Quote Originally Posted by mdarnton View Post
I love the way you razor guys try to increase the mystery rather than cutting through it. And I say that as someone who's probably (not certainly, of course--I don't know all of you) taught more beginners to sharpen things than anyone here.

Sharpening just ain't that hard. Sure it requires dexterity, as you say, but working slowly is a proven substitute for dexterity. The rest is just information and experience. Straight razors are by far the easiest things to sharpen well that I've ever worked with, and if someone happens to wreck a $10 ebay razor in the process of learning, what's it to you?
To drag back to the thread's origins, it would appear that some do not see the razors on eBay as "ebay razors", but potentially worthy candidates for restoration or preservation. That point of view may have merit, but I don't know.

I also think the goal is not to make honing mysterious, though there does seem to be quite a bit of that floating around; I think what Stefan was getting at is that folks get into honing before knowing even how to shave. This is simply a case of minimizing variables when trying to diagnose an uncomfortable shave.