In appreciation

So I came to SRP a while ago looking for information on a razor. I had been straight shaving and honing my own razor for many years before that and felt like I had a pretty good handle on it.
Maybe I'm dense or maybe just really determined to find a way on my own. After all, in my occupation that I have done most of my life the core of what I do is address problems and find a way around obstacles autonomously. Then again maybe I am making excuses but more and more as time goes by the more I realize how much I have had to learn. I can see looking back that I have at times been obstanant and sometimes slow to listen. I post this here because I see it most in terms of honing. Once I started listening more and taking good advice my skills have improved rapidly especially over the last few months. Likewise so has my attitude towards my skill level. It's funny to me that this is the case because professionally I often marvel about those who know just enough to think they are an expert. Anyone who is any good at something will get a rude awakening once they realize how much they DON'T know so this is not a new concept for me.
I guess I have thrown a lot of words at getting to the point but the skinny of what I am trying to say is that a number of you have been very patient with me...more than I would have been...and helped me to improve and lose bad habits even when I was hard of listening. I just want to say thank you for that and I will try to pass that forward as much as possible.

Thank you for posting PaulFLUS.

You’re probably being a little hard on yourself, and I recognize many of my own problems when I got back into straight razors and honing about 9-10 years ago.

When I was a few months in, I could make a shaving edge but it wasn’t that good really. I was doing the best I could at the time, and could not imagine a better way, method, etc. After all, if I could imagine it, I’d be doing it, right? I mistook poor edges for ‘too sharp’ when in fact they weren’t sharp enough, and had other honing problems. That’s where like your experience, other folks helped and gave me many useful ideas to try.

And I’m still learning. My recent trip to visit Alex Gilmore and his microscope told me that my stropping could be better, so I’ve learned from that and my stropping is now better - I can tell a difference.

Another thing that I’ve learned is that there are many ways to skin a cat, so keep an open mind when it comes to hardware and honing methods. Don’t trash other people and believe whatever it is you’re doing is the best way and final word. Try new things. Try new hardware. Keep learning. I believe that now, like 9 years ago, there is always a better way even if I can’t imagine it - so I keep at it, and with help from others I may get better.

It’s big of you to publicly recognize short coming.

For me who has just arrived, it is really a pleasure and it is reassuring to know that I can count on many truly exceptional people like you all! :beer1:

“Once I started listening more and taking good advice my skills have improved rapidly especially over the last few months. Likewise, so has my attitude towards my skill level.”

Having trained folks in a few other disciplines, it is always much easier to do so, when they know little to nothing about the skill. Literally a blank slate.

For us, the proverbial “Knife Guy” with a bit of knowledge, is a problem for many. And there is nothing the teacher can do to overcome that. It is in the student’s head and must , on their own, come to the realization of the axiom, “If you continue to do the same thing, you will continue to get the same results”.

Some do, some don’t. For Mentor’s it is the frustration. And some put it out there, and some give up on the hardhead. For mentors that do, we just remember that hundreds of folks read these threads and for each question, hundreds have the same issue, but will never ask for help.

Unfortunately we loose some that refuse to relearn, and we also loose some mentors that give up.

Paul-I am a firm believer in the old adage "The more I learn, the less I know." I have been honing for 10 years, and honestly feel like I'm just getting started learning. You're NEVER done learning IMO, about anything, and if you ever feel like you are...

I quite often utter the phrase "I don't know what I don't know". The more time I spend here though the less I don't know.

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Originally Posted by PaulFLUS

the skinny of what I am trying to say is that a number of you have been very patient with me...more than I would have been...and helped me to improve and lose bad habits even when I was hard of listening. I just want to say thank you for that and I will try to pass that forward as much as possible.

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Well said. Every time I try to make a razor I realize just how different it is from a "regular" knife and just how little I know about it. If it wasn't for the patient guys on here, I probably would have never made a decent razor. One day I may actually get up enough courage to ship one off to one of these guys for critique and feedback, but I'm not that brave yet.

Everyone has to learn. Some learn hard and some easier but we all start out knowing little to nothing.

When I started using a straight these sites didn't exist and I was really on my own. I bought some Eboy specials to practice honing and thought I had it down and you all know what they say about the pitfalls of a little knowledge.

I learned my lesson the expensive way. I bought a fancy Livi Damascus Razor with Takeda Steel when I had no business even coming near it. One day while shaving I propped the razor on the counter and it slipped and fell against a ceramic shave mug and then on the ceramic counter. It had chips all along the entire edge. I figured no problem I can take care of this with my Norton 8K/4K.

I soon learned how little I knew and how easy it was to mess up a razor. It took me years to fix that edge. I still have it and it will always remind me of the limits of my honing abilities and when to see help.

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The learning never stops ......so very true. I am reasonably good with different hones but one of these days I will get in touch with someone who really knows the Arkansas stones and have them teach me how to prepare them! I have wasted many thousands of laps on my stones so I do need some help! :)

@steve56 Your stropping could be better??? But I thought you were getting 100+ shaves on one of your razors. Can't be that much wrong with your stropping.

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Originally Posted by Seveneighth

@steve56 Your stropping could be better??? But I thought you were getting 100+ shaves on one of your razors. Can't be that much wrong with your stropping.

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I thought that it was pretty good, but Alex’s microscope tld me that I wan’t getting all the edge evenly so I slowed down, observed how the razor was contacting the strop, and modified my grip. That seemed to have helped.

Shave 118 this morning. Seems to be losing a little smoothness, so it might be nearing the end....

Honing is a journey and personal to everyone, in my mind.. Evolving, discovering, understanding, it never gets old :)

True words Joseph.

Yeah, I'd agree with that also. In fact that applies to most skills. I have been in the locksmith business for almost...well, let's see...:thinking:...5 decades? :shrug: Since I was a little boy my dad took me to work with him and I started to actually apprentice at 13 so that's 43 years. I've been doing it everyday for a living since 1990 so that's 30 years. Anyway, I run into something almost literally every day that I have never seen before or have no recollection of. Another thing I have learned in all this time is never discount anyone. I have learned things from people who are brand new to the business and also from some I wrote off as not that smart. That's an eye opening lesson. One we could ALL use. Lots of people think they are the grand poobah and above even listening to others. Best not to let that fragile ego make you shut your mind. The truly wise understand how much they don't know.