Thread: Revisor - Solingen

Originally Posted by OCDshaver

Precisely. A razor that's not shave ready is not at all a knock against the razor. It'd be like getting a great car with an empty gas tank.

Awesome analogy!

Well, I have to add my 2¢ here. I also bought one a little over a month ago and it was shave ready also. More so then my Dovo that I got from a well known site. I love the balance of my Revisor. It just seems to fit my hand and face and is easy to strop. It looks amazing and a two pass BBS shave was the cherry on top.

(I secretly wish it wasn't shave ready since I love to hone)

Originally Posted by Michael70

I just picked up my first Revisor Beemer and they are almost ready in my estimation for shaving. I might would put it to the hone for a few strokes maybe on a 10-12k to see if that makes it even better. Mine was great but had the slightest drag. But in no way are these shabby razors. In fact I will buy more Revisors I assure you. I think I do like them better than maybe a few other German brands.

BTW- Which Beemer bike do you ride? My last ride while not a Beemer was a British bike....Triumph Tiger! Love that bike.

I only have about a years worth of experience with a straight edge, but my Revisor had no drag and performed very well - in my estimation. Perhaps I should get one of my razors homed by a real meister, in order to better judge what is and what isn't excellent?

I have 2x Boker, 2x Dovo, a TI and the Revisor. In my very humble opinion, the new Revisor is up there with the TI! That comment should stir things up...... Again, this is a very subjective opinion.

As for bikes, I currently ride a BMW R1200GSA, before that a BMW K1200LTE. I also had a Triumph Rocket III for a while and still have the stupid grin on my face from riding 'the beast', lol.

Beautiful acquisition Beamer. I to recently picked up a Revisor, and as well was shave ready for me (YMMV). Took about 2 weeks, money well spent.

Originally Posted by Beemerbyker

Perhaps I should get one of my razors homed by a real meister, in order to better judge what is and what isn't excellent?

I have 2x Boker, 2x Dovo, a TI and the Revisor. In my very humble opinion, the new Revisor is up there with the TI! That comment should stir things up...... Again, this is a very subjective opinion.

Why? Your Revisor performs excellently, meaning you get a comfortable and close shave with it. How does comparing that to another really sharp razor help? Also, you seem to have plenty of those already.

And personally I would take a Revisor over a Thiers Issard any day. But that's aesthetics and economics, mainly. In the end the shaves will probably be quite indistinguishable from each other.

I'm glad to hear that you are happy with your Revisor as it is one of the straights I'm considering, although my exchange rate has gone the other way.

Originally Posted by Pithor

Why?

Because "Meister".

Whenever I read this "meister" (or, for the spellingwise challenged, "miester") humbug, I wonder if it ever occurred to anyone that maybe, just maybe, officially trained, qualified and accredited German craftsmen in their sixties and seventies may be just that tiny little bit more knowledgeable and experienced than some self taught individual from the interwebs upon whom a nonsensical and entirely meaningless title (which started as a joke to honour our fearless leader here, and should have stopped right there) has been bestowed?

Because, you know, there are things like "True Honing – So Good It’s Patented" (and no, I am not going to dignify this idiocy by adding a link here), and these things are so mindnumbingly idiotic that, well, my mind goes numb. Likewise, each time I have to read "oh, and then I put that German razor onto some $$k grit $SUPERHONE, and only then was it truly shave ready", I go

And Thiers Issard, well... no. I've had a few, I sold them all. They used to be good, though, or so they say. Then again, one should never really believe anything that's written on the interwebs...

Originally Posted by RobinK

Because "Meister".

Whenever I read this "meister" (or, for the spellingwise challenged, "miester") humbug, I wonder if it ever occurred to anyone that maybe, just maybe, officially trained, qualified and accredited German craftsmen in their sixties and seventies may be just that tiny little bit more knowledgeable and experienced than some self taught individual from the interwebs upon whom a nonsensical and entirely meaningless title (which started as a joke to honour our fearless leader here, and should have stopped right there) has been bestowed?

Because, you know, there are things like "True Honing – So Good It’s Patented" (and no, I am not going to dignify this idiocy by adding a link here), and these things are so mindnumbingly idiotic that, well, my mind goes numb. Likewise, each time I have to read "oh, and then I put that German razor onto some $$k grit $SUPERHONE, and only then was it truly shave ready", I go

And Thiers Issard, well... no. I've had a few, I sold them all. They used to be good, though, or so they say. Then again, one should never really believe anything that's written on the interwebs...

Yes, you are right. Meister has been Anglicized and has come to mean a person recognized by others as being very good at a particular skill. It does not necessarily mean that person has gone through a long official apprenticeship with a certificate issued at the end of it.

Meister | Definition of meister by Merriam-Webster

Recognizing the difference in usage I find nothing to get my knickers in a knot over.

Bob

But Bob, that wasn't the point. There was always ever to be meant one (1) honemeister, the great, powerful and venerable Lynn Abrams. I forget the name of the gentleman who first called him that, but it was meant as a humorous token of appreciation. So far, so good.

Then, however, and because certain people recognised that you can get more business if you sound more like you knew what you were doing, honemeisters (self proclaimed, mostly) were popping up everywhere. It typically went like this:

• Week 1: "Hello, my name is $SILLYNICK, and I want to learn to shave with a straight razor. I already got $ASIANIMPORTCRAP razor, and $CHEAPLOWGRITHONE."
• Week 2: "Yo, wazzup? I just bought a full set of $SYNTHETICS!!! I even took $3DIGITFIGURE of pics I want to share with you!"
• Week 3: First forays into honemeister territory lead to a two week ban from SRP.
• Week 6: "Right, I recently took some time off to learn to hone properly. I now got $JAPANESENONSENSE which is much better than $GERMANHONE or $BELGIANHONE! Free honing for everybody!!!!"
• Week 7-8: $SILLYNICK is using his second ban from SRP to set up a website with a shopping cart system. All over the social networks, people start whispering his name in awe. Because he puts TOTALLY AWESOME edges on blades and has, REALLY!!!! become A HONEMEISTER!!!!! [Sorry for the multiple exclamation marks, but they go with the territory]
• Week 9 and beyond: $SILLYNICK has got himself some $SERIOUSNICK, because business. Unexplicably favourable reviews pop up all over SRP, mostly to the tuneless tune of "WOW!!!! Totally awesome customer service!!!" or "BEST EDGE EVER!!!".

So, this has nothing to do with the superiority of the German dual education system. It's just that this honemeister nonsense has grown very, very old. There are some people out there who can hone anything. And I don't mean youtube five minute heroes from Russia who shave with sharpened shovels. I mean people who can hone any razor, irrespective of the defects it has. And who bring the time, patience, and dedication to actually do that. Lynn, Glen, Bart, and a few others. Which is great, especially if you need things like a rare rusty vintage razor restored.

And then there is pond scum who call themselves honemeisters. And that is not so great in my opinion. YMMV, of course.

Originally Posted by RobinK

And then there is pond scum who call themselves honemeisters. And that is not so great in my opinion. YMMV, of course.

Yes, I agree. That should not be too much of a problem because the way it is used in the English language. Anyone bestowing the honourary/mythical title upon themselves in a effort at self promotion is/should be laughed at. That is unless you are extremely gullible. It depends on by whom and how the very much honourary/mythical title is bestowed as to how much credibility it should carry. It is a nuance of interpretation that is not required in German language usage where the term has a clear cut definition on how such a title is officially earned.

Bob