Thread: Honed vs Shave Ready

Honed means shave ready to me unless I get special instructions to do less.

For the honemeisters:

I didn't realize until now that some people just request the bevel be set and nothing else. Is this common? No intent to offend anyone, but what is the point of that?

My interpretation of 'honed' always means shave ready. Maybe this should be clarified in the wiki?

On second thought, could it be that if a razor were honed and stropped to shave readiness, the razor could lose its edge in transit, say over a 1-2 week period and require a stropping prior to use?

I think if a razor is stropped and shave ready, it would only go for a few days before it needed another stropping due to oxidisation at the edge. I know oil should stop this, but what do you reckon?

Originally Posted by Ryan82

For the honemeisters:

I didn't realize until now that some people just request the bevel be set and nothing else. Is this common? No intent to offend anyone, but what is the point of that?

Not common any more, but it really was in days past...

If you were to delve in the old Honing posts, you would find where some very smart fellows came up with the idea that Newb honers biggest hurdle was the Bevel...

So we all did this huge experiment, where we honed in the bevel for people that were having problems with honing, and 100% of them got the razor honed out, but more importantly learned just how sharp a bevel set should be...

Originally Posted by Scipio

My interpretation of 'honed' always means shave ready. Maybe this should be clarified in the wiki?

On second thought, could it be that if a razor were honed and stropped to shave readiness, the razor could lose its edge in transit, say over a 1-2 week period and require a stropping prior to use?

I think if a razor is stropped and shave ready, it would only go for a few days before it needed another stropping due to oxidisation at the edge. I know oil should stop this, but what do you reckon?

I did that experiment one time too, took one of my new personal razors and did her up just like a customer's, boxed it up, and all.. Set it outside on the porch for 2 weeks in winter, and shaved it after that test... No Problem....

Originally Posted by gssixgun

Not common any more, but it really was in days past...

If you were to delve in the old Honing posts, you would find where some very smart fellows came up with the idea that Newb honers biggest hurdle was the Bevel...

So we all did this huge experiment, where we honed in the bevel for people that were having problems with honing, and 100% of them got the razor honed out, but more importantly learned just how sharp a bevel set should be...

Thanks for the info Glen, very interesting. It just highlights how frustrating it is for honesters (or whatever we're calling new honers now ) to learn the craft long distance, as opposed from a personal mentor. Of course nowadays when good old trial and error fail there's always SRP...

Originally Posted by LawsonStone

My razors cut nice and smooth...but the ones Lynn honed, well, the whiskers just commit suicide when they see the edge coming!

I had Lynn hone 2 for me, a SatinWedge and a russian STIZ, and after using them I've come to a slightly different conclusion than you.
My SatinWedge is really sharp, but I believe the STIZ that Lynn honed for me actually splits atoms. The resultant mini-A-bomb explosions that occur as I move the blade forward just blast the whiskers out of my face.

Originally Posted by gssixgun

So we all did this huge experiment, where we honed in the bevel for people that were having problems with honing, and 100% of them got the razor honed out, but more importantly learned just how sharp a bevel set should be...

This doesn't surprise me at all. A while ago I sat down and wrote out what I though was the best way to learn to hone. I posted it somewhere here on SRP.... I thought the easiest was touchups and the hardest setting the bevel. That was when I started offering to just set bevels as well.

i do shave test 95 % razors i hone.
i don't shave test if blade is Brand new and never been used or owner doesn't want to anyone else to use his razor.
i always include note if blade has not been shave test. Anything wrong i am willing to take razor back.( so far i have been lucky)
I have learned in my arm certain location if i can cut hair above skin level without hairs falls off the blade(JUST STICKS TO THE EDGE) then that blade shave ready.
This particular test never failed me.
i did hone at least 200 razor and test in exact location before figuring it out.
This saves me a little arm hair.without it my arms never will not have any hairs.
why i am saying this ? you guys may try find some fine hair in your arms and test it. As soon as you find out that hairs shaving test will be less required.
hope this trick helps someone.