Thread: Honing Heresy

Thanks for the post! It is a subject that a lot of new guys never see or hear about. One of our guys, David Uthe, said he shaved for a long time by just touching up the edge on a hanging linen strop with the white paste ( probably talcum powder of some kind). I imagine that a Coticule would do the same or any number of other fine grit abrasives.

For a bunch of us we just like the pursuit of the perfect edge and thus over complicate things. The fact that we also monkey around with a number of different razors in various conditions merely allows us to be even more compulsive.

To me the minimum to maintain an excellent edge for years is a 4000 grit to restore/maintain a bevel and some finishing grit of 8000-10000 to shave with.

Just my $.02,

This is a great and useful thread.
Putting a shaving edge on a razor and maintaining it is not that difficult.
I know a store in Antwerp that does it with a simple and pretty fool proof method.
They use a pasted loom strop, but it's basically the same as the barber hone approach.
I have spoken to guys that have been shaving for many years that way.

BUT... (there's always a "but", isn't there?)
Those guys consider most ebay and heirloom razors beyond salvation. They don't succeed in getting a shaving edge on those.

AND... (there's always an "and", too)
Some guys, like myself, get all carried away with the ultimate shaving edge. Getting that is a never-ending quest and the maintenance of the edges we settle with for the time being, asks for other tools as well.

I feel we have a shortage of threads like these. Straight razor shaving should not always be complicated.

Best regards,
Bart.