Quote Originally Posted by Joed View Post
I have a few Wester Bros. razors and they are all good shavers and easier to hone than some. Most all my razors are good shavers but some weren't always that way. As my honing skills improved I found that putting the ones that were a lesser shave quality back on the hones improved the shaves a lot. Some didn't but putting them on different hones dialed them into my standards of a quality shave. It seems like some razors can be honed by a monkey (a metaphor) while others give the experts a challenge. A good way to improve our honing skills is to attend straight razor meets, watch others hone some razors, try different hones and possibly have someone else have at one or two of your lesser quality shavers. Don't give up on the razors that don't meet the grade unless you are settled in on your honing style and your hones.
From your experience could you draw any general conclusions about "parings" of certain steels/grinds with various types of hones, if such a thing exists?
I have read more than a few times of how members (for example) had success with a certain problem razor from changing from a barbers hone to a coticule or vise versa.
This is straying into the higher levels of understanding that only comes with many, many hours of use and refinement with various hone and razor combinations.
I donīt know to what degree these "parings" depend on the particular honemeister or not, but this question wont go away.
I am sure many would appreciate your insights into this, especially me