Thread: Best advice for new shavers trying to hone

The best advice I have for new shavers trying to hone their first and only razor is...

...DON'T. At least not yet anyway.

Honing is something that takes LOTS of practice. Think the ability to hit a three-point jump shot the equivalent ability to make a few good passes on a razor while honing. Now you need MANY good passes in a row (without mistakes) to sharpen the razor without over-honing. Can you hit multiple three-point jump shots in a row when you first pick up basketball???

Too many people, including myself at first, can become so frustrated trying to hone their razor so they can get to the fun part (using the razor), that they never get to shave with it because it never gets sharp enough... after weeks or months of discouragement, they turn away from using a straight as it proves too difficult. They never really enjoy the feel of a sharp razor wiping the whiskers off their face. Shaving is the fun part guys - honing is just something to allow more fun.

My advice for any new person thinking about getting into straight razor shaving is to buy a second razor, probably something on ebay in decent but not perfect shape, preferably not stainless steel. Send their primary razor out to a honemeister to really get it sharp. This will provide a good reference point for what sharp is, and allow them to start using the razor and learning shaving technique. Use the second razor to practice honing on. That way if you don't pick it up in a few weeks or months, you aren't still waiting to try straight razor shaving.

Very well said. I definately think that everyone should learn to hone their own razors eventually (honing is fun in of itself); however, not before they know what it feels like to shave with a "shave ready" razor. Thanks for the post.

I guess, but I successfully honed at least 7 razors in one month's time of honing. They're not perfect, but what is? They shave great; that's the point, isn't it? Some of my razors took 20 minutes to hone to shave sharp, and others required much more labor. I spent a lot of time learning and practicing.
I think that beginners like myself should try to hone an old razor before a new one because it seems to me that the new ones take more time. Also spend about 3 or 4 hours on this site researching and studying before you try. It's not rocket science. You just have to be patient and mentally engaged to what your doing. I definitely learned to hone before I learned to shave, and my honing always has room for improvement of course. Anyone can do it with the right mindset. If you don't have the time to practice, I guess pay one of the honemeisters 30 bucks to do it, but I can assure that most people with a steady hand and good concentration can do it.
But if you design a rocket,then you're certainly in a class of your own.

Well, one learns through reading this site that even a razor done by Lynn Abrams has to be touched up after a few months, a few weeks or even a few shaves. So, are we supposed to spend $30. every few months until we learn how to be a honemeister ourselves? NOT !!! I've been able to glean a lot of useful info from this site, and Badger and Blade, and with my Norton 4k/8k coming in the mail and a lot of reading AND Lynn's DVD, I'll learn to get that slick clean shave that I got when my razor first arrived from Lynn, without expecting, yet hoping, for that perfect edge.

Honing is an essential part of razor maintenance. It's an interesting and integral part of our art and, neophyte that I am, I intend to try to master it.

Good for you. I feel the same way. I mean c'mon...don't hone your own razor? What is the worst that could happen? Just don't practice on an expensive blade. Go to a thrift store and buy a $10 razor and practice on that. Don't shave with it until it can cleanly cut a hanging hair. I learned on a brand new Solingen.
Who did Lynn send his razor out to to get honed when he got started. I'm guessing no one. There's lot's of people here that are self taught, and I'm sure they are very capable honemeisters. I say to newbies: don't be afraid to just dive in and go for it.

Originally Posted by fredvs79

My advice for any new person thinking about getting into straight razor shaving is to buy a second razor, probably something on ebay in decent but not perfect shape, preferably not stainless steel. Send their primary razor out to a honemeister to really get it sharp. This will provide a good reference point for what sharp is, and allow them to start using the razor and learning shaving technique. Use the second razor to practice honing on. That way if you don't pick it up in a few weeks or months, you aren't still waiting to try straight razor shaving.

Did you guys read this part of the post? The poster is not advocating not learning to hone, he is advocating learning to hone after you have a "shave ready" standard to shoot for. I am glad that you two have found success with your honing early on, yet I still have to agree with the original poster's advice to honing newbies.

This is good advice. I had three Wapienicas to practice honing and one Lynn honed Dovo Bismarck for shave ready. I thought "how hard can this honing stuff be?" and promptly un-shave readied my Bismarck. There was about a month where I was back to DE shaving... I refer to this as "the dark period". I finally got a wapienica up to shave ready and I babied it until I got others shave ready. The Bismarck is coming along but not quite there yet. Next shave test will reveal all.

Here's how I plan to survive my n00bdom (n00bishness? n00bioscity?). I have my new razors honed by Lynn via classicshaving, I have several practice razors from oh-boy, and hopefully I get good on the practice ones so when the real ones need a re-honing I can manage it myself.

We'll see how that goes ...

Originally Posted by Doc4

Here's how I plan to survive my n00bdom (n00bishness? n00bioscity?).

How about noobism? I'm definitely one.

It has been said before, and I'll say it again, it's important to start out with a razor that has been honed by one of our honemeisters: Lynn Abrams, Bill Ellis, Joe Chandler, etc., etc. - then you have a reference by which to set your standard by. I use a microscope. I know what the bevel and edge should look like after looking at a couple of edges honed by Lynn Abrams and Bill Ellis; also, how well they shaved. Each razor has it's own personality; and depending on it's history and age, each will require perhaps a different approach to getting that bevel where you want it before you begin you progressions of sharpening. One thing I've learned, if your bevel is not straight and perpendicular to the edge, it's going to be a difficult road to get your razor to that keen ready to shave state. - also, you want that edge to be as close to a ruler edge as you can, i.e., no micro chips! - straight as possible. I use a 1200 DMT to set my bevels. There is no sence in moving on until I get that bevel as described above. I will go back and forth to the microscope until I am satisfied. - from there, weather you use the Norton combination, or the blue and yellow Belgiums, or whatever, it's a matter of polishing out the scratches on that bevel until it is dark with as little glitter on the edge as possible. Easy to say, I know. You will find that some razors will hone up beautifully(like the Wapi's) and others will be a headache, and at least a challenge. Once you've set the bevel, go to that 4K, do progessions with the 8K, try different things. Keep going back to the scope. I now go to the 4K (the blue Belgium, for me) and stay with it until I like the looks of the bevel and my edge is scarry sharp. I then will do progressions betweek the 4K and 8K and then finish polishing on the yellow belgium w/o slurry until I feel it's ready to shave with. ...and, believe me, stropping might be your most important step in this entire process! It will make or break all the work you've done if not done properly! When I'm preparing a razor, my final step is to strop at least 100 laps(up and back). I can't stress this enough.

It's a fun road to learn what each razor will need; it's a learning process. I live here in the honeing section, and I pick up things every day. Example: I can't remember who said this one, but one of our members said, "My honeing skills improved 90% when I learned to lift the edge before completing each stroke". This has helped my honeing skills tremendously!

This learning process having to do with honeing will never be completely learned. Even our experienced honers are still learning. You will just get better and better, until the next problem razor.

Sorry to be so windy,

Regards,

Steve