Thread: Hello from Ohio

I strongly urge you to send _one_ razor to someone else for honing !

The problem with honing your own "first razor" isn't cost -- you can solve that problem with lapping film, as you've found. [I suggest going down to 1 micron film, or 0.5 micron CrOxide on a pasted strop, for the last step.]

The problem is that honing a razor requires _real skill_, and that's it not obvious whether you've "succeeded" or "failed" in getting a shave-ready edge. You may think that the "hanging hair test" is an absolute test of "shave-readiness" -- but it's not. You can only judge "shave-readiness" by shaving -- and you need some experience shaving with a straight razor, to make that judgement.

. . . It's a circular problem.

If you have one razor that you _know_ is good (because somebody skillful honed it), you can compare your own results to that standard.

. Charles

Welcome! Findlay Ohio here. Always good to meet a fellow ohioan. Best of luck. Always feel free to hunt one of your fellow Ohioans down if you have questions!