual cost of postage & bubble mailer.

However you go - don't suffer lousy shaves. Get help. You'll find guys here are wonderful at it.

Bought a shave ready razor couple months ago and when it arrived it had hair skin and what looked like blood not wiped off properly,it was obvious that customs had a play with it before sending it on and it was no longer shave ready

I would probably go back to the vendor and ask them the question before posting it here. At least then your story can be "i got a razor that i didn't think was shave ready and this is what the vendor said".

I've bought a single razor that was advertised as being honed when it was new. It wasn't quite as sharp as what I generally shave with (which with my hair is an HHT4 type edge suspending the hair from either side - the best I can get out of run of the mill chromium oxide) but it was fine for a shave. I have the feeling that historically, most home shavers used their straights a lot less sharp than we generally demand. We want perfect with roses, champagne and a warm fuzzy feeling. They probably just wanted to get most of the hair off so they didn't look like a vagrant.

At any rate, I've bought razors that were from the factory and not professionally honed, and the ones that were professionally honed were definitely in better shape than the ones that hadn't been honed at all. Like by a factor of 10 better (I should probably state that the factory razors had been honed to some extent at the factory, but with less care than the professional honers).

Also, you might find that the professionally honed razors are intentionally *not* honed to the .05 CBN type of hone level because a razor like that in a beginner's hand will result in a lot of razor burn and some hefty weepers, and possibly some long shallow slices.

Def. send it to someone here, at least you know it won't come back with skin, soap, and blood on it.

Originally Posted by Alucard73

Bought a shave ready razor couple months ago and when it arrived it had hair skin and what looked like blood not wiped off properly,it was obvious that customs had a play with it before sending it on and it was no longer shave ready

Dear god that is just all kinds of wrong man!