Thread: Who hones and who just doesn't want to?

I am not cheap about some things but I'm as cheap as you can get about others. Damned if I'm going to send my razor to someone else every time it needs to be honed or touched up. So I've saved lots of money by honing my own razors ........ long as you don't ask how much I have into hones ....

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

I am not cheap about some things but I'm as cheap as you can get about others. Damned if I'm going to send my razor to someone else every time it needs to be honed or touched up. So I've saved lots of money by honing my own razors ........ long as you don't ask how much I have into hones ....

Let me venture a guess Jim?????????????? I would bet you have bought 14 grand worth of stones over the past 10 yrs

Honing (really learning to hone) is the apex of this righteous pursuit for me. I love the feeling of steel on stone, through the generosity of a mentor and friend, I have been fortunate to experience the ultimate so far: the Escher, that silky effortless feeling, still knowing something is happening at the meeting place between steel, stone, and mind.

I have not honed any of my razors yet but I just bought a Naniwa 12k this week. It is on its way. I have one razor in my rotation of 4 that needs a touch up. I'll test out my skills on the 12k SS this weekend followed by a few passes on a Crox bench strop. Thankfully there is much guidance on the wiki and Glen's and Lynn's videos to help me get started.

I hone for myself and my two boys. I live in an area where we literally have the slowest mail in North America. We get letter mail 3 time a week and parcel mail 2 times. I'd hate to think of all the time our razors would spend in transit. I do enjoy the challenge of getting just a little more out of each razor. Over time my edges have gotten better although I would not say I'm any master.

Originally Posted by pixelfixed

You have pulled a cord John a solid Ebony baseball bat,i can do that,for about $500.00 thats what the material would cost.

We'll call it the "Roseville Slugger".

I hone because I enjoy it. I love sharp things and making them that way. When I found razors/honing it was the obvious next step.

I will perhaps stop honing when I master it and have nothing more to learn in that regard...I doubt I'll ever stop

Originally Posted by RezDog

I hone for myself and my two boys. I live in an area where we literally have the slowest mail in North America. We get letter mail 3 time a week and parcel mail 2 times. I'd hate to think of all the time our razors would spend in transit. I do enjoy the challenge of getting just a little more out of each razor. Over time my edges have gotten better although I would not say I'm any master.

Ah, but you also get to live in one of the most beautiful places on earth, so it kind of balances out.

I've always honed my own razors but here lately my results are pretty hit and miss. It may be time to replace my Ace Hardware special with a Norton 4K/8K. My hectic work and school schedule have made honing parties almost impossible lately and I find myself doing a lot more shavette and DE shaves. Maybe over Christmas break I can hone up the fleet and get them squared away.

I hone for the best reason of all - I enjoy it. I find it meditative and relaxing, and I just plain like doing things myself. It's actually the difficult ones that I really enjoy. My best shaver now was a bear to get dialed in. I had to take it back to the hones three times when I first got it because I just couldn't get it 'right'. But when it finally clicked, I felt like a million bucks and enjoyed that shave more than any other I had for months.