Thread: Pro honing???

I have 20 blades, only one bought new (Dovo). Rest are vintage that I hone with a Norton 4/8. I've never had one professionally honed, but my face has survived straights for over 3 years with minimum damage, and I get a bbt shave with a wtg and atg with all of them. I've been a knife nut for years, so maybe honing comes naturally. I'm just curious if I'm missing something by not trying a pro hone. Do they do something really special?

Yes and no.

I don't think there is any magic or pixy dust, but there is a possibility that you really don't know what sharp is.

I also have been a knife guy that was/is quite skilled with a blade and hones. I felt like honing came easy, but only after I sent my blades out for review/critique AND sampled a few pro honed blades did I learn that indeed my honing is pretty good...but there is a difference, and some guys are producing really silky edges that get CLOSE shaves.

Only one way to answer your question...talk to a couple pros and send them a blade some guys will look at your work and offer feedback...at minimum they will hone it and you can experience the difference directly, then answer the question, "does the difference matter to YOU?"

Thanks. Hope I never get too old to be willing to try something new.

Originally Posted by agbowes

.....I'm just curious if I'm missing something by not trying a pro hone. Do they do something really special?

Without trying your razor, it's hard to know. I'd send one off to one of our members and find out. What they really do special is bring many years of experience and thousands of razors honed to the table. You'll know when you try one if yours are comparable. You'll find those offering honing sevices in the classifieds and vendor's sections linked below.

I acquired a couple from gssixgun early on to compare my honing to and it was quite helpful having his honing as a benchmark to gauge my progress.

Enjoy, and have fun!!

Regards,
Howard

If you are in doubt, just send out one of your razor to someone who is more experienced than you, and you will find out if your edges are good or not.

If they shave fine for you, and you are not wanting more, than the cheapest option is to forget about everything. After I started doubting my edges I bought every finisher in sight, paid a lot of money, and spent a lot of time honing. Was it worth it? I don't really know, my edges got better, but my bank account didn't like it