Thread: Is there a test for "Honemeister"?

I wanna put it out there that Utopian honed three blades for me. We were talking and I had something like 5 or 6 razors to send but could only afford 1 extra. (1 free plus 1 @ $15). I had 2 NOS razors and one big Jo Rodgers with a BIG chip (1/8" deep, minimum). I asked if I could send him all three, and if he was willing, could he hone the better of the two Solingens and the chipped JR- and if the JR was too gone, the two Solingens. And he said, "You know what, no sense in sending 3 to have 2 honed, can I afford to pay $20 for 3 honings?" And I said absolutely yes. That $20 went to paying for him grinding the chip out and honing a razor so close to a wedge that literally half of it is hone wear...

Utopian- mad props. I can't see our transaction as profitable to you in anyway (by hourly rate alone you probably didn't even make minimum wage...) and I am incredibly grateful for it. I haven't been able to contact you (full PM box) but if you read this, please PM me I need to ask you something. THANKS SO MUCH!

I think this is a good time to tell my story, since I think I am the most recent honester to offer free honing. My story is quite similar to Utopians, but has a totally different ending.

About 4 months ago I started to offer free honing to newbes and then to students, getting ready for school. The only thing I asked was for them to pay the return S&H fees. I thought this would be a good opportunity for me to get the experience I needed to be able to hone at the next level. I had already been offering to help members individually by sending them pm's, but it seemed to be a little slow to me. After the offer for free honing was made the numbers changed dramatically. Over the last 4 months I did 133 razors, before I had to stop doing them for free and start charging.

Out of all the razors, that were sent to me, only 3 were in what I would call the 3 month "time to re-hone" condition. The rest were somewhere between that and ebay specials, chipped edges, frowns, haven't seen daylight in 40 years and couldn't cut through butter if it had to. But out of the 133 razors only 1 went back that was beyond hope. Not bad, considering some of the stuff I saw over that 4 months.

Most of the razors sent in were in real need of just a good cleaning. So some of the blades needed sanding and almost all needed polishing. Scales on some had to be sanded and polished and all of this was done for free. Since this offer was supposed to be to newbes and students, I saw one show up in an ad that was sold as shave ready 3 days after I sent it back.

I too was advised by some that this was not a good marketing plan. At the time I couldn't understand why, but now it is crystal clear. After the "FOR SALE" sign went up on one of the razors I did I decided to do an inventory of where I stood on this adventure. Here are the facts!

As I was receiving packages in the mail I would take the money, that was in the package, and put it in an envelope. It was interesting to see how many came with no money, some would have $2 inside and the postage on the outside was $7.23. After a while, I requested $5 to cover S&H and got it most of the time.

So I kept the receipts from the PO and bubble envelopes, they added up to a little over $300. When I opened my envelope to make a deposit, it had $95. Without counting the .08/mile for gas and standing #12 in line with 2 desks open and each person steping up not having a clue what they were doing, I was at least ($205.00) in the red. Not a very good marketing plan.

Here are the breakdowns in the razors sent:
26 members x 1 razor = 26 razors
40 members x 2 razors = 80 razors
9 members x 3 razors = 27 razors

And to get them back:
Package 75 x $1.10 = $ 82.50
Postage 75 x 2.35 = 176.25 This is the avg. min. cost
Mileage 16 x .08 = 36.00
Total = $294.75

None of these costs include the expense of stones and other equipment necessary to do service at this level. Those costs are very subjective at this point, but I can tell you that most of us who do this to make money have in excess of $1,000.00 invested. This also does not take into consideration the time spent on each individual razor or the time spent in preparing the packaging to ship it back plus the time at the PO.

It was interesting to see my mail slow down considerably once I started charging for services. This of course was to be expected. This endevour has, in fact, let me establish myself in the honing community as a competent honester. I have made friends with some interesting individuals and learned quite a bit about honing and restoring razors. I still offer free services to some in real need and of course free honing, plus the cost of shipping, to anyone on active duty in the military.

So that's my story and I'm sticking with it!

Enjoy!

Ray

Of course there is coffee going out to you today.

This is a Timor roasted medium light to emphasize body and sweetness while trying to retain what acidity that is present. What you have is a medium to large bodied low acid coffee with overtones of chocolate and clean forest flavors (humus, cypress, mushroom).

Originally Posted by Pyment

Of course there is coffee going out to you today.

This is a Timor roasted medium light to emphasize body and sweetness while trying to retain what acidity that is present. What you have is a medium to large bodied low acid coffee with overtones of chocolate and clean forest flavors (humus, cypress, mushroom).

What are you some kind of coffeemiester of something ?

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

What are you some kind of coffeemiester of something ?

I call myself an advanced hobbyist. I am better at roasting than honing.

here is a roaster like mine:



Here is a link to someone's eval of the same roaster I have.

http://www.bellabarista.co.uk/pdf/To...ncryptedv4.pdf

Ron,

Good to see (read?) you back -- and keep the money. Missed you at the Midwest Staight Razor Convocation at the place where the Cannon Fell. How did the move go? You know we've been on the razor's edge waiting for the details. Since it's been a while since we first perched on that razor's edge and are still there, that probably means it needs honing....