Ask Dave Stephens to hone a blade

Gentlemen, I'm not sure it needs to be said here, but if you have never asked Dave Stephens (Cannonfodder is his name here) to hone a blade or restore a razor for you, you are really missing something.

Let me start by saying that I have had many blades honed by many other members here, and all have done excellent, fantastic work, with super-fast service, and are gentlemen to deal with. So please take my praise of Dave in context.

Maybe it is a matter of taste, but Dave really makes his blades noticeably sharper than anyone else I've ever used. Like freaky-deaky sharp. So sharp they feel sticky when you touch the edge. So sharp you're actually waiting for the blade to dull a bit so it isn't so scary. So sharp you don't even hear the blade cutting through the whiskers. You know, scalpel sharp -- no, lightsaber sharp!

As it happened, with this last group of razors I sent to Dave, I also included one for honing that he had rescaled for me several months before. It's a beautiful, huge W&B blade, and he made a pair of black pearl acrylic scales that are just beautiful. And so get this -- he saw the scales that he had previously made for me, mentioned that he didn't like how the pivot felt, AND THEN COMPLETELY REPLACED THE WEDGE AND PINS (at no cost to me) so that the scales would be up to his standards. Now, I didn't notice anything was wrong about the scales when I sent him the blade, but I can see now that they work much better. How many people take that kind of pride in their work?!

Anyway, I know everyone here knows Dave well, so this probably doesn't even need to be said -- except for the few, proud noobs out there like me who don't yet know the full extent of Dave's awesomeness. And for those who know him, I hope you get a chance to try his honing again soon. I have no idea what combination of black magic witchcraft and materials science nanotechnology he uses to get those blades so sharp, but damn, the ones he just sent me feel like they are about one atom wide at the edge. Enjoy!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by JeffE

Maybe it is a matter of taste, but Dave really makes his blades noticeably sharper than anyone else I've ever used. Like freaky-deaky sharp. So sharp they feel sticky when you touch the edge. So sharp you're actually waiting for the blade to dull a bit so it isn't so scary. So sharp you don't even hear the blade cutting through the whiskers. You know, scalpel sharp -- no, lightsaber sharp!

---

That sounds kind of scary... in a good way!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by JeffE

Snip..
You know, scalpel sharp -- no, lightsaber sharp!
Snip..
Enjoy!

---

Gotta love that!
May the force be with you:jedi:

I don't know about lightsaber sharp. Yoda always looked a little scruffy to me and Obi Wan had the beard.

LOL.

I bought a Lemaire razor with decorative spine and Red Barra scales from Dave about a year ago and I am still shaving with that same edge. Awesome honing job..................

This must be "Pat Dave on the Back" week....

Dave just did 5 blades for me, and each one of them is sharp enough to cut a hole into another dimension. I know lots of guys who do an excellent job honing, but Dave somehow gets them to the next level. If you've never tried one of his blades you are missing something! Just wanted to share the good info.

I am glad you all find them agreeable. That W&B is kind of embarrassing. I was the one that scaled it but the wedge was not quite right. It did not have enough wedge in the wedge and was putting to much strain on the scales and making them bow in the middle. It was an extraordinarily wide and took a steeper wedge than most razors. It was my fault they were not right to begin with.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by cannonfodder

I am glad you all find them agreeable. That W&B is kind of embarrassing. I was the one that scaled it but the wedge was not quite right. It did not have enough wedge in the wedge and was putting to much strain on the scales and making them bow in the middle. It was an extraordinarily wide and took a steeper wedge than most razors. It was my fault they were not right to begin with.

---

Now that's a good businessman! Bravo, good sir!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by JetHed

I don't know about lightsaber sharp. Yoda always looked a little scruffy to me

---

Think you I am "scruffy?" Hmmm. . . .

http://www.theredlines.net/ttiswop.gif

So what are you saying, you want to see photos of my two big stones and strop?:rofl2:

I wish there were some photos to show how freaky sharp these blades are, but I don't have one of those USB microscopes that I've seen others use for this.

So without using any hyperbole or metaphorical language, let me just state the facts:

Razors honed by Dave seem to stay sharper much longer than ones I've had honed by others.

Razors honed by Dave seem to require a much lighter touch than ones I've had honed by others.

Razors honed by Dave can cut at a much wider range of angles than ones I've had honed by others.

As I mentioned in my first post, this isn't meant to diminish or impugne the honing that I've received from others on this site -- everyone I've ever used has done only excellent work. It's just that there does seem to be a noticeably higher level of sharpness that Dave takes his blades to, and if you don't know what I'm talking about, then give Dave a blade and let him do his stuff.

The only other illustration I can think of comes from my experience with DE blades. Now everyone has tried the Merkur blades and Personna blades and five other brands out there, but it is still widely known among DE users that the Feather blades are a whole level of sharpness above the others. Now some people don't like their DE blades that sharp, and that's perfectly cool by me. I just happen to like a really, really sharp blade to work with, so if your DE blade is a Feather, then let Dave hone your straight edge razors. He's the "Feather blade" honemeister of the straight edge world.

I do not do anything magical to them, just been honing for many years. Comes with the wood working. You have to hone your hand planes and chisels. I have always done them by hand. It takes a little work to get a #5 jack plane sharp enough to shave end grain on oak. Razors are easy.

Glad you are happy with them but you had some nice top quality blades to work with. Your making me blush.