Thread: Top-heavy fractions on old razor scales

Originally Posted by mdarnton

As someone who's been sharpening tools constantly a good portion of every day of the last 30+ years of my life, as any craftsman who works with hand tools does, I hate this "honemeister" stuff. It makes people think that there's some mythological greatness involved in sharpening, which there definitely is not. You put it on the stone and shove it around until it's sharp. If you need notes, or try to make it seem to your customers like it's magic, you're a charlatan.

Profile: Michael Darnton, In His Own Words | Soundpost Online


So what your saying here is Wood is Wood, Varnish is Varnish, and F-holes are just freaking holes so basically anyone can make a Fiddle and heck it's good to go right ????

I mean what's so special about making a box with strings


I would have imagined that somebody that works with his hands and takes things to the limits in their chosen expertise would have realized that there is depth and subtlety to every hobby..

Obviously I was wrong in that assumption


PS: I wonder why if honing is so darn simple that there are hundreds of thousands of posts across the Internet asking the same basic question.... "I tried honing my razor but I couldn't get it sharp, what am I doing wrong"

Originally Posted by mdarnton

As someone who's been sharpening tools constantly a good portion of every day of the last 30+ years of my life, as any craftsman who works with hand tools does, I hate this "honemeister" stuff. It makes people think that there's some mythological greatness involved in sharpening, which there definitely is not. You put it on the stone and shove it around until it's sharp. The first straight I ever held, I said "Oh, this is going to be SO easy--I've never had a tool that was so well designed just for sharpening", and it is.

A real artisan craftsman never marks his territory like a dog on someone else's work. Even on those watches, I bet it's inside where the customers can't see it. My bet is that this is something that owners did to remind themselves of how they sharpened it, and if there are a lot of examples, I bet you can track it to some instruction sheet somewhere or 1890-vintage shaving blog or forum. I can't imagine that any professional guy sharpening things would need this kind of notation on the side of a customer's razor. If you need notes, or try to make it seem to your customers like it's magic, you're a charlatan.

Truly, it is good you have much experience in sharpening things. This has made your transition to sharpening straights easier! Lots of new guys here do their best to get them going. I think making notes would be advantagous to the person making the razor sharp, as well as the customer, expecting him to repeat. Whether made on the handle of the razor, or in a notebook, this would CERTAINLY not make him a Charlatan. To the contrary, I feel it would make him a professional! JMHO!

Here's a thought, Tom;
How hard was it to remove the writting on the scales, if it was simple with no damage left, maybe it was a way for the seller to keep track of inventory and/or keep track of price. ??

Tom I have seen numbers too but usually I thought they were for a Barber Shop to keep track of a Customer's Razor, Brush, and Scuttle,,
Looking at the pic you posted, I don't see that, I guess maybe it could be Row and Column numbers in a rack

My money goes with "Row and Column numbers in a rack"; a large barber shop where the razors are used by multiple barbers & inventoried in the evening at a glance.

Originally Posted by sharptonn

Yes, the term is loosely applied to anyone who can have a blade screamin. Gee, we have LOTS of honemeisters!

Ain't sayin' I "are" one but ....... Hell, 5 years ago I couldn't even spell it !

That could be it! They kept up with the mugs and soaps too! I am going to look for some more. Imagine if you were picky about the mug and soap. You were probably picky about the razor! Duh!

Just tossing this out there....

many a job was paid for "piece work" Perhaps the "honemeisters" of yore, were just sitting there being paid by the razor.
This could be nothing more than a simple tally system for how many razors were honed on that day.
I too have a number of razors with these scribe marks, but I never took note of the positioning of large/small numbers.
If the smaller numbers never go over the number 30, it would give my hypothesis more credibility.

Originally Posted by Magpie

Just tossing this out there....

many a job was paid for "piece work" Perhaps the "honemeisters" of yore, were just sitting there being paid by the razor.
This could be nothing more than a simple tally system for how many razors were honed on that day.
I too have a number of razors with these scribe marks, but I never took note of the positioning of large/small numbers.
If the smaller numbers never go over the number 30, it would give my hypothesis more credibility.

Or perhaps how many scales were attached that day/week

Originally Posted by Hirlau

Here's a thought, Tom;
How hard was it to remove the writting on the scales, if it was simple with no damage left, maybe it was a way for the seller to keep track of inventory and/or keep track of price. ??

I don't think so. It has been suggested in the past. Merchandise marked like this would have been hard to move as removing the squibble takes a lot of time.