Question for the pro honers Lynn, Glenn all others

[Airportcopper]

So pro honers..
Where did u guys learn the art of honing .. Did u have mentors.. ?? Just was wondering a lil background of how you all developed ur skills??

[pixelfixed]

So pro honers..
Where did u guys learn the art of honing .. Did u have mentors.. ?? Just was wondering a lil background of how you all developed ur skills??

Is a gift from god.

[Airportcopper]

Ha!!! Lol !!!

[Airportcopper]

Is a gift from god.

I believe u fall into this category

[Catrentshaving]

Practice, practice, and more practice. Honing is an art that you can't learn without doing. I've had a few guys to my home and the best way of teaching is "here, sit down and hone, I'll watch you and give you pointers and tell you what and if you're doing wrong"
You just simply can't learn without doing

[10Pups]

Okay I am going to try to say something not funny here. I am no pro but in the short time I have spent honing I know I learn every time I do it. Something else I know as fact. If you like/love doing something your probably going to do it very well at some point. Wow I did it.

[RoyalCake]

Okay I am going to try to say something not funny here. I am no pro but in the short time I have spent honing I know I learn every time I do it. Something else I know as fact. If you like/love doing something your probably going to do it very well at some point. Wow I did it.

I dunno, I still had a slight smirk when I read that. You were doing good then had to put the last sentence in.

[mainaman]

Ha!!! Lol !!!

Gotta practice, but also have to have at least some feel for what happens and how to do it.
If you feel that you are improving with every honing then keep on working at it, if you feel that after a significant number of razors things are not changing got better, look for help with someone with experience.

[ScottGoodman]

Sham.
I believe I paid a postal workers salary for about a year mailing razors to Kansas City when I started. Lots of razors & a true honing pro is what it took for me.

[pinklather]

Copper,
I got shaveable edges somewhat reliably by 35 blades honed. By 78, it was getting pretty rare to have a lousy edge. By 178, I stopped looking at gear, rocks to provide benefit & sought only practice & experienced guidance. It was at this time the honorable sixgunner told me that at 100 blades, you think you know a few things about honing. By 500, you realize you don't know squat. I hit the 500 blade despair at 178 and am still there, though my edges have improved. 437 will be honed this eve.

In the same way that preferences differ, learning styles differ also. What worked for Lynn, Glen, Jimmy, Randy - isn't neccessarily what's gonna work for you. But I would highly encourage you to get as much face-time with a single honemeister or experienced user as you can. Why a single one? So you don't get distracted or confused by how different, conflicting the approaches and thinking is between experienced guys. After being able to reliably get the joy from the edge - then branch out to the thinking, techniques of others - and have a ton of fun doing it.

Though young, the honorable holly4pirating once posted: go hone a couple hundred blades and most of these questions will fall by the wayside. He is so right. Most of us don't have natural talent at this - and must make up for it by the not so glorious work of lots of practice. In my case, both persistence and stupidity seem to pay off equally well. If I'm persistent or too dumb to know when to quit, my edges improve. I suspect yours will too.