Thread: Touching up a "Lynn" honed razor!?

Originally Posted by WineGuyD

... I really needed to hear it from some seasoned straight razor shavers that I would not ruin the edge by just a few wet laps on the coti. Thanks all who responded!

I would really like to say that you won't ruin the edge but it really is up to the individual. If you do it correct you won't ruin the edge. If you don't, well then there is the hesitation.

The best advice I can give has two options. have at least two razors honed professionally and only use one of them until it starts tugging. At that time switch over to the other razor and try to get the first honed up on your own w/o pressure to achieve success quickly. Second option is to purchase a second razor of good quality but a low price and learn to hone that one while shaving with a blade that was professionally honed.

Honing looks real simple but really has to be developed into a skill. I've been honing for several years now and I can see a major difference in what I considered shave ready when I first started and at different stages along the way.

Lynn has been honing razors for quite a few years and has honed thousands of razors. Expecting to obtain an edge that equals his quality in less than the first 1k razors is asking a lot of yourself. I know, I know. It sounds like I'm way off base. The true test is to wait till you have honed 1k razors and review your first razors to those in the middle of the lot and those at the end of the lot. That a lot of time and money/razors to prove a point. Next best is to have several different people with different levels of experience hone your razors. Cheaper and quicker. I'm sure you will even notice differences between anyone that hones your razors. Quality of edge is dependent on the quality of the razor and the experience and skill of the honemister! Time honing and quantity honed do not necessarily guarantee quality of the edge but do eliminate a lot of the variables.

Good luck.

Thanks Joed (and Slartibartfast),

I'm pretty much doing what you suggested, I have three razors right now...a vintage Wosti pipe razor, a Clauss USMC and another Clauss that I picked up on ebay for $9. I've been playing with the cheap Clauss on the combo stone and have gotten it sharp but nowhere near shave ready(forget about "Lynn shave ready). Lynn honed my other two back in June when i took up straight razor shaving and I've been alternating between the two since and have started to feel the degradation recently, more so on the USMC than the Wosti, so Slartibartfast's advice was great because it brought back the USMC pretty well. I planned on sending my Wosti back to Lynn twice a year just to have a reference point.

Like everything else associated with straight razor shaving, I know I have a long way to go in skill development to get good results...I just started a few weeks ago to shave ATG without a nick and I'm finally getting a good(not great) shave. Who knows, if my business climbs out of this economic nightmare, at some point there might be a Zowada in my future ;-)