Thread: I need how many hones?!?!

But no straight-shaver counts as an "average person." By adopting the straight razor, a man has already defined himself as beyond "average," a man with high powers of discrimination and exquisite taste!

Even so, likely many wouldn't be able to tell the difference, but we've got a mystique to maintain here!

Originally Posted by bluemantra

How much of a difference is the average person going to notice between a razor honed on a norton 4k/8k and finished on a pasted strop as opposed to a razor honed on a single coti?

Originally Posted by bluemantra

Sorry to jump in here, but lets say you have your razors professionally honed and refresh with pastes every so often when you need to. How long can the pastes keep a razor shave ready? And then onnce you've exhausted refreshing the razor with a pasted strop what is the next course of action? Can you take the razor to a naniwa 12k and then some Crox and your back at shave ready? Or do you need to go back down and bevel set and progress all the way again?

This is up for debate, some think that using paste isn't going to even round the edge after a while some do.

You can use a high grit stone for a touch up but you really need to use it when the edge just starts to lose something, if not you need to start at a lower grit and so on. It depends on how far gone the razor has been used and pasted.

Hey fellas,

thanks for all the advice it is much appreciated.

it is interesting about "shave ready" factory versus "shave ready" professionally honed razors. My razor does not pass the hanging hair test but it certainly does pass the shave test. I get some pretty great shaves and any problems are purely due to lack of experience I think. I need to caveat this comment though by stating that I am not a hairy fellow and my hair is very soft so maybe I just don't need that sharp a razor to get the job done.


Anyways, don't get me wrong, I'm going to learn how to hone and get a professionally honed razor so the shaves get even better!

thanks,
Stultsy

Originally Posted by LawsonStone

In my brief but intense experience, there is no such thing as "factory shave ready." Whatever edge is on the razor from the "factory" is not going to be a shaving edge. A shaving edge on a straight really needs to be the result of hand-honing. I know the "factories" say that, but I never got a new razor with a factory edge that was a good shaver out of the box, and I don't recall anyone else who did, either.

This one shaved great right out of the wrapper IMO.

Originally Posted by Dllandry

This one shaved great right out of the wrapper IMO.

I suspect that one did! I imagine those vintage razors shipped shave-ready. I am pretty sure the ones of modern manufacture do not. At least, I've read and heard scores of accounts of people buying "factory sharp" razors that weren't shave-ready, and very few who bought a brand-new Dovo or TI that was ready to shave right out of the factory sealed container.

But that Dubl-Duck...you likely didn't even have to take it out of the plastic to shave with it. Whiskers fell out from just being impressed!

Originally Posted by Dllandry

This one shaved great right out of the wrapper IMO.

I am sure an NOS dubl duck that was honed years ago shaves great LOL.

There's a difference in honing quality now compared to then.

Originally Posted by LawsonStone

I suspect that one did! I imagine those vintage razors shipped shave-ready. I am pretty sure the ones of modern manufacture do not. At least, I've read and heard scores of accounts of people buying "factory sharp" razors that weren't shave-ready, and very few who bought a brand-new Dovo or TI that was ready to shave right out of the factory sealed container.

Ignatz mentions in his review of the latest TI Grelot Crown Silverwing that TI has updated their honing process:

My understanding is that TI has improved their method of sharpening such that the blades they deliver to the customer are really damn close to being ‘shave ready’. [...] But I can report that this blade (as it arrived from the factory) was absolutely shave ready for me. No, wait. Let me phrase it more strongly. This blade is the sharpest thing that TI has ever put into my hands right out of the factory.

So who knows, maybe we'll see true shave ready razors(barring personal preference) from the factory in the near future.