Thread: I'm not sure what to say about this.

This is old news guys. Allow me to put my thoughts in verse:

Some people shave with a sharpened spoon.
The edge, they say, is imparted,
By a master who's skills make ladies swoon.
Yes! Your spoon's been Murray Cartered.

But beware! Oh Carter, can't you see?
Your choice is rather reckless!
When morning comes your fate will be
Lip lacerations for breakfast!

James.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXkj...e_gdata_player

This guy does it all wrong too.
Back and forth like Murray, knock the burr off, like Murray, but on a stone!
Slaps the blade down, doesnt flip on the spine.
What does he know....oh yeah, it is Mastro
Livi

I just deleted a couple of posts that resurrected this thread, because we want to behave in a respectful manner to others.
The thread is at almost 300 posts at this time, so I would imagine that most of what could be said has already been said.

I personally do not like to lock threads unless they spin out of control and members can't exercise the usual self-discipline. There is always the chance that something new and productive can be added even to year old threads with hundreds of posts. I would suggest, though, that before posting you take the time to read all of the preceding posts.

But if we have to we will close the thread.

Oh my dear god. You know I have never honed a SR but I have watched many vids about it, Lynns are awesome and correct, this guy...hones...ummm very aggressively to say the least.

Originally Posted by gugi

I just deleted a couple of posts that resurrected this thread, because we want to behave in a respectful manner to others.
The thread is at almost 300 posts at this time, so I would imagine that most of what could be said has already been said.

I personally do not like to lock threads unless they spin out of control and members can't exercise the usual self-discipline. There is always the chance that something new and productive can be added even to year old threads with hundreds of posts. I would suggest, though, that before posting you take the time to read all of the preceding posts.

But if we have to we will close the thread.

That's the thing....more often that not, a new or new-ish member will find this thread and not realize what a hot button topic it is. Furthermore, newer members are not always aware of how to talk here on SRP and end up saying something disrespectful, or confrontational. I'm certain that I've been guilty of this in my beginner SRP days. I was even slapped with a 7 day ban for confrontational behavior back then too.

With that in mind, I'd like to advise newer members to treat everyone with respect, even if, or especially if, you don't agree with what they are doing. If you can't think of anything nice to say, don't say anything, etc. This isn't just any random internet forum, it's a gentleman's forum.

Originally Posted by souschefdude

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXkj...e_gdata_player

This guy does it all wrong too.
Back and forth like Murray, knock the burr off, like Murray, but on a stone!
Slaps the blade down, doesnt flip on the spine.
What does he know....oh yeah, it is Mastro
Livi

I was gonna say, isn't this Livi? lol

I'm rejecting this outright because of the sheer ugliness of the whole thing. To me there is something actually beautiful about honing a razor. The concentration, the way you set up your gear. This is a manic conglomeration of techniques and partial techniques. Watch the videos of mainaman on his Japanese hones for an antidote to this violent egomaniac.

It is important, I think, that if you want to criticise you do it constructively and point out, in your opinion, what are the main issues or problems with the thing. That way people can get a better understanding of the issues, and can take part in an informed debate rather than a name-calling feeding frenzy.

Personally I prefer to hone a razor by what someone once called (Lynn, I think it was, but my memory is rubbish) "sneaking up" on the edge. This approach makes sense to me because I feel I have more control and less doubling up of effort. If I take an edge to the point where I am removing a wire, two things bother me:

(1) When that wire edge is forcibly removed (by whatever means) how far is the resulting edge from where I need it to be? This issue is of course similar in nature to what we need to figure out when sneaking up on the edge, and in both cases experience is the answer I suppose;

(2) Why double up on effort? To get the edge to the point where we want to remove the wire we have to have passed the point we actually would like the edge to be at. To me it is like wanting to park your car in a parking space, so to do that you drive through the parking space and then reverse back into it. There just doesn't seem to be a point to it to me.

I have heard that one of the main arguments for this technique is to help avoid under honing at the bevel set stage. I can see how that works and I agree that it would certainly be a way to do that. But according to my point (1) you are still left with a level of uncertainty of where the edge is at after removing the wire, just as you have a level of uncertainty of where the edge is at if you are "sneaking up" on it. In both cases a level of experience is needed to get the edge to a good place.

The bottom line is that there are lots of ways to skin a cat. I've just given a couple of reasons why I skin my cat the way I do rather than the way Mr Carter proposes. That's not saying he's wrong and I'm right, or that mine's better and his is worse. There's room in this world for many opinions. The trick, I think, is to present your argument and your reasoning and let other's decide for themselves what they think on the matter. That way people can make more informed decisions.

James.

I've gotten something from every honing video, even these. These (including the Livi video) taught me not to be afraid to use some muscle and force on stubborn bevels. Hone corners and wood can be very useful on chippy and wire edges just as very subtle pressure is in the finishing end of the process. It's all about the edge however we get there.

This wouldn't be my method, but it is a method