Thread: Razor Myths & Legends

Originally Posted by majurey

For honing it certainly does. If you live south of the equator, and you need to do some circular honing, be sure to go anti-(counter-)clockwise. If north, you have to hone clockwise.

In Kenya there is a station on the equatorial line. Local entrpreneurs delight in doing demonstrations of this. They walk you 30 feet north of the line and hone, then 30 feet south of the line to hone, and finally right on the line. If you try to hone bang on the line, your blade will become magnetic.

And if you want to keep your edges scary sharp for as long as possible, keep your blade in a pyramid. I have Chris Giraffe making me one out of cherrywood right now...

Yeah - I had all sorts of trouble honing after I first read the advice here. Just didn't seem to work for me. Then I realised I had to do it all opposite to what you guys said. Bingo!

Actually, there's a myth over here that only hoodlums use cut throats. But after meeting all you fine gentlemen, I think we can put that one to bed.

James.

Originally Posted by Jimbo

Yeah - I had all sorts of trouble honing after I first read the advice here. Just didn't seem to work for me. Then I realised I had to do it all opposite to what you guys said. Bingo!

Actually, there's a myth over here that only hoodlums use cut throats. But after meeting all you fine gentlemen, I think we can put that one to bed.

James.

Well, thank goodness we got past the hoodlum thing...

Originally Posted by JMS

Funny, I heard that moonlight keeps the edge keener!

Both are true. Moonlight will sharpen the blade, but too much moonlight will give you a wire edge. To avoid a wire edge, you should expose your blade in a light pyramid, usually five days moonlight followed by five days sunlight and then three days moonlight followed by one day sunlight will ensure a sharp, but not wired, edge.

If you do end up with a wire edge, move time backwards while exposing the blade to moonlight.

Originally Posted by They Call Me Blockhead

Both are true. Moonlight will sharpen the blade, but too much moonlight will give you a wire edge. To avoid a wire edge, you should expose your blade in a light pyramid, usually five days moonlight followed by five days sunlight and then three days moonlight followed by one day sunlight will ensure a sharp, but not wired, edge.

If you do end up with a wire edge, move time backwards while exposing the blade to moonlight.

What grit is moonlight?

James.

I think the guys with the moonlight were drinking too much moonshine and got confused.

Originally Posted by Jimbo

What grit is moonlight?

James.

Depends.



Are we in Belgium?

...Im a hoodlum...and I keep all my razors facing north and clap 3 times before opening them to appease the razor gods...

Grow a beard. It's much safer, you won't cut yourself, you will save the cost of a pyramid (dashed expensive these days) and you can go out into the moonlight and pretend to be a werewolf whilst honing your razor hung upside-down in a tree which - as any fule kno (!) - is the only real and true way to get a good edge. Apparently the rush of blood to the brain starts a very slight hand-tremble that does wonders for wires, nicks, cracks, warpage, pitting, scratches, busted ends, moustache-notches (sic) and shortened blades. Marvellous stuff. Do it all the time meself and it ain't done me no harm......

Originally Posted by blueprinciple

Grow a beard. It's much safer, you won't cut yourself, you will save the cost of a pyramid (dashed expensive these days) and you can go out into the moonlight and pretend to be a werewolf whilst honing your razor hung upside-down in a tree which - as any fule kno (!) - is the only real and true way to get a good edge. Apparently the rush of blood to the brain starts a very slight hand-tremble that does wonders for wires, nicks, cracks, warpage, pitting, scratches, busted ends, moustache-notches (sic) and shortened blades. Marvellous stuff. Do it all the time meself and it ain't done me no harm......

Well I'm convinced. It clearly hasn't done you any harm...

And I'm with you on the pyramid. Very expensive indeed. I tried building one instead of buying, to defray the cost somewhat. But do you know how hard it is to find decent slaves nowadays? I remember when you could get a slave to haul stone blocks from dusk till dawn. The current generation all want the wages of a servant nowadays - they want all the perks, but none of the responsibility. Whatever happened to paying your dues?

James.

Below the equator, it's still important to hone with an upside down X-pattern because a rightside-up X-pattern would be backwards down there.