Thread: Newb from Alberta, Canada

If a hone is done properly the wear on the spine won't be noticeable if it even shows at all. I would be suspect of the hone they did to your razor and try to find a Hone Meister in your area. Shaving arm hair is a heck of a lot different than shaving your face.

Originally Posted by guitstik

If a hone is done properly the wear on the spine won't be noticeable if it even shows at all. I would be suspect of the hone they did to your razor and try to find a Hone Meister in your area. Shaving arm hair is a heck of a lot different than shaving your face.

Agreed, but since it's my first time shaving with a SR, I don't know how to tell if its a proper hone and sharpen :S.

Originally Posted by Phillay

Agreed, but since it's my first time shaving with a SR, I don't know how to tell if its a proper hone and sharpen :S.

If the shave was smooth with no tugging chances are the honing was good. It is just the when you hear the cockamaimy stuff about needing 16 layers of tape to hone you get a little suspicious of how knowledgeable the person was about honing a razor.

There is also the cringe factor with a place that sells knives and straights as well. There is a difference between sharpening a knife and honing a razor. There have been horror stories here about members having their razor sharpened at a predominantly knife shop. It is not always the case but often enough to give pause.

Bob

Originally Posted by BobH

If the shave was smooth with no tugging chances are the honing was good. It is just the when you hear the cockamaimy stuff about needing 16 layers of tape to hone you get a little suspicious of how knowledgeable the person was about honing a razor.

There is also the cringe factor with a place that sells knives and straights as well. There is a difference between sharpening a knife and honing a razor. There have been horror stories here about members having their razor sharpened at a predominantly knife shop. It is not always the case but often enough to give pause.

Bob

Thanks for the heads up Bob, looks like I'll have to look around and see if I can find a proper honemeister that knows exactly what they're doing and give that a test. Is there such a thing as over sharpening/honing your blade? I mean, I would assume if you did it yourself then yes. But what if I took it to another honemeister next week and got them to sharpen it again to see what that was like. Would that be bad for the blade?

With a proper bevel set and hone you should not need to touch steel to stone for a long time. The amount of time differs from one person to the next and on the skill level in stropping. And to answer your question, yes, you can over hone a razor even a knife for that mater. You will just be removing more and more material from the edge and prematurely shortening the life of the razor. The reason I don't use tape on the spine is that it wears in relation to the edge and if you stop the wear on the spine each successive honing shortens the blade and changes the angle. True enough that it is such a small amount that you couldn't see it with the naked eye but then again adding tape also changes the angle and on an edge as thin as a razor that can change the whole dynamic of the shave. Find a honemeister in your area that would be willing to show you how to do it yourself and then go slow

Originally Posted by Phillay

Thanks for the heads up Bob, looks like I'll have to look around and see if I can find a proper honemeister that knows exactly what they're doing and give that a test. Is there such a thing as over sharpening/honing your blade? I mean, I would assume if you did it yourself then yes. But what if I took it to another honemeister next week and got them to sharpen it again to see what that was like. Would that be bad for the blade?

I am not saying they did a bad job of honing only that a few flags pop up for me to wonder. If it is shaving well for you I would leave it be for the present.

I think it might be a good idea to find a honemeister close to you and have him check it out for a second opinion. If you put your location in a member near you might be able to help with that. Never hurts to have an experienced mentor help out.

Bob

Originally Posted by BobH

I am not saying they did a bad job of honing only that a few flags pop up for me to wonder. If it is shaving well for you I would leave it be for the present.

I think it might be a good idea to find a honemeister close to you and have him check it out for a second opinion. If you put your location in a member near you might be able to help with that. Never hurts to have an experienced mentor help out.

Bob

Thanks for the advice BobH. I'm from Edmonton, I'll have to update that!

Hi neighbour. I've been into that shop as well. Can't comment on their honing skills, but the guy I talked with seemed very knowledgeable and honest about things. They don't sell just knives, it's pretty high end stuff, japanese blades and damascus blades, different bevel styles...the owner's must put some time into training staff before they turn them loose sharpening all those three and six hundred dollar blades. But the sixteen tape layers does sound wierd...maybe a misunderstanding?
I bought online, a slightly cheaper blade but the guy has a honemeister put an edge on it. It was what I could afford. Not enough experience to know how far from ideal it is, but it seems to shave nice so far, so i'm happy. I think I'll just mail back to him when it's time for the first honing.

Originally Posted by murray

Hi neighbour. I've been into that shop as well. Can't comment on their honing skills, but the guy I talked with seemed very knowledgeable and honest about things. They don't sell just knives, it's pretty high end stuff, japanese blades and damascus blades, different bevel styles...the owner's must put some time into training staff before they turn them loose sharpening all those three and six hundred dollar blades. But the sixteen tape layers does sound wierd...maybe a misunderstanding?
I bought online, a slightly cheaper blade but the guy has a honemeister put an edge on it. It was what I could afford. Not enough experience to know how far from ideal it is, but it seems to shave nice so far, so i'm happy. I think I'll just mail back to him when it's time for the first honing.

Hey Murray,

I think he said 16 pieces of tape to me because he didn't feel like taping up my spine. In my opinion it felt kind of like he was trying to make it seem like it wasn't worth the hassle and more troublesome for him. But asides from that, you're correct. They seemed very knowledgeable about everything else and really friendly staff. Where online did you get yours from?