Thread: Not getting a sharp edge

Originally Posted by bluefoxicy

The Feather AC and various DE blades pass HHT.

Let me quote from Sharpness tests explained - Straight Razor Place Wiki

Please be advised that the only test for shave ready razors is the shave test. All other tests on this page are meant for testing the sharpness of a razor's edge during the honing process. To repeat, none of these tests are meant to tell you whether your (new) razor is shave ready except the shave test.

It is generally considered common courtesy to read the available material first before making unfounded claims, or claims that run contrary to the massive experience of a good number of senior members. That is not to say that anything in our knowledge base is set in stone, but this particular point certainly is.


Regards,
Robin

Originally Posted by BeBerlin

It is generally considered common courtesy to read the available material first before making unfounded claims, or claims that run contrary to the massive experience of a good number of senior members. That is not to say that anything in our knowledge base is set in stone, but this particular point certainly is.

With all due common courtesy, I must say that after reading long and hard both the Wiki and threads upon threads, I have come to the conclusion that the resources available are filled to the brim with ambivalence. My conclusion is that even those with long and massive experience base their opinions on their own personal experience and interpretations.

Straight Razor Shaving, and honing, is in the very least least an acquired skill, and at most an honorable vocation. It is NOT rocket science - and judging by the number of contradictions and self contradictions that are to be found in each and every discussion on the subject - there is more than one way to skin this particular cat.

Shy folks who dare not ask or voice their insights (wrong as they might be) can never learn, and sticklers make for very lousy teachers.

I learned something from everyone I ever met. Some of the lessons I received where less valuable than others.

Originally Posted by DreamRazors

With all due common courtesy, I must say that after reading long and hard both the Wiki and threads upon threads, I have come to the conclusion that the resources available are filled to the brim with ambivalence. My conclusion is that even those with long and massive experience base their opinions on their own personal experience and interpretations.

Right. A non sequitur. In our forums, we discuss straight shaving related matters. That you will find contradictory opinions goes with the territory. That we here at SRP are able to conduct these discussions in a gentlemanly fashion is one of the things I particularly like about this site.

That said, we aim at aggregating and amalgamating mainstream opinions (ie those shared by the majority of the users most knowledgeable in a particular field) in the Wiki. We chose the Wiki format in order to enable users to amend and enhance this information. At the same time, we tried - as much as possible - to stick with the authoring guidelines of Wikipedia, thus eliminating - where possible - personal opinion. Where this was not possible, we left a note to that effect.

Originally Posted by DreamRazors

Straight Razor Shaving, and honing, is in the very least least an acquired skill, and at most an honorable vocation. It is NOT rocket science - and judging by the number of contradictions and self contradictions that are to be found in each and every discussion on the subject - there is more than one way to skin this particular cat.

Incidentally, that is basically what the Frequently Asked Questions - Straight Razor Place Wiki says, only less. I am not entirely certain which point you are trying to make here, though.

Originally Posted by DreamRazors

Shy folks who dare not ask or voice their insights (wrong as they might be) can never learn, and sticklers make for very lousy teachers.

An interesting remark, bordering on proof through claim. I have yet to see those shy folks who dare not ask or voice their insights. What I have been noticing lately, though, is a growing number of not-so-shy folks who ask or voice opinions that are diametrically opposed to what is being considered a de facto standard by the majority of our experienced members. Nothing wrong with that in general, especially if you run a small forum. It can however get a little tiresome if you have more than 20k users. Bit like barging into a game of football to tell everyone that (a) the ball should be egg shaped because that works better for you (at least the one time you tried it), and (b) the football team in the next village (or, rather, cluster of mud huts) is much nicer because they will let you play with an egg shaped ball, or even one made out of concrete.

Originally Posted by DreamRazors

I learned something from everyone I ever met. Some of the lessons I received where less valuable than others.

Indeed. Unfortunately, life is short, time is money, and I am German. I have therefore a rather limited amount of understanding for people who, as beginners, prefer to discard existing information in favour of interesting, but idiosyncratic, ideas. That said, I am quite certain that over there, in the cluster of mud huts, people will be delighted to let you sharpen your Asian toy razors on overpriced mystery hones, because you firmly believe that this will give you the ultimate shave.

Oh, and all Dovo's are POS's(sic!), too.

Kind regards,
Robin

Originally Posted by BeBerlin

Unfortunately, life is short, time is money, and I am German.

What has your nationality (false sense of superiority) to do with anything that has been said here? and mud huts? and egg shaped concrete balls? The only one I see in this thread who is on the border of slinging any mud is you.

Your thread - your style I guess. I am out of here.

Originally Posted by DreamRazors

What has your nationality (false sense of superiority) to do with anything that has been said here?

See, you are doing it again. Germans are world famous for their efficiency. Why you would associate what I said with a false sense of superiority remains a mystery.

Originally Posted by DreamRazors

and mud huts? and egg shaped concrete balls?

I was only trying to be helpful. Sometimes, abstract examples help make complex relations easier to understand. Seems like the level of abstraction was not sufficient, for which apologies.

Originally Posted by DreamRazors

The only one I see in this thread who is on the border of slinging any mud is you.

I take it you consider "Shy folks who dare not ask or voice their insights (wrong as they might be) can never learn, and sticklers make for very lousy teachers." to be neutral. That is a bit unfortunate, really.

Originally Posted by DreamRazors

Your thread - your style I guess. I am out of here.

Well, thank you for your contribution, and good-bye.

Kind regards,
Robin

The second page of this thread was very confusing. What was all the fuss about?

Originally Posted by Disburden

The second page of this thread was very confusing. What was all the fuss about?

Thin skin.

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

Thin skin.

Not just that , Robin can be to the point and if your fairly new to the forum you may not understand his bluntness, however he is trying to be helpful. IMO for what it's worth

Originally Posted by paco

Not just that , Robin can be to the point and if your fairly new to the forum you may not understand his bluntness, however he is trying to be helpful. IMO for what it's worth

Yes, I agree with that assessment.

Wow. Thin skin. Anyone here into wearing various crystal necklaces to combat specific ailments? Not as efficient as a German's penchance for pure logic, I bet! I interpreted it as a light self-deprecatory humor towards himself (keyword: unfortunately). I really liked BeBerlin's personality in this thread. It's interpretive, granted, but I swear it's there. To quote the wise words of Rodney King: "Can't we all just... get along?" [str8-razor riot ensues; blood 'n guts everywhere]

I, personally, have never used any of the tests. I rely solely on the 60x-100x Radioshack wonder-thingy. I've seen some light scratch patterns on the edges of some professionally honed razors (some of which I never even touched, others shaved with but a few scant times to preserve for comparison to my own). But their edges all look clean and intact. What matters is the shave.

I use the microscope to determine when to move on, and to continue to learn what to look for with a difficult blade. When I completed the last two, they had perfect mirror bevels, basically. Some times the toe doesn't, but the edges look clean and adjusting angle doesn't reveal a perturbing burr (grrr). Even if the toe still has a small nick or two, it has shaven my particular face beautifully.

Perhaps the problem is comparing a str8 to DEs and feathers, which are commonly regarded to be machined to an even higher level of sharpness? Perhaps the problem for the OP is that they have an evil Mexicano 4k Norton? I have one, and it is written of in a few other posts on here (like my own with the follicle bump woes, though lengthy it describes my ridiculous problem with that 4k). That 4k Norton could be repeatedly gouging some heavy scratches, man. Seriously. Check it out. I see a very reasonable explanation here.

"Can't we all just... get along?"