Thread: Honing with two hands

Wow Dewey - that makes me feel better. Have to appreciate the humor in all of this. Lynn's OT post worked

Originally Posted by karkarta

Wow Dewey - that makes me feel better. Have to appreciate the humor in all of this. Lynn's OT post worked

Oh yeah - no worries! We're all just finding our way through this jungle of life

Originally Posted by Yannis

It is not need to rediscover wheel.
People hone razors a very very long time ago, and because when begin honing, the easiest way is to hone with two hands, this method is not dicovered today but is probably the first method that people tryed and has been put aside by centuries of experience
That's why there is no need to be tryed again.
For a new discovered method I am willing to give it a try
By the way if someone hone razors with success by using two hands is the exeption and not the rule

I know I'm really butting in where I don't belong, and I'm WAY late into this thread, but with that ^ explanation, tell me why then do you shave with a straight razor, and not a Gillette Mach3?
I know we're talking decades, and not centuries, but isn't it the same thing? Str8's have been tried, the "safety razor" has been accepted by the masses - meaning by inference of this thread, that it must be "better" - so there's no reason to go back to that old inferior way of shaving, right?


OK, again, I'm really not trying to put this conversation back into the bicker it almost was, just wondering how that line of thinking works.

Go Diamondbacks?!
or is everyone happier with the Sox?

Speaking of Boston, I just went to my first game @ Fenway Park last month. It was really cool!! LOL
http://flickr.com/photos/lanceb/sets/72157601925828845/ <<-- if anyone is interested.

[quote=RAP-BIG-ICP1;148336]I know I'm really butting in where I don't belong, and I'm WAY late into this thread, but with that ^ explanation, tell me why then do you shave with a straight razor, and not a Gillette Mach3?
I know we're talking decades, and not centuries, but isn't it the same thing? Str8's have been tried, the "safety razor" has been accepted by the masses - meaning by inference of this thread, that it must be "better" - so there's no reason to go back to that old inferior way of shaving, right?


OK, again, I'm really not trying to put this conversation back into the bicker it almost was, just wondering how that line of thinking works.


The " safety razor " as the two hand honing is accepted because is
easier to newbies.
But for the results.....

I personally always use both hands, in various ways - depending on what I feel is best and / or easier for the particular razor and the hone I am using.

For example, I am a big fan of using 1" hones. Take the hone in my left hand, hold the razor in my right and hone away. Same for barber hones. Works a treat.

Now, holding a 3x8" in your hand is not as much fun, and I usually lay it on a table / top. What the @#$! am I supposed to do with my left hand then??? So I use it in the honing process - may be on top pressing harder to take out a chip, may be just the thumb behind the spine just slightly pushing, depending on the case and the razor.

I think it is not right for someone to say that one way only is the right way and the other doesn't work.

Yannis - if I remember correctly, you were also the person who complained about poor result from a coticule - that it was 4K or so and you coudn't pass the HHT off it. You said HHT wasn't working because it was low grit and a bad coticule. However - it is actually very easy to pass HHT off 4K, and I can do it even on 1K. Sure, some razors pass HHT harder off the coticule (regardless if it's 4K or not) but it doesn't mean that it can't be done.

We should keep an open mind. What works for one may not be ideal for another.

And Justin's big toe here and there really takes the cake in this thread

Cheers
Ivo

Originally Posted by izlat

IWhat the @#$! am I supposed to do with my left hand then???

Oh, if you think ... hard enough, there's always a use for an extra hand.

Can I ask what the advantage of honing on a narrower hone is? I would have thought a 3 inch one would offer a more stable base. Can I ask this here or should I start another thread. My appologies Estroncio I didn't mean to hijack your thread, dashed interesting though.

In the big picture the hone width means very little as long as it is wider than 1/2 the length of the blade.

In this example mentioned the bigger the hone the harder it is to hold in your hand. Small barber hones are great unless your technique involves table stablized honing and then your going to have a harder time (or just keep it at the edge of the table).

The only advantage I have postulated in the past was a sense that a thinner hone creates greater honing ability because you eliminate the flatness issue as the razor never sits (or tries to sit) on the complete hone. You can focus the stone on a particular part of the blade better.

Like a bicycle with training wheels, only a beginner would run the razor down the hone sideways so there is very little need for a wide hone.

Knowing what I know now, I would have much preferred a 1 and 1/2 inch wide Norton at half the price.

One of the reasons that I use two hands on the Norton is that it is too big to hold and therefore you must place it on the table. The problem for me is tables vary in height and this means that getting your muscle memory to remember a particular stroke is hard and making mistakes is easy. I prefer just to be safe and steady the blade just enough to get the job done.
Just my way of doing it, and it works so it doesn't bother me if others claim it is unacceptable.
My view on life is test everything you are told, if it works for you then great, if not, you are not obliged to take up a practice just because of somebody elses preference.(This of course relies on testing the advice thoroughly before making a decision)
I have done my testing and I know what works best for me.

Originally Posted by Choppa

Can I ask what the advantage of honing on a narrower hone is? I would have thought a 3 inch one would offer a more stable base. Can I ask this here or should I start another thread. My appologies Estroncio I didn't mean to hijack your thread, dashed interesting though.

Do not worry about that.

Greetings

Dioni